Some Photos from our Belgian Holiday

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Comet
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Some Photos from our Belgian Holiday

Post by Comet »

A small selection of photos from our recent trip to Belgium. I took many more than what I've posted here, including some black and white ones in both Antwerp and Zeebrugge.

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Taken on the Flandria boat which travels round the Antwerp port. The trip takes 2.5 hours and costs 12 Euros. We thought it was good value.

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Passing the Antwerp port cranes. I also took this in black and white.

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Ship in Antwerp.

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Containership being loaded in Antwerp.

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A deer in Antwerp Zoo. We bought a rail ticket which included a visit to the zoo, so that was our first port of call when we arrived in Antwerp.

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Humboldt penguins, Antwerp Zoo.

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Muskrats in Antwerp.

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Unknown, Antwerp Zoo.

After visiting the zoo, we headed off towards the market square for dinner, but our favourite eaterie had been closed and replaced by a Mexican grill, which we did not want to go in. We had an Italian meal instead, and after the boat ride had some gorgeous chips at Frituur No 1.

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The Casino in Oostende. The weather was not always so nice!

We had a couple of days where we travelled on the Coast-Tram. On the first journey we went north towards Knokke, and our first stop was De Haan.

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The main street in De Haan. This is a seriously pretty place, probably the nicest on the coast I've seen so far.

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De Haan.

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Along the seafront of De Haan.

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An ornate sign at De Haan tram stop.

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De Haan - looking northwards towards the water tower along the route of Coast-Tram.

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An amusing sign in Oostende. We don't have "dog toilet" areas in Britain.

We also re-visited Eupen, where we ate in the same place (Ratskeller) and had better weather than last year.

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A bar in Eupen. The local beer, Eupener, is very good.

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Eupen church.

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Fountain in Eupen.

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Corner in Eupen.

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Eupen street scene.

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Nice to see the sun in Eupen!

We had an evening stroll through a park in Oostende and ended up being followed by loads of cats.

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The Oostende-Ramsgate ferry leaving.

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Our Oostende hotel - probably the best we've stayed in in Belgium.

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Oostende's memorial to the Vindictive.

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And again.

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The old water tower in an Oostende park. This is a protected monument.

Our most disappointing trip was Tongeren. The weather was bad, there was scaffolding and building works all over and the most photogenic bits were obscured by a travelling fairground.

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Tongeren church. I took three photos in this town and a few seconds of video.

And last, but by no means least, there is Zeebrugge. We had three visits to this gem of a place - one when we went north on Coast-Tram, another on Sunday to see the beach area and have a harbour trip (this coincided with the powerboat racing so there were quite a few people knocking about) and another when we realised that we would see nothing of Nieuwpoort because it was dug up, De Panne was too windy and we wanted somewhere nice to have dinner so we headed to the place where we had dinner a few days before, and also visited Maritime Theme Park.

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The Fishermen's Cross, a monument to Zeebrugge fishermen who have been lost at sea.

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The lightship in Zeebrugge, part of Maritime Theme Park.

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The beach area of Zeebrugge.

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The pretty (!) viewpoint from Zeebrugge beach.

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Zeebrugge church.

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Containership being loaded, taken from boat.

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Ship in Zeebrugge.

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Another containership in Zeebrugge.

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Zeebrugge's cranes.

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And again.

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Dunes in Zeebrugge.

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Fishing boat, Zeebrugge.

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Zeebrugge is the only town where I drink Hoegaarden.

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Inside the lightship.

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Quay signs in Zeebrugge.

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Kustlaan, the main street through Zeebrugge, and very dusty it is too.

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Kustlaan looking the other way.

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Light ship again.

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Zeebrugge's marina.

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Our favourite Zeebrugge eaterie - "Old Barrel" (or "T'awd Barrel") - we ate here twice, having pork chop the first time and pork ribs the second. The food is very good and it gets busy. It is near the beach.

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I have a huge soft spot for this place "Old Steamer" (or "T'awd Stee-a-mer"). We discovered this place last year and it was nice to get inside out of the intense heat. I had a massive glass of ice cold Hoegaarden and we sat and watched the fish, but now the fish tank is cracked and there are no fish but we still had a couple of drinks (Hoegaarden of course) in this little gem. It's on Rederskaai.

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P&O ship, taken from boat.

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An overgrown Zeebrugge roadside, but the eagle-eyed among you will spot the real reason I took this photo.

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The old hotel in Zeebrugge.

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The memorial to the Battle of St George's Day, Zeebrugge.

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Road near the port area.

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Sculpture in Zeebrugge. This year is the centenary of the harbour.

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More of Zeebrugge's unique signs!

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Small boat in Zeebrugge.

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Interesting-named sign in Zeebrugge.

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Inside the venerable old stoptrein which took us from Brugge to Zeebrugge Strand.

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The Russian "Foxtrot" submarine in Zeebrugge, park of Seafront Maritime Theme Park.

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The torpedo bay inside the very claustrophobic sub.

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The water tower of Zeebrugge, prominent landmark and great for finding your way back to Dorp station.

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The light ship's light.

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Yacht sailing past the port cranes.
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise

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Buzz
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Post by Buzz »

Nice travel report. You've seen more of Belgium than I have, and I've lived here all my live!

regi
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Post by regi »

The Old Barrel at the Zeebrugge sea front is fine. But just next to it is the Sea & Sand restaurant . It is +- the best on the sea front for sea food. Not cheap, but still affordable.
Greetings to Klaas, the boss.

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Comet
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Post by Comet »

Thanks for the comments.

The main reason we chose Old Barrel was to get out of the rain, and also because they had quite an extensive menu. Our first visit was on a Sunday, and we wanted some meat for dinner, the pork chop was a good price. We couldn't eat as soon as we got in because the kitchen was not taking meal orders, but we could have drinks and we also got a nice "pain au chocolat", which was a change to the usual biscuits you get with hot drinks.

I am always willing to get suggestions for new places to try though, we will be going again next year (probably getting the train to Dorp, we heard they have a market there on a Friday and train is less tedious than tram if you want to get there quick).
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise

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fokker_f27
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Post by fokker_f27 »

Very nice pics, Comet. I'd be happy to suggest a few places, but you've probably seen more of Belgium then me! :lol: You've been to Durbuy, right? If not, I strongly recommend it. I went there on a school vacation and immediately fell in love with the town, it's history and it's surroundings. Annother city that's nice to walk through is Mechelen. There are many shots and old buildings in the city. You can also ride your bike along the River Dijle, which is very relaxing. There's a nice cafe where the Dijle and the Nete form the Rupel. There's also a big nature close to in Mechelen. If you'd like to see some more nature, there's the national park in the East of Limburg. I've never been there, but it's supposed to be quite nice. I heard about it in this tv program about tourism in Flanders. It's on every Saturday and Sunday at about 6 o'clock (5 o'clock GMT), I think. If you can receive Belgian channels, it may be worth a watch. :)

P.s. There's a nice high-res area betwheen Antwerp and Brussels on Google Earth/Google maps. Mechelen is right in the middle of that area, so you can already take a virtual visit. :wink:
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Sabena320
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Re: Some Photos from our Belgian Holiday

Post by Sabena320 »

Comet wrote: We had an Italian meal instead, and after the boat ride had some gorgeous chips at Frituur No 1.
My favourite one :D Although it's quite expensive for the small portion you get. :)

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Comet
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Post by Comet »

fokker_f27 - thanks for the tips, we've never been to Durbuy, but we've heard it is nice (and seen it in holiday brochures). I like the Ardennes. I'll certainly have a closer look at Google Earth, I installed it the other day but haven't had much chance to really check it out yet :oops: We'll try and get to Mechelen next year, hopefully.

Sabena 320 - I agree about that Frituur having small portions, I was really hungry when we got there and could easily have eaten more than we were given. Maybe next time I'll have to have something with those chips, they really are too good to miss out on, nowhere round here does chips as good as those.
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise

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Post by jan_olieslagers »

Comet,

F27 is quite right to recommend Mechelen, didn't I do so before? The merger of Nete and Dijle into Rupel is a nice place indeed, actually it's a 3 rivers' merger! The third is the Zenne coming from Vilvoorde and Brussel, and that's where the nice place takes its name "Het Zennegat". But I'm afraid it is not easy to get to except on bicycle.

In Mechelen make sure to visit the botanical gardens just across the railway station ("den botaniek") and you'll certainly enjoy the Carolus brewery and it's own bar/tavern. Other unique places of interest are the carillon school "Hof van Busleyden", the toy museum near Nekkerspoel station, and the wall-tapestry weaver's. Finally, there's the Planckendael zoological, this is a branch from the Antwerp Zoo with much more room. The town has several very good bars, my own favourite is D'Hanekeef near a palace from the Austrian occupation, now home to courts of justice.

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Comet
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Post by Comet »

I know Mechelen's a nice place, but when we were there four years ago there was alot of building and digging in the centre, so that spoilt it a bit. We would like to go again and see it without all the diggers and earth movers and things. We do intend to go again sometime.
Sabena and Sobelair - gone but never forgotten.
Louise

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