YPRES (IEPER)

A few snaps from the town of Ypres in northern Belgium

BRUGGES

Brugges, also called the Venice of the North, is a little village just over the Belgian border, that has been frozen in time - much to the delight of hundreds of tourists who flock to the town for their fix of lace, chocolate and ye olde authentic horse and carriage rides (this town probably has the highest carriage per person ratio of anywhere in the world outside of Amish settlements).

IN BETWEEN

We often travel out to the Mont Noir region on weekends - a footstep over the French border in neighbouring Belgium.  It's basically shopping on the cheap as a lot of goods (namely alcohol and cigarettes) are taxed differently in Belgium. As you'd expect, weekend shopping pilgrimages out to border towns are a common habit for northerners. Aside from the cheaper booze, there are also many lovely countryside walks in this area, and I'm a sucker for an autumn ramble...

ADVENTURES IN PRAGUE

Sometimes I feel a bit guilty only staying a weekend in one city, in a country I've never visited. The backpacker in me wanted a good couple of weeks to follow the roads less travelled in this country I know nothing about, speaking a language I don't understand. That said, I have a pretty good talent for figuring out key foreign words pretty quickly. In this instance, though, I think it was limited to beer, wine, exit and thank you.

SALAD DAYS

I really don't know what the recommended RDI for olive oil is, but I've surely passed my monthly quota in 3 days.

Despite the shuttle too-ing and fro-ing that a "cheap" low-budget airline flight involves (which becomes progressively less cheap once you tack on all the shuttle fares), plus the guilt of the carbon miles (am I redeemed cos I don't own a car?), my mental health is thanking me, though whining a bit that I couldn't stay longer.