Day 6 (June 10th): Belgium

We woke up at the hotel and walked to the main square to have breakfast. We both had waffles and a bottle of water (the bottle of water cost $10). We then got some Belgium chocolate and checked out. Since the parking garage was so small getting the car out big challenge. We drove to Ghent which took about 40 minutes. Ghent was similar to Brugge in that it had canals but it was not as nice/clean. There were many old, interesting buildings and one castle. We walked around and got some chocolate truffles and checked out the old city. After a while we stopped and had lunch on the canal. Al had a "true" vegetarian lasagne and I had a seafound pasta and a chocolate milkshake (I had to drive). Lunch was ok and then we headed back to the car. We had parked in a lot and I had no idea how to pay. Luckily I saw someone and she explained where to pay and how to do it. Even the simpliest things are difficult in another language. We headed out of Ghent around 3:30 PM and drove to Brussels which took 40 minutes. The Nav system was great and we took it to the center of the city where we parked in a parking garage. Brussels is the largest city in Belgium and a lot of people speak French. It was a little dirty and there were lots of people walking around the old city. There was a nice shopping gallery, a lots of streets with many restaurants of all types of on them (waiters try to solicit you to come eat at their restaurant). We walked around and checked out the interesting sites and stores (lots of chocolate stores). We went to the Grand' Place which is a big square with very intricate old buildings surrounding it. This is the main site in Brussels. It was time to eat again and we found a restaurant on the Grand' Place. Al had an onion soup and salad and I had a bowl of mussells. I wasn't that hungry since we had eaten lunch not that long ago. Food was ok. The mussells are a common delicacy in Belgium. We walked around after dinner looking for a Belgium waffle which Al was craving. She got one with chocolate and whipped cream. It was hot and the center was soft. Pretty tasty. We then walked around and found the Brussells Grand Casino. I had to stop in and get a chip. They wouldn't let me in because I had shorts on (I would return). When we got our car and tried to leave the parking garage we had a difficult time. What we didn't know was that you had to pay at a machine that wasn't next to the exit. We found this out the hard way. then as we were sitting in the car by exit baracade the reverse buzzer on the car started going off but I wasn't moving. I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a guy with his face right up against the back of the car. I had no idea what the heck he was doing. We finally got out of the garage and the worked our way around the tight streets and found the infamous Petit Julien. This is a small black sculpture of a child peeing. I took a picture from the car. We then found our way back to the casino. I had already changed into long pants back in the parking garage. Before I could enter the casino I had to show them my passport so I can be signed up as a member. This took 10 minutes and then I walked into the main casino. It was pretty small with slots, blackjack and roulette. I didn't see any craps tables eventhough I didn't have time to play since Al was waiting back in the car. I went over to the cashier and paid for a 2 Euro chip. I was a nice orange one with Brussells Casino stamped on it. My first European one for the collection. I hustled back to the car and we headed back to Dusseldorf. It was about a 2 1/4 hour drive and the rain didn't help. In Dusseldorf we dropped our bags back at our apartment and returned the car to Avis. We had to park illegally because there was no place to leave the car. We walked back to the apartment and got there around 11:15 PM. Solid weekend. Breakfast in Brugge, lunch in Ghent and dinner in Brussells. No way we could have accomplished all that driving without the Nav system.