About a month ago I set out on my first European adventure since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in 2020. You might recall that I travelled with my three brothers to the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, and France. This time, I was travelling with my friends Lara and Mike (who arrived about a week after we did).
While this was not my first visit to Belgium, it was the first time I spent so much time hopping about the country. All of my previous trips to Belgium were focussed on Bruges. And while Bruges is amazing and I highly recommend it to anyone considering visiting the country, it is only a small slice of what Belgium offers.
After a long flight, we made our way via train to Blankeberge – our home away from home for 2 weeks [1]. The apartment was incredibly cozy and came stocked with a welcome gift of beer and snacks. Definitely not a bad way to start our vacation! We cracked one of the beers, took a breath or two, cleaned the stink of travelling for hours on a confined airplane off of us, and then went out for a saunter.
Blankenberge is a cute little village, and from what I could sort, a popular destination spot for Belgians during the height of summer. It is situated along the coast between several other coastal towns – all connected by a very inexpensive and regular tram. It also had an ample supply of restaurants serving mussels and frites, good beer, and jenever (a spirit made of juniper berries, similar to gin, but without any harsh notes or burn). Of course, it was our responsibility to eat as many orders of mussels and frites and to try as many different beers and shots of jenever we could – a responsibility we took very seriously.
We spent time exploring the coastal towns of Ostend, De Haan, and Zeebrugge – having lunch in some, and dinner in others. We spent time walking the boardwalks, the beaches, and the dunes. It was slow-paced and exactly what I needed.
On three occasions we rented e-bikes for the day.
Our first biking adventure was a guided biking tour of Bruges that began at the train station and had us mostly exploring hidden gems of the city. Our second had us biking along the coast before we caught up with one of the canals to see Dudzele, Lissewege, and more. And our third was another adventure along the canals – but this time for lunch in Sluis, Netherlands – a really cute little town just across the Belgian/Netherlands border (which was completely unmarked) with a surprising number of restaurants and shops.
For those thinking about it, biking along the canals is an incredible experience. They are beautiful and incredibly well-maintained, lined by equally tall trees planted a pleasing equidistance from each other [2], and they feel like they go on forever (but in a good way). It didn’t hurt that the weather on both days we chose to bike them was perfect – not too hot or cold.
We also opted to explore Ghent, and Brussels. Of the bigger cities we explored, I think Ghent was my favourite, but that by no means suggests that Bruges or Brussels weren’t amazing. Ghent was less busy, which made things feel a little less hectic. It also made us feel as if we had stepped into an animated Disney movie (and we may or may not have kept singing the lines of the opening song from Beauty and the Beast [3]).
We also ventured, after Mike had arrived, into France to visit Dunkirk. Here we were able to explore the remnants of the German coastal defences that were set up all along the coast to protect against invasion from the Allies (who would successfully land on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944). The German coastal defences were not present when Allied soldiers were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk (May 26-June 4, 1940) after being surrounded by the Germans only 4 years prior to D-Day.
While the trip to Dunkirk wasn’t initially planned [4], its proximity made it a no-brainer, particularly since we had rented a car for the day to explore various locations around Belgium that were of significance during the 1st and 2nd world wars. This included a trip to In Flanders Field Museum in Ypres, a city that I would love to visit again so that I could spend more time exploring. The museum had a fantastic exhibit on WW1, including a display commemorating the poem “In Flanders Field” by Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae who just so happened to be born in Guelph, Ontario in 1872.
We also were able to visit the Tyne Cot Cemetery [5] and a local site where WW1 trenches were unearthed. Seeing the trenches and the underground tunnels/barracks in person made me wonder how anyone could mentally survive living underground in such an incredibly cramped situation.
It was all incredibly sobering, and a reminder of what humanity can do to each other if we allow it.
Once again – huge thanks to Lara’s aunt and uncle for letting us stay in their apartment in Blankenberge. It really was fantastic!
Lara and Mike – here’s to more adventures!
[1] Lara’s aunt and uncle were kind enough to let us stay in their apartment in Blankenberge – located on the North Sea about 10 minutes (via train) from Bruges.
[2] My mathy heart was loving it.
[3] “Little town, it’s a quiet village. Every day like the one before. Little town, full of little people, waking up to say: Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour! Bonjour!”
[4] The fact that our visit to Dunkirk and the other sites we visited coincided with the 80th anniversary of D-Day was also unplanned.
[5] There was a computer set up at the cemetery that informed me that another Daniel Gillis had died fighting in WW1 on April 9, 1917. He was the son of Angus and Mary Gillis, of Nova Scotia – which makes me wonder if he was a relative, given that my Dad is also from Nova Scotia. He was 19 years old on his death.
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