BRUSSELS

11.11.2007. Actually from Lille, we arrived in Brussels quite late... dalam 8pm. Nak mencari IBIS hotel punya la challenging!!! but when we finally reached there, tak de lah pulak family room so we had to go to Novotel... 140 euros per night tu!!! Tak kisah la... 1 malam je! And it's right in the smack of town! Tapi sebab dah penat, memula ingat nak tengok Grand Place tu waktu malam, tapi dah rasa nak tumbang so skip je la....

This is what the room looks like... memang la cantik kan?


Meen getting ready to go out

Esok pagi tu baru jalan2... tapi hujan la pulak so we waited a little bit more... dalam kul 10am baru start jalan2. On the way to the Grand Place tu, of course, in Belgium, CHOCOLATES is a must! So bought a BUNCH of them... satu beg besor! Lepas tu baru gi Grance Place ni... but then, Belgium's trademark is actually of a boy doing his "small business".. tapi tak nampak lak.....

THE Grand Place........... and the building surrounding it

Hmmm GODIVA is one of my favourites!!! And this building is just next to the Grand Place

I like the architecture of these buildings.........

From different angles and with Tini & Meen

Fadel & Haikal...... and then me with Haikal

And the other thing right after this is... we had "fresh" hot waffles!!! with chocolate syrup and cream!! yummy!!!

On the way back, we bought Belgium tees.... and then headed back to the car... and towards Mini Europe!

(by the way, we wanted to look for Hard Rock Cafe Belgium - thought I've seen some people wearing them... tapi nasib baik.... bila tanya kat counter HRC Cologne, memang kat Belgium takde!! phewwwww).

So next change......... will be MINI EUROPE!

Lille, France

Lepas jalan2 kat Brugge, we headed to Lille, France... actually border between Belgium & France...

On the way to France... the border where passport control used to be

We're heading to Lille... and crossing the border of France! Bienvenue!


Welcome to France!

France is beautiful.... as is the language... but we didnt spend too much time...

Yang kelakar sket tu... tiba je kat Lille, nampak aje Lille Grande Palace... ingatkan yang "palace" as in "istana" ke yang kitorang boleh visit... rupanya, macam PWTC.. and it's not really in the town center... tapi here are some photos nearby the area....

Ni kat dalam "PWTC" France... and outside...

We all jalan2 near the Grand Palace... it's fall season so all leaves are turning colors...

This high building ni tak ingat la apa namanya tapi one of the landmarks la kat sini..... and the map of Lille....

By the time we decide to go to town area, just outside the Lille Grand Palace

Lepas ni baru we decide to go into the Lille town center... and again, look for kebab for late lunch!.... at least we are SURE we get halal meat!

Susah nya nak cari parking... lepas tu, banyak lak one-way streets.... tapi we finally manage to secure a parking space kat Carrefour (yeah, French trademark!)

Kat dlm building tu.. Haikal sempat bergambar dgn "Duracell" rabbit... and then in town area.. outside

These are buildings and views of Lille town.... sama tak macam some buildings kat Bukit Tinggi?

Just after we had kebab.....

This is the "gare" (= train) main station.... and building across

In front of the train station... the fountain.... with background of the town

Kat sini, ada macam2 jenis kereta... see one over there? and the busy town on a sat late noon..

Ni le Carrefour.... Meen seronok tidur with Tini, Haikal and me... And Haikal with Abah...

Haikal & Abah with town "backdrop"... and the French police... pakai "beret" (is that how it's spelled?)

Lepas tu, kitorang masuk building nak amik wuduk and solat dalam bilik air... tapi punya la kritikal... bilik air lak banyak yang tengah under repair or tak boleh access... and in fact, VERY LONG queue... so we finally amik wuduk kat keta guna air mineral.... and tipis2 je sempat solat jemaah ta'khir.

Lepas tu, beli barang2 sket kat Carrefour (dapat diskaun for parking!) and then headed to the next destination..... BRUSSELS!!!

BRUGGE

Petang tu, we all sampai kat Brugge dalam 6pm.. tapi sebab memang tak book hotels/ rooms lagi (free & easy lah katakan), so we just managed to be at the tourist info... and got a room for 63 euros/ night (for 3 adults & 2 children, kira murah la jugak ni!) and breakfast's included!... namanya hotel Nicolas...

Rupa2 nya, the owner's father-in-law is Malaysian (Ipoh mali)... and the room is cozy enough jugak la...

Malam tu... gi cari kebab la.... so the father-in-law took us to the shop where kebab is one of the best in Brugge... and reasonably cheap!

The room is considered very small... but hey, 1 malam je... OK lah!


Tapi yang kelakar, the WHOLE room (even the bathroom) is wall-to-wall carpeted!!


This is our destination for today... attractions in Brugge!


Just outside the hotel..... quite close to all attractions, actually!!


Buildings across the road and nearby the hotel


This IS the market place... kat sini LACE memang berlambak2 & cheap (??#@(*Q#) And the next one is around that square too

Just views of buildings within the Marketplace square

Horse carriages are a hot-thing over there.... I think it's worth 25 euros per ride? and not too sure for how long

Again, around the marketplace... and the clock tower of that tall building

Lace is THE souvenir from Brugge..... and the clock tower standing tall again!

Chocolates are everywhere... and there are some obscene ones but since there may be underage readers... I must show respect!

I didnt realize I had a shop there!!!! except for the "C" vs "K"... and the 3 outside a souvenir shop

Haikal.......... and Tini & Meen.....

This place is just beautiful!!!! but we have to move to another location already.... which is Lille, France!