Fri, 07 Nov 2003

author Liz	location Sydney, Australia
posted 09:46 AEDT 14/02/2004	section Europe2002/Europe/Netherlands/Netherlands 3 ( all photos )

Back to NL ( No photos )
(Continued from Belgium)
We recognised Dutch signposts and lots of Dutch numberplates as we crossed the border.
We got off the bus in Breskens, and found ourselves conveniently outside the ferry terminal. I went and asked the bemused ticket seller how long it would be until the ferry left, we quickly bought tickets and boarded the ferry.
The crossing took about half an hour, and the boat hardly had any passengers. On the other side of the channel, we were in Vlissingen. We walked off the boat, over the road and into the train station.
We hadn't decided where to go next, so we sat in a nice café and had a cup of tea and a snack, and spent a while working out where to go.
After much discussion, we bought tickets to Rotterdam and then boarded the "Stoptrein". As it implies, it stopped at lots of stations, but the scenery was beautiful - very flat with lots of farmland, canals, villages and towns. I saw pheasants in the fields and a rabbit racing away from the train in fright. We were quite excited when we recognised a spot where we had been before - a huge lock where we had had to wait a long time in the van for the bridge to open. I think this was where we spent quite a while searching for a supermarket.
At Roosendaal, we had to change trains and by the time we made it to Rotterdam, it was quite dark. We didn't have a map of the city, but somehow we found our way to the tourist office, where we were given directions to the hostel, and half an hour later we had lugged ourselves and our bags there.
For dinner, we ate at the hostel, buying our meal at the bar there. After a couple of drinks and a game of pool, we headed upstairs to bed.

author Liz	location Sydney, Australia
posted 09:41 AEDT 14/02/2004	section Europe2002/Europe/Belgium ( all photos )

Bus out of Brugge ( No photos )
On Friday, the weather was still perfect, but it certainly wasn't getting any warmer. We fixed our own breakfast at the hostel again, and then packed up our bags. We went out for a last walk around Brugge and bought a couple of typical Belgian things - lace, chocolate, beer glasses. We bought frits with mustard and sat in the middle of Markt to eat them.
Back at the hostel, we got our bags and then walked to the train station. Our walk took us through some lovely quiet streets, and past more pretty canals with colourful views.
At the train station, we bought bus tickets, but we still had fourty minutes to wait for our bus, so we lugged our bags into a nearby bar. There was just enough time for one last beer in Belgium!
Just before 1pm, our bus left and we waved goodbye to Brugge. It was quite a slow journey, as the bus stopped regularly to pick up and drop off passengers, and it took us an hour and a half to get to the coast.
Along the way, we crossed the border and found ourselves in The Netherlands.

(customised)