Cinque Terre

We spent three weeks seeing four countries and now we've reached Italy where we will spend the next two weeks.

Our first stop in Italy was the beautiful Cinque Terre, a national park on the north-western coast. Built into the sheer cliffs of the coast are five towns linked by train line. It is possible to drive between them, but the area is world heritage listed so traffic is restricted. There are also shuttle buses which go up the mountains, and saved our poor legs from some steep climbing! The towns are built in terraces and look as though they grow out of the cliffs in all their pastel shades. There are also citrus orchards, olive trees and grape vines planted on terraces all along the cliffs. It's definitely something different!

The national park is famous for the many walking trails it provides, which is the reason we visited. We started our walk on one of the coast trails beginning in the town we stayed in, Riomaggiore. The walk was literally on the edge of the cliff for the whole walk, with breathtaking views of the ocean, mountains and towns in the distance. When we reached the next town, Manarola, we had to take a shuttle bus to Volastra, a town further up the mountains, where we began another trail. The path meandered through vineyards, at times barely a foot wide, with a drop down to the next terrace right next to our feet. In places there was still snow from a previous fall so the walk was definitely not for the faint-hearted. The path went further up the mountain and into a forested area where the snow was still thick on the pine trees and the path. No matter what part of the walk we were on, the views were amazing. Every time we turned a bend, a view even greater than the last presented itself. The trail then wound its way back down the mountain towards the coast. Barely existing paths and stairs a hand span wide (with no safety railing) seemed to be the order of the day. We finally reached Corniglia and sat to rest our shaky legs, only to find that the train station for was another 365 stairs down the cliffs! But even a walk to the train station is well worth it when it sits parallel to the coast and you have a view of the ocean as you wait for the train.

The area is definitely worth the visit, and not all the trails are quite as hairy as the second one we took. In summer, there are a lot of water activities available if you'd prefer to stay clear of the steep climbs.

A few photos from Bruges

In Bruges

Bruges is a beautiful town. Touristy and busy yes, but somehow it doesn't seem to matter. The place must be packed in summer but it wasn't so bad for us. On the afternoon we arrived we went on a walking tour that was free through the backpackers we stayed in and just as we began, it started to snow! For a couple of queenslander's it was pretty damn exciting! It didn't matter that it was freezing cold and every time you looked up at something the guide pointed at you got snow in your eyes. And of course, the snow just made the town more beautiful. We walked through the town for hours in the snow, stopping for a break in the middle for a nice, warm drink. The tour probably wasn't the most informative tours you could go on, not that we didn't learn a thing or two about the towns history as well as see places from the film 'In Bruges', but the guides were funny which made it a great afternoon.

Of course, the snow inspired us and with a fellow Aussie in tow we made the best snowman in Bruges (even if I do say so myself).

Seeing as Belgium is the place for beer, we were also talked into attending a beer tasting evening also run by one of the tour guides - the guy seemed to run half the things in Bruges as well as know most the people! Fortunately the evening was a little more informative than the tour although tasting seemed to imply a full glass of each beer. It was a loooong night.

Bruges has probably been one of my favorite places so far, though we have a lot more places to see. It's the epitome of what you think of as an old European town and Belgium people are so friendly.

Ypres

Ypres in Belgium is a lovely medieval looking town which in actual fact is less than 100 years old. The massive cloth hall, towering gothic cathedral and similarly impressive town hall were in all destroyed in WW1 along with the surrounding villages. During the war, hundreds of shells rained down on Ypres as battles were fought in an arc around the town. After the war, it was suggested that the site of Ypres become a memorial to those lost in the war, but the people of Ypres who had fled the war wished to return and rebuild. As a result, the town is built almost exactly as it had been, in memory of its former self.

To make the most of the small amount of time we had in Ypres we joined a small tour run by Flanders Battlefield Tours. During the tour we visited a number of trenches still remaining from the war, a scary reminder of the terrifying battles fought throughout the countryside. We learned that much of the countryside is also riddled with tunnels, mined by both armies in an effort to reach each other without being shot at every step they took. We also visited Hill 60, one of such locations tunneled under, where over 70,000 pounds of explosives were laid by Australian miners under the hill occupied by the Germans, and then set off. Even after all this time has passed, the crater is massive.

As we drove through the countryside, we never went far before yet another cemetery appeared. There are 150 cemeteries located in the area - and the area is not very big at all. We visited Tyne Cot, the biggest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world. Over 13,000 soldiers are buried there, along with a wall engraved with the names of almost 30,000 whose remains were never found. The rows and rows of white tombstones, many of which have no name, are an incredibly sad and lonely sight.

Most humbling of all was the Menin Gate, a memorial to those missing in action. Close to 55,000 names of men never found are engraved on its arches. We visited the gate on a freezing cold night with hoards of others to witness the playing of the Last Post and the laying of wreaths. This ceremony has taken place every evening since 1928 except for a period during WW2 when the town was occupied by Germans. It was an emotional moment, and it must really bring home to many how truly lucky we are. So many people sacrificed their lives during that war, and others, and it is great to see that the memory of all those people lost will endure on through the memorials and ceremonies that live on in Ypres.

Brussels, the city of...food?

Brussels is a lovely city, particularly in the old town but definitely doesn't have as much to see or do and some other places. But when you consider they have beer, chocolate, waffles and fries it doesn't really matter if it was the most boring place on the planet, you could just eat and drink yourself silly. We got at least a little silly.

At the Mannekin Pis (which is way way way smaller than all the pictures make it look) we ate delicious fresh waffles drowned in hot chocolate sauce and topped with banana.

At the Cantillon brewery, one of the last breweries using traditional brewing methods to make Lambic beer, we did a very interesting tour of the family owned business and finished it off by sampling a couple of their products.

We also tried a very small percentage of the beers stocked by Delirium Cafe which, at any time, stocks over 2000 different varieties.

We sampled mouth-watering chocolates at the chocolate shop where pralines were originally invented - by a chemist trying to make the taking of medicines more palatable.

And we ate crispy frites (fries) topped with mayonnaise in a paper cone standing in the freezing Grand Place. I don't know what made those fries so special, but they're definitely the best i've ever eaten. Grand Place is one of the prettiest squares I've ever seen, made even more magical by the light frosting of snow over the cobble stones.