Waffel with fries

Planned to visit Belgium for quite a time - since I've been in Gent first in 2008 for a short business trip.
The time came last summer when we made a trip to both Belgium and the Netherlands.

Started the discovery in Bastogne - small but famous little city where so many soldiers died both side in the 'battle of the bulge':

An actual Sherman of the battle - there are holes on the side and back of it showing where it has been hit.

Than we moved over to Aalter...

...using it as a 'base' to visit other cities, like my personal favorite, Gent:

Another war memorial place is Ieper or Ypres - from the 1st WW:

There's not much better thing at the end of a sightseeing day than having a nice dinner nearby to our hotel: Flemish specialties with those amazing Belgian beers.

My personal favorite: the 'stoofvlees' aka. Flemish stew - served with the fries (called french fries in English though said its a Belgian 'invent' - and mayonnaise).

Some of the beers we tried, even though neither of us is a fan of beer - rather vine - but these have a really great, unique taste:

...these are quite strong on the other hand: while the 'Kriek' (sour cherry) has only 2-3 % of alcohol in it, the typical beers are far above that. Duvel (devil) is 7% - easy to get drunk if you're not used to :-)
I liked the most the 11% strong 'Donker Kastel' - it has a so rich taste it could be a meal on its own!

Needless to say Brussels is also one can't miss when being around - so we paid a visit to the capital city too:

Like the poop of a boat - old merchant houses

Yes - this is the home of TinTin too.

The Mannekin Pis - once there, we gave a visit to him of course, but frankly speaking it's not a big deal (at least to me).

Comics Center Brussels - cartoon museum  not only for kids :-)

Are you faster than your shadow?

The Atomium of Brussels - showing the crystal structure of iron.

Just next to the Atomium there's the 'Mini Europe' as a must see attraction with miniaturized symbols of each EU countries.

Another city I was awaiting besides Gent was Bruges: the 'Venice of the North' (due to the many canals) where the downtown hasn't change much since medieval age.

They call it Venice of the North for a reason...

The shore of Zeebrugge is not far from Bruge - even though it was for not ideal weather for a sunbath, gave a visit to it:

On our way to the Netherlands, stopped at some nice castles in the countryside - this one reminds of Chambord in France:

Chateau Ooidonk

And next to the border, Antwerpen:

Stadthuis (city hall) with all the European flags (and those where Antwerp has a consulate).

The first skyscraper of Europe - finished in 1932, 26 floors

Next to come: Netherlands !