In Bruges

My arrival in Europe was smooth and familiar. My bank card didn't work for a couple days, but friends and strangers lended me a hand; I even got a meal gratis at the iceland airport! How kind those people are who must live in constant trepidation of volcanoes.
Bruges is a quaint town of 115,000, each of whom (based on my 7 or 8 person sample) speaks impeccable English. Belgium is a country that has a highway network for bikes and a language that sounds like German/Dutch/English but injected with helium. Flemish; Sounds of the Stratosphere. That will be my first jazz album. Featuring Maynard Ferguson. Leap Frog.

The Bell Tower.

From the Bell Tower.

Train restaurant! Trains everywhere. Even in glass tunnels underneath the floorboards. Belgium trains are unbelievably cheap. 6.-13. Euro to ride the express trains from Bruges to Brussels, about an hour and twenty minutes. That six times cheaper than in Germany. The average income in Belgium is 13,000 Euro, so no one is really making that much, but with trains that cheap you don't have to.

BIKES.

BIKE HIGHWAYS.

On the Road.Median strip.

At the beach! Windmills everywhere.

Joanna and our hostel, Snuffel. Full of games. So far we've played Yahtzee (Kniffel) five times, and she's won every single game. What are the odds?

Ridiculous.

I've been in Freiburg four or five days now and everything is splendid. More on that next time.

Enjoy the onset of Autumn!