Google maps is now our sworn enemy: and normally on vacation overseas, we don’t use it because it sucks. For our first week, we threw wisdom to the wind because it has a really good EV charger map, which includes plug availability.
This was very foolish of us.
So far, it has:
- Told us to go the wrong way down one-way streets outside of larger cities
- Poor coping skills/directions when it comes to the complicated systems of frontage roads and left turns.
- Told us to turn up private drives or unfinished roads when there are other options.
- Not known about road construction/things being closed as accurately as at home (I’m not really surprised by this but I forgot how annoying it is.
- Caused us to miss going into stuff I wanted to see in Ghent (see last post) because of its evil ways.
Its ONLY charming factor is that it tries to read words in a different accent or language if it reads a street name in another language, and then a word in English that has an equivalent in said foreign language. When we have been near Dutch street names, the Google Lady (GL) says “maters” instead of “meters” (I guess that is the pronunciation of that word in Dutch?). Our street name in Bruges was French, so she would say “destination” in French. Oh, and she pronounced the town of “Ghent” as “gent” (similar to gentleman). GL does her best.
But her best is not good enough here. Usually.
For once in its life, GL did us ok on our way to Zwin nature park on Saturday, our last full day in Belgium. The Zwin is located northeast of Bruges, near the Netherlands/Belgium border. It is home to many local and migratory birds, and was the first of its kind in Belgium when it was founded in the 50s. You can explore the birds in their habitats in the park flora, learn about the path of migratory birds in the museum, and walk on the trails that go outside of the park.
It is also at this point in the trip where I am extra kicking myself for not bringing my super zoomy lens. For whatever reason, I underestimated the number of birbs and other wildlife I would be appreciating on this trip. Oh well.
The Zwin has a few trails inside of its bounds with informational signs and rangers. It’s nesting season for storks and the beginning of migratory season for other birds. We saw lots of little songbirds and water birds – and I even got to see a crested grebe!
After a small stop at the cafe, we made our way through an indoor exhibit which focused on bird migratory patterns, habitats, and other various bird facts. They give you a little passport card at the start, and you get assigned a bird at the beginning. Between the exhibits, there are little tests about your bird. I was a barn swallow. My bird ate mosquitos and I should be awarded a nobel peace prize based on this contribution to the planet.
The weather was of course still horribly windy and very cold. At least my hands are toasty-warm because of my mittens – hah! Take that, winter.
We had originally decided to walk out to the dunes after exploring the park itself, but we would have not liked that so much with the wind…so we skipped the dunes (and the marsh walk in the park).
It was overall a really nice place to stop and enjoy the wildlife. Definitely worth a trip if you enjoy birdwatching and/or learning about birds!
It was now proper lunchtime and we wanted to branch out of Bruges, so we went to the nearby beachy town of Knokke-Heist. In no particular order, here are the signs that we all ignored which indicated this town was Too Expensive For Us:
- We parked in an “award-winning” parking ramp (In what world does a parking ramp win an award?)
- There were several Very Expensive Cars in said award-winning ramp
- When we were standing on the main street looking for restaurants that opened, I noticed a Louis Vuitton store
- A sparkly display caught my eye – it was some kind of gallery or store that had 3 foot tall sparkly pufferfishes made of swarovski crystal. Several of them.
- Every bush is perfectly manicured in some kind of cuboid or round shape. Not a leaf out of place.
Despite all of those things, we walked past several lunch places which would have priced us at 40-50 euros per person for lunch before we gave up and went back to the car.
So back to Bruges on Burple Bike it was! Our final meal in Belgium was at a wonderful little Flemish place where the guys got Flemish-y stews and my meal was….croquettes! Because it is our last night, the day was naturally sunny and not terribly cold.
Sunday was mostly a travel day – departing from Bruges, heading up through the Netherlands a different way, before our arrival at our cottage in the middle of the farmfields of the Waterlands.
Our lunch stop was some rando restaurant I found on google maps (useful for browsing, not directions) – it was smack in the middle of a Yacht club/marina and was strangely affordable. It was very delicious and for once, I did not have a meal that was croquettes.
After lunch, we switched back to Waze (which we should have done all along), so our directions are now being sung to us by the boy band.
Also, the directions are correct.
The Waterlands are part of the Netherlands which lie below sea level and are full of….water. Canals and sheep reign supreme. It’s lamb season, so lambs abound in the fields near us!
It’s sunny for a second day in a row today because we don’t have major activities planned. The rest of the week promises to be rainy. But I guess I’m ready for it? Keukenhof’s tulip garden awaits us. Fight me, rain. (Actually, it’s ok if you don’t)