Alongside in ZeeBrugge … Today the tours which left the ship took pax to Bruges, perhaps to shop for lace, chocolate, etc. Rumor has it what we call “French fries” actually originated here in Belgium where something like half the population speaks French. The other half speaks Flemish which isn’t so different from Dutch.
As we mentioned yesterday, Belgium is known for its chocolate and the houses which create the candies. I’ve visited a chocolatier on an earlier trip here and they really do excel in the craft.
Modern Belgium is known for the headquarters of the European Union being here, as well as the headquarters of NATO. If the EU ever becomes a United States of Europe, Belgium would become its District of Columbia.
To date, it shows no signs of accomplishing that feat and probably never will. The EU shows every sign of becoming a place ruled by an unelected, self-replicating bureaucratic “blob” run by and for the sort of oligarchs who gather at Davos for the WEF, alas.
Tomorrow we are in Amsterdam, not one of my favorite cities, Honestly, I can’t think of many large cities I like, maybe Singapore, the city-state designed by Mr. Lee. It is at least clean and the modern architecture is superb. One thing is certain, as we work our way north, the days are getting progressively colder and the Bergen/Oslo area is likely to be quite chilly.
