so after copenhagen, we went to dranouter, a small village in the municipality of heuvelland in west flanders, belgium. we were there for two weeks. it actually went by relatively quickly.
here's the town center, which was basically just one block, with the church in the middle.
across the street from the church was this butcher shop. this is where i bought my eggs and salami and cheese for breakfast/lunch.
and just around the corner from there was a general store where we bought pastries, bread and some junk food. these two stores would prove invaluable to me over the two weeks.
and here's where we actually lived. it may not look like much, but it's deceptively massive. we stayed upstairs in a semi en-suite, meaning we had a shower and sink in our room, but the toilet was downstairs. our two housemates had full apartments though, with little kitchens and bathrooms. and that was just the upper level.
anyway, here's the backyard. the owner of the house is a gardener by trade, so it was pretty lush with all kinds of plants and flowers, including a cherry tree, a little currant bush, some wild strawberries and a whole bunch of other plants i couldn't name.
he also kept two chickens in the back, who provided us with delicious eggs. if only i had known sooner, i wouldn't have had to buy eggs!
and an old dog, who i called doggie. i tried to take her for a walk into town one day, but she ended up hobbling one-third of the way in.
and that was just the backyard. this was the view from our room, looking just across the street out front.
it was a huge field of pea plants.
and i may have mentioned before how close we were to the border of france, but let me illustrate just how close. the house on the left was ours. the house on the right, just across the street, that's our french neighbor.
and here again, with me standing at the front door. france to the left, belgian pea field to the right. crazy!
and here, this was us on our very first day in town. we hadn't found internet yet, so we had no idea where we were and how close anything was. we chose a direction and walked towards a church in the distance. notice how narrow the road is. because there's not enough traffic to warrant a two-lane road.
on another day, i decided to take a walk around the surrounding area. made some friends along the way, like black beauty and chestnut.
and bob's belgian cousins.
and some lambs. i didn't catch their names, since i don't speak flemish.
there's aj off in the distance, working away. can't spot him? well of course not. our camera didn't come with a telescopic x-ray lens. we aren't that fancy.
some fun flowers.
and a strawberry vending machine?? crazy. and i mean crazy good. these were the best strawberries we've ever tasted. like natural candy, but better.
so good, in fact, that the restaurant served them as-is as a pre-dessert.
ah, yes. i did spend one night at the restaurant as a guest. and got excellent service.
the end.
have an excellent weekend!
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