My weekend in a hotel in Kortrijk

Recently I stayed with a few colleagues in a very nice hotel in Kortrijk, the city where I really learned know. Unknown makes unloved, and it was many years ago that I still had one foot in Kortrijk put. For clarity, Kortrijk lies in the province of West Flanders, near the border with France, and has about 75,000 inhabitants. The city lies on the Leie a point where that river is split away and comes back together. This has created an island, the Buda Island.

Kortrijk and surroundings were long known as a center of the flax cultivation. National Flax Museum recalls still on. The museum is housed in an old farmhouse where flax in 26 scenes flax cultivation and development of flax processing are shown. All these things I came to know by the evening in my hotel hotel Kortrijk especially a lot to read (colleagues were quite boring and went to bed early ...).



Nowadays you can find that many historic buildings in Kortrijk by war or fire, and were then rebuilt. The Beguinage to only one to mention dates originally from the 13th century but was destroyed three times, the last time in 1684. It is an oasis of calm and there are beautiful baroque houses from the 17th century. My Kortrijk Hotel was a stone's throw from here, just beautiful.

For art lovers: Kortrijk is to be awake! The city has the Buda Island into an artistic center. The brewery tower Tack got a new purpose as an artistic production and cinema complex Pentascoop has multifunctional rooms, where space for performing arts.

Also, we plan to during our stay in one of the hotels in Kortrijk a few museums to do. The Broelmuseum to Broelkaai at Buda Island shows works by artists who lived in Antwerp and worked, including Roeland Savery, Kerstiaen The Keuninck and Louis Robbe.

Close to that museum is also famous Broeltorens on both sides of the Lys. The two medieval towers are identical, but are not. The south tower (the Spey Tower) dates from the 13th century, the north tower (the Ingelburgtoren) was built in the 15th century. The bridge between the two towers is a picture of Nepomucemus, patron saint of overboard.

From Ghent to Ostend

I just got back from some very nice couple of days in a one of the best hotels in Ostend, the one and only coastal city in Belgium, luring thousands of tourists to its shores each year. Ostend is a Belgian city located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. In earlier times, Ostend was a small village built on the east-end of an island (originally called Testerep) between the North Sea and a beach lake. The village rose to the status of "city" around 1265 when the a market hall was built. With wind never in short supply, modern Ostend has become a destination for kite surfers as well as an important port.

Nowadays, Ostend is a very popular seaside resort, famous for its sea-side esplanade, pier and fine beaches. It has six beaches around the city. No wonder so many people, whether they are business travellers, single or have families with children, decide to stay a weekend or longer (sometimes even an entire summer) in a hotel in Oostende. Famous tourist attractions Ostend has to offer include the James Ensor museum, showing where the artist lived from 1917 to 1949. The Mercator, a tall ship of the Belgian merchant fleet that has been converted into a maritime museum. And Fort Napoleon is a tourist attraction. But all tourists go mainly for the beaches!

A visit to Ostend is always exciting and spending your holiday in one of the many fine hotels Oostende is absolutely a great idea! Ostend is a great place with something for everyone. I have stayed in Brugge before and think it is better to stay in Ostend and visit Brugge on the train for the day. Brugge is lovely, but I feel you can easily see all there is in one day. It is only 15 mins on the train. Ostend is a fish lovers paradise. You have all the seafood stalls along the quayside.

Checking in in my hotel in Oostende was easy, the staff was very helpful. There was a small swimming pool and some very good breakfasts. Later I heard from a colleague that I chose one of the absolute best hotels in Oostende, I didn't even know so I guess I got very lucky! I was a great Ostend hotels with a balcony and sea view which was excellent this time of year. As for Ostend, simply relaxing to wander around and eat and drink at leisure, was all I did in this luxe hotel in Oostende...