Friday, July 19, 2013

Day pass

We set out early this morning with day passes on the coastal tram. First stop was Oostende. The big city on the coast. We jumped off the tram in the heart of the city. 
Of course we naturally gravitated to the water front and a marina in front of the train station.
Two streets in front of the train station had draw bridges serving the marina and the channel also had two sea gates. I don't think they were actually locks since I did not see the water level change. I think the heavy wooden gates were to protect the marina from storm surge. We watched 3 sailboats traverse the two draw bridges and two sea gates together.
Back on the tram we followed the coast and hopped off a few times to explore on foot. I now believe the Belgium coast has a sea wall and boardwalk from end to end. In the cities it is 50 yards wide and in the undeveloped areas 12 feet wide. All of it is cobblestone.

Random beach check.

This is the cleanest country I have ever seen. The people here plant flowers everywhere and all lawns and shrubs are ready for Better Homes and Gardens centerfolds. 

Even the sea gulls are polite. Here are a flock of gulls feeding in the wild below a pier.
I found out that feeding sea gulls is a €250.00 fine. Yikes!! No wonder they don't hang around humans. No one in their right mind would risk giving a gull a bread crumb. Now I am thinking I had better find out what the fine for jaywalking is.












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