Jenn starts us off:
Julia had the alarm set this morning so we would not miss the free breakfast buffet. This girl loves a buffet...she must be a big fan of Vegas. Neither of us slept very well, probably in part due to the three hour nap we took yesterday. After the schmorgusborg (sp?), we packed and headed to the train station via the Metro. We managed to arrive at the train station and buy our ticket to Bruges one minute before the train was set to leave the station. So again, we ran and the conductor shook his head at us.
One thing to note about Bruges. I don't know how to correctly spell the name of this town so I'm picking one of the spellings. I'm sure it has something to do with whether you are speaking French of Dutch, but I see Bruge, Bruges, Brugges, etc. I'm sticking with Bruges now...my spellcheck says this one is right and spellcheck always knows better than I do.
Upon entering the second class cabin (we are not classy enough for first) we looked for two open seats. Julia was looking down the row for two window seats, but I stopped her when I instantly fell in love with a fella in the second set of seats. He was short, stocky, and had a wet nose. There was a Beagle sitting in the middle and even though the two remaining seats were aisle seats, I decided to forego any scenery we might see (I've seen a windmill and sheep before). Once Julia saw what I was fixated on, she graciously sat with me and the couple with the dog. This little guy was so well behaved and snuggled on everyone's feet. He let me pet him the entire train ride to Bruges.
The train ride to Bruges was less than an hour. It started raining as soon as we got off the train so we opted for the bus to city center rather than hoofing it with our bags. Julia opted not to bring a hooded jacket, waterproof jackets, or any sort of hat on this trip so we'll see what we are able to do today. I may buy her a "500 Beers of Belgium" umbrella so we can go outside.
The bed and breakfast we are staying at is adorable. It's on one of the cute alleyways from the main town square and is close to everything. Like everywhere else in Bruges, the doorways are extremely low and I have managed to bang my forehead multiple times already.
After dropping off our things, Julia and I trotted over to the main town square to start our daily walking tours courtesy of Rick Steves. Julia will fill you in on the details since she read them to me the entire way.
Julia's take on the walk through Bruges:
Bruges is the most adorable little Medieval town. It's full of low brick houses (with low doorways for Jenn to hit her head on), red tile roofs, narrow cobblestone alleys, and winding canals all the way around it, which used to be the town moat. We learned that it was once one of the wealthiest cities in Europe as a trading port, but since the decline from its heyday, it's been pretty much ignored - and thus preserved almost perfectly. We fell in love with it immediately!
We started the walking tour in Market Square, kept going through Burg Square, then along the canal/moat to our destination - the town brewery (naturally... why do you think we're in Belgium?). The De Halve Maan Brewery is the only one in town, and they sure are proud of their beer-making, as we found out on the tour. With our designated English-speaking tour group, we walked through the brewery's many floors (actually, more like climbed through passageways intended for people under 5 feet tall, great fun for Jenn), ending with a great city view from the roof. Our guide was quick to point out that only the finest-quality beer is kept for Belgium - and that they ship the impurities to England, and the toilet water to Ireland (we weren't sure what quality hops they would save for us Americans, and we weren't about to ask). Finally, we learned that at the end of the tour, we were getting a pint of unfiltered (cloudy) beer, which is supposed to be extra good for you - because it keeps all these vitamins and nutrients, it's good for your skin, digestion, and... menopause. Woo hoo... looks like in addition to beer bellies, we'll be coming home with good skin and years away from hot flashes.
Walking back from the brewery, we couldn't help but stop at a waffle stand. And this was not your ordinary waffle stand. Let me give you a little history... This whole trip, I have been on the hunt for the perfect waffle. Imagine my disappointment when, in the first few days in Brussels, I found that most "waffletiers" pre-make their waffles, and just heat them up when you order. Stale waffles? Ewwww. I thought for sure that here, in the land of waffles, we'd be able to find a good - and freshly-made - waffle. And finally... success. Here was a place that puts the dough, with all the chunks of sugar in there (mmmm... sugar) in the waffle iron, and serves it to you hot and melty. I'll take that as a delayed birthday present, and I may just be coming back for more tomorrow...
We ended our lovely medieval evening in our lovely medieval town with - what else? - more beer. First stopping at a very local-heavy antique-feeling bar, which played jazz and Sinatra and served Kriek, my favorite cherry beer. We paired the beer with some food - cheese, salami, and vegetable soup (by my count, the first time we've eaten vegetables on this trip... this is doing wonders for our diets... we'll worry about that when we come back to the US with scurvy). Next, we checked out the token American bar in town - Charlie Rockets (yeah, we're that classy). But we had no choice - this is a medieval town after all, and after dinner time, it gets quiet. So we played a few games of pool with our friends Kriek and Verboten Vrucht (Jenn's choice naturally as it is one of the strongest beers in the country, which translates to "forbidden fruit" - and surprisingly yummy). Our challenge for tomorrow... is there a stronger beer out there? It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do the research and find out.
Final thoughts from Jenn:
Tomorrow we hope the weather clears so we can rent bikes and cruise outside the gates of Bruges for a ride in the countryside. Maybe a nice WWI battlefield and a windmill mixed in there for good measure. I'm going to buy Julia one of those plastic ponchos from the visitor center so my little munchkin won't get too cold and wet out on the roads. Next time, I will monitor better what Julia packs.
Oh and can I give you a little run-down on what I had to eat today. Breakfast: croissants. Lunch: pancakes with powdered sugar. Snack 1: Belgium waffle with honey. Snack 2: various Belgium chocolates I bought at Neuhaus. Dinner: cheese, salami and a green soup. After dinner: Verboten Vrucht. Dessert: dark chocolate. Seriously, I'm not messing around over here. I said we would survive off of beer, chocolate and waffles, and we are delivering. Not to mention, Julia averages twice as much waffle consumption.
Well, we are going to sign off. Big day tomorrow. We have to get up for the free breakfast per Julia's instructions and I don't get between her and a buffet. We are watching the TV show House in French. My French is limited to about three phrases, one being "biere" so I'm missing much of the sarcasm in this episode.
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