Belgian Beer, Waffles and Chocolate We Had Much

We arrived via train to Bruges, Belgium from Paris. It took about two hours I believe, via highspeed train. I must say we were pleasantly surprised by Belgium! We really didn't know what to expect. I feel like people don't come to Europe solely to see Belgium, but I could be wrong. I don't know anyone who has ever been there. For me, I never really thought I would go to Belgium in my lifetime, but I was very interested and excited to see what this country had to offer, and also feeling very blessed that I have this opportunity to see this perhaps rather off-the-beaten-path country as we attempt to conquer the contienent.


So we arrived on a glorious Belgian day, with waffles drifting through the air...I'm saying "glorious" sarcastically because the weather is kind of crappy here. It didn't rain while we were there but it overcast the entire time we were there, with threats of rain looming.


We were going to stay in Brussels, simply because it's the biggest city in Belgium, but after reading a bit more, we decided on Bruges. Bruges is supposedly the most romantic city in Belgium (ooh!), and it's quite smaller, meaning you can get anywhere on foot. After being in Paris, where getting everywhere is an ordeal, a smaller city appealed to us. I love exploring a city by just walking around, and if you can do so entirely on foot, it really is nice. So, Bruges it is! Also, little sidenote, Bruges is where Dr. Evil (from Austin Powers) was born. We're big Austin Powers fans.



Bruges



We decided to 'hostel it' in Bruges, since our guidebook highly recommended one there, and it was a good price. It's called Snuffel, does that not remind you of Mr. Snuffleupagus from Sesame Street?? I think of that everytime. We were in a 4-person room; our roomates the first night were an older lady from San Francisco (but originally from Luxembourg) and a young guy from Norway (I can't remember his name).

Bruges is a beautiful city that seemlingly takes you back to medieval times. Their architecture, mainly Gothic, dates back to the 1400s and probably even earlier than that. They speak mainly Flemish there (which I think is a dialect of Dutch), but luckily English is widely spoken, as well as French. I saw many bartenders, tour guides, etc., move effortlessly between French, English and Dutch, it was quite amazing. I guess it's because Belgium borders so many countries.


We explored for awhile, strolling along the cobblestone roads, along the canals, and headed into their main center square called Markt. This is also where the Belfry Tower is located. We stopped at one of the restaurants there for dinner and had some Belgian food....yikes, not too good. Joey got "herring filets," for a starter, which was basically big sardines. I got flemish stew, which was pretty good; he had chicken casserole, which wasn't too great. Well, we figured we'd try it out. The next night, we got Italian...

Belfry Tower

Belgian Chocolate!

Belgian Beer!

We headed back to Snuffel afterward, which converts into a bar at night. We had more Belgian beer, and checked email. We met some really nice guys, one from California, the other from Tampa, and we sat around and talked about our travel experiences for quite some time. This is the advantage of staying in a hostel: you meet some really great people and often get great advice for your trip. They also informed us of the best Belgian beers, and we had several. The beer here is much stronger back home, and that's all I'll say about that.

Snuffel Bar

Snuffel Bar

Later a group of us went to get some late night bites, and so we met some other really nice people. Two girls from India on holiday (I know I will butcher their names if I try so I won't!) and Carlos from Mexico City, also on a short vacation before school starts for him. They were all really nice. The only thing open in Bruges late at night are these french fry stands...Belgians are famous for their fries (but isn't everyone?), so people tend to congregate around these stands. We actually met some guys from Baton Rouge! The world really is small.

Markt at Night

So anyway, beer and greasy late night food was to be had, and we had a great time with new friends. We all exchanged emails, so we have new friends in the world.

The next day was quite the full day. We started off with visiting an open-air market in one of the other city centers, Burg. We really like markets, and it's always interesting to see what different places offer. This one had plenty of sausage-type meats, lots of cheeses, fresh fruits, flowers and of course waffles! They don't eat them like we do---they carry them in their hand like we would a big soft pretzel, and they're often sprinkled with chocolate or powdered sugar, never with syrup.

Belgian Waffle

Then we took a boat tour on the canal. It was a good way to see much of the city in a short period of time. They seem to be very proud of their different types of architecture and for good reason.

There are swans everywhere

We made it a point to visit Basilica of the Holy Blood, a sacred church in Bruges. A man we met in the market told us not to go into the main entrance first, but to go in a little door in the corner on the left. So that's what we did. Inside was a small chapel. It was a little unnerving because no one was in there except us, and it was filled with life-size statues of Jesus on the cross and Jesus' corpse presumably, etc...very somber representations. It was a very solemn place, and I was beginning to worry that the man we had met was playing a prank on us and any minute a priest was going to pop out screaming at us; or worse, we would be locked in. But niether of those things happened...I tend to have an overactive imagination. No one else ever came in while we were in there. I'm guessing because people don't know it's there, as it's not marked or anything. It would be easy to pass up, so we kinda felt like we saw something that not many people see.

Then we went into the main church dated back to the 12th century, and it was beautiful. They didn't allow photos, so I can't show it to you, but it was very holy. The main reason why this church is famous is because they have in their posession what they believe to be some of Jesus' actual blood. While we were there, they had the relic on display guarded by a priest. Believers of Jesus Christ the Son of God were invited to come up and lay hands on the relic and offer up a prayer. We did this---I don't know if it's really Jesus' actual blood, but they are very serious about it. Of course it would be amazing if we laid eyes on Jesus' blood. But for me, it doesn't really matter because if you believe in Jesus Christ, then you know He is living inside us all. Of course I understand the care they take in preserving this ancient relic. You can read more about the church here.


Appropriately (or perhaps not), we then went on a brewery tour! One of the guys we had met at Snuffel highly recommended it. The tour guide was really spectacular, he is super passionate about beer. He was great. The particular brewery we went to makes Zot, and they are very proud that they have won two gold medals from the German beer Gods or whomever gave them the medals...it was something via Germany...thus, Belgium has some of the greatest beer in the world. After the tour, we got to judge for ourselves with a pint of Zot. I must say it was very good.

Our tour guide, Andre



On top of the Zot Brewery





Andre claimed that George Lucas came to the brewery in the 60's and saw this helmet from the brewery...look familiar? He said this where Lucas got his inspiration for the make of C3PO. If any Jedi's would like to make a counter claim, I'll be glad to hear it!



Really Good Beer from the Brewery

Then we finished the day off with a two hour walking tour of Brugues. And walk, we did! It's a free tour put on the by hostel. Unfortunately, this tour guide was less than enthusiastic which was a stark constrast from the brewery tour. He was just sort of blase' about it, like he really didn't want to be there, and my guess is he didn't. But at least we got our exercise and saw a whole lotta Bruges.


Needless to say, we were very exhausted after this day and went to sleep as soon as possible, which was still around midnight.


And now it's time to say goodbye to Bruges. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit here. The next morning, we got on a train and headed to the tolerant country of The Netherlands, specifically Amsterdam.

Love,