Brugge July ´09

Before leaving Antwerp, Riet and I packed up my beer glasses and went to the post office to send them off to the US. There they told us that they couldn´t send glass. I persisted and they said they could send the package but there was a good chance some glasses would break. So we went around the corner from the PO and found another cardboard box to wrap around the other box for padding, and returned to the clerk in the PO to send it. It just barely weighed under the 5kg max for 26 euros. I came to find out later from my uncle that 5/11 glasses did in fact break. Sad, but hell, the glass were free anyways! hehe, off to Brugge.
Riet sent me off at the train station and directions how to switch trains in Gent. Fortunately, I had no trouble finding my transfer train as it was adjacent to the track I exited from in Gent. I met a couple of Uni students who were on their way to the coast to party with some friends at a beach house. One of the guys spoke english really well and we had a good conversation. An older man seated across from us started into our conversation too. The older man and I got off at Brugge. He walked with me for a short distance and we chatted. Turns out he lives in a city nearby to Brugge and he had to catch a bus there. My host Leis picked me up at the train station and happily showed me the sites in route to her house just a 15min walk away. Her house was amazing! Located within a 5min walk of city center, it was perfectly situated. The beautiful brick house was roomy inside, having 3 bedrooms, 2 patios, and a nice, separate living room on the 2nd floor. I had the whole room to myself too! Leis, Hilde, and Nathalie were all great to spend time with. They were very friendly, accomodating, and full of good conversation. They took full advantage of having a male around to ask all kinds of "Man" and relationship questions. It was quite fun actually. At the restaurant, I ordered a traditional Belgian meal which I can´t recall by it´s true name. Nevertheless, it was roasted beef with a brown gravy, with salad and frites on the side. Delicious, but I soon forgot about my meal when I had a bottle of Westvleteren 12° in front of me. "Westvleteren 12 was again highlighted as "Best Beer in the World" in a bi-annual competition on RateBeer.com". I must say, I concur. Though my favorite beer I had in Belgium was BrugseZot. Its a trappist beer brewed in the center of Brugge. I must have had a dozen of these beers while I was there, and I even carried two along with me all the way to Germany where I realized I wouldn´t be able to send them home...Sorry Unca Dave. So, looks like I´ll be finishing them in Berlin. My lucky German friend Paul will have to join me. Ok, back to Brugge. If you aren´t familiar with it, you should be, cause this place is a gem! It´s like being in a Medieval Museum, outdoors. The architecture, some dating back over half a millenia, is stunning, especially at night when much of the center of the city is lit up with soft yellow lights. One could say it´s romantic, but I prefer just to say its a wonder for the eyes. It´s true beauty can´t really be described in words, at least not mine. Besides the sightseeing, I spent lots of time with Leis, her sister Hilde, and friend Nathalie. We had loads of fun together, drinking, cruising around town taking silly pics, and "admiring" beer glasses at the bars, hehehe. After a few days in Brugge I´d had enough elbowing with tourists in the crowded streets, and it was time to head back to Antwerp to prepare for Amsterdam!

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