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Published: July 21st 2011
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It was our final morning in Amsterdam and we had early afternoon train to Bruges. Jordan went to a cafe while Khyati did some shopping and then we met at the hotel to pack up and leave. It was quite a distance to the train station but with time to spare, we decided to make the hike. By now, we felt very familiar with Amsterdam-it was a long time for us to be in one city. It was Saturday and there were day tourists all over the city. We navigated through the crowds and stopped at the help desk in the station to reserve our remaining train tickets. Before boarding the train, we stopped for lunch-light and refreshing tabouli and lentil salads and a fruit smoothie. Our ride to Bruges was not long though we had a connection in Antwerp. When we got off in Antwerp (a stop we almost missed because we had fallen asleep), we realized it was a multi-level train station with 4 floors of 14 platforms on top of one another. It seemed relatively new and was beautiful but also an engineering feat to have trains literally coming in on top of one another. We walked up
to the top floor where we would catch our train to Bruges. Suddenly, a heavenly yet overpowering scent of fresh waffles caught our attention. Somehow, we chose to ignore it so we wouldn't miss our connection but when we reached the top floor and knew we had least 20 minutes until our train arrived, we knew we had no choice but to explore the "scent-in-passing". Khyati waited by the bags while Jordan went to find out more. He came back 15 minutes later and in his hands were two freshly made waffles, one laced with white chocolate and the other in milk chocolate topped with whip cream. He handed one to Khyati and as she took a bite, he describes the dish to which she responds "God Bless Them". We shared both of them and literally felt like if the world were to perish and this engineering novelty of a train station happened to collapse, we would die with smiles on our faces. We had never tasted something so amazing (yes by now we had this experience a lot in Europe) let alone at a train station! We finished our heaven in a square paper plate on the train and
continued to Bruges arriving at 18:00. Our research mentioned that it was an unpleasant walk to the town center, so we hopped into a cab to take us to our bed and breakfast. We had been told Bruges was beautiful, quaint, and romantic and that quickly became clear as we drove through the historic town. Our B & B was wonderful-situated on a small street with an unassuming entrance but inside were 3 floors of bedrooms each decorated in a classy yet charming way. The owner's son checked us in and showed us around. Our bedroom was on the top floor with wooden beam ceilings. The owner's son had recommend a restaurant nearby warning us to stay away from the touristy, expensive restaurants on the square. After settling in, we ventured out to do some quick laundry. We never found the restaurant he had recommended but allowed ourselves to get lost in Bruges exploring the city and selecting the next restaurant we found interesting. We settled on one a few blocks from the square with an interesting menu. We were given the option to eat downstairs in the cellar with a fireplace and opted for that. The food and service
were great. Dinner included vegetable croquettes that were delicious among other more typical items. After dinner, we decided to walk the quaint streets still filled with people at 22:00. Something told us this was going to be an interesting experience...
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