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Europe 07
Erin Fisher Well Well Well... ( this may not be so interesting as I just sat here typing you all a beautiful entry and then lost it after 30 minutes of creating it... ugh)
So I will spare you the details of my travels yesterday, but after 24 hours of it I arrive in Brugge, Belgium. The city is covered with beautiful buildings, canals, museums, chocolate shops, wafles and frites.
I arrived last night and took the bus to a hostel that was according to the internet had about 20 open beds, yet arrived to a full house and had to try another, that too was full. While walking the streets and thinking where will I sleep tonight, while the wind was blowing in my face and the drizzle from the days rain was falling, I stumbled onto an internet cafe. WOO HOO! I checked my email and my Couchsurfing mail, and to my pleasant surprise I was greeted with an email from a CS named Filip that said he could host me for 2 nights. I called Filip and he told me to meet him at Markt square at 11pm. The time was nearing 9 and the sun was
still out, hardly even dusk. The city was lively and I window shopped as I heade to my destination unknowing of when it would actually turn dark. Hunger struck me as I waited for Filip. I searched the markt for a meal and all I could find were 20 euro and up meals, I would rather starve. I then found a cart in the markt serving Frites (french fries), they offered many saunces for an additional charge. I asked what they thought I should get as long as it was not mayo or meat, and they said spicy. After talking a few with the man he said he would make me something special. After a squirt of sweet fire sauce, curry ketchup, fire samurai and raw onion, my mouth was dancing in excitement at every bite. I even took a picture of the place and the frites to share with the world. SOOO GOOD! I waited at the statue for Filip and at 11:05 or so, as the skt had turned to night, he arrived. Children were around playing tag and soccer, families were bike riding and patrons finishing dinner. This place never sleeps.
Filip and I met up
with a couple of his friends, and went for a drink. I got hot tea to try to warm up as I thought I was to catch pneumonia, they laughed. I hear the beer is amazing here, I tried a sip of Filips and it was not bad, quite smooth actually. At about 1am we walked to his place and he showed me around and gave me a room to stay in (belonging to his 5 yer old daughter Yuki). I slept like a rock and did not even turn to my other side until 8am or so today.
This morning we walked around and he gave me a tourist map of the city, showed me shops and led me to the tourism center so that I could get a more detailed map. Filip has to work today until 11pm again but he gave me his house keys so I do not have to wait again. he is a wonderful host and man. He speaks 5 languages and lived in Japan with his now ex-wife and his daughter. He has lived in this little town his whole life and he works at a local hotel. After Filip and I
parted, I went for lunch and got a vege Spaghetti that was covered in cheese (they know how to do it here). YUM, I walked around the city a bit and then went to H&M to buy a sweater. Filip told me that England and Ireland will probably be colder than this. yikes... I got a green zip up hoody, how will that fit in my bag? lol
After the shopping I found a Patisserie and bought a fresh made wafle with melted chocolate sauce poured on top. Wow, these Belgians I tell ya, they sure know their way to a girls heart... Frites, Cheese and Wafles, who could ask for anything more!?
I strolled along the city streets and have covered atleast half of the city by foot now. I took photos along the canals and on bridges. It is very charming here for sure. I stopped by the Choco Story, a chocolate museum but decided rather than spending 10 euro on admittance I will spend that on chocolate or other goods tomorrow at the Wednesday market. I am off to explore a bit more, tomorrow I head to Brussels to meet my host Manuel and attend a
film with him and his girlfriend.
I had to find out today how expensive everything is, well it is more than I thought. The US dollar gets you .70 cents euro. I need to watch my budget a lot more now. I exchanged $100 dollars in London and got 42 pounds! Ugh, that is not even a night at a hostel there. GREAT!!! I hope I get more CS hosts.
I hope this email finds you all well, thank you for the comments and messages!
Cheers,
Erin
Link to Brugge - http://www.brugge.be/internet/en/index.htm
Picture of the Frites stand - http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tp/67d44/
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Laycie-Ann
non-member comment
Awesome entry and photos. I am not a journal writer, but I am learning how to write better entries from you! I am off to Lugano this morning, right near the border of Italy. Ciao!