In Bruges!

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(November 25th - 26th) Before typing this, Brian and I decided it would be a good idea to watch the movie “In Bruges” and see what they had to say about the town. So let’s start with that:
Harry: So he's having a really nice time?
Ken: Well, I'm having a really nice time. I'm not sure it's really his cup of tea.
Harry: What?
Ken: You know, I'm not sure it's really his thing.
Harry: What do you mean it's not really his thing? What's that supposed to mean? It's not really his thing. What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
Ken: Nothing, Harry.
Harry: It's a fairytale town, isn't it? How's a fairytale town not somebody's fucking thing?

. . . and that pretty much sums up Brian and I walking around Bruges. It truly is a little fairy tale town with cobblestone streets, chocolate stores on every corner, and canals running all through it with gated bridges. My eyes kept darting all over the place oohing and aahing like a little kid on Christmas. Brian . . . well . . . Brian was just happy it wasn’t snowing, yet. Its funny to realize what you must look like to locals as you’re walking around a foreign city. My eyes wandering every which direction, and Brian with his nose buried in the map wondering which of the hundreds of bridges we had just crossed. If you watch the movie, you’ll see just what we looked like. Brian turning the map every which direction and holding it up to match centimeter-sized pictures to life-size buildings while I count out all the change I have in my pocket to buy French fries before realizing I’m short 2 euro cents and have to the give the clerk a fifty instead. Ah Bruges! (On a side note: they hired several members of the Harry Potter cast for “In Bruges” and Brian actually realized it before I did. Who’s the nerd now?)

The Snuffel hostel was by far the most bohemian looking hostel we’d been to yet. Brendan you would have loved it. The guy had posters from all the local artists who were playing music in town plastered to the walls and he bounced back and forth between changing the music, serving beers, and checking people in. Our room was two stories up a set of windy staircase with brightly colored walls surrounding us in the tiny space that should have been torn down to make room for an elevator. Two of the stairs were not attached at one side and Brian liked to jump on them to see if they’d “really hold.” And at this place we encountered our second push button shower. Although unlike Interlaken which would give you thirty seconds of hot water before turning off, this one you had to hold down the entire time if you wanted to attempt rinsing off. I knew I should’ve brought your camping shower Pops!

The hostel does provide the raddest maps with comments from locals on where to go and what to do. And although we couldn’t ever find anything on the map, it was still the best one we’ve received thus far. Now, as you travel, you learn the obvious discrepancies between languages. My favorite example is always in Spanish where “derecho” will have you traveling straight while “derecha” will have you turning right. It’s the little things you have to pay attention to. But in Bruges, when we were told there was a “Pancake House” we assumed delicious battery goodness topped with butter and maple syrup. We were wrong. Many of you I’m sure know that a crepe is also referred to as a pancake. And although the lady making them on the ancient stove right in front of us was pretty fantastic, it just wasn’t the same. (Side note: Bruge and many other places have also lied to us about cookies. A cookie is supposed to be melty and delicious with chocolate chips and cookie dough. A biscuit is not a cookie! I don’t want a hard as rock crumbling wafer to dunk in my milk! Mom I miss your cookies! And sadly Shelley’s mom sent chocolate chips to our apartment in Galway, but they didn’t arrive by the time we moved out 😞 We did end up making two new friends, Katie from North Carolina and Haden from Alabama whilst we were eating our non-pancake breakfast. Its always nice to talk with other travelers, it makes you feel a little at home even though you’re all complete strangers to one another.

The best way to get around Bruges, by far, in by bicycle. Walking is a joke because all the locals try to run you over and bikes always have the right of way. Plus in order to cross all the canals and bridges in “Little Venice” as Bruges is referred to, you need to cover some distance around town. Our first bike ride took us to some of the oldest gated bridges in town. Its pretty amazing to see structures still standing after hundreds of years and know that they once were the only entrances to the city. We passed windmills, crossed down streets that I swear Charles Dickens must have visited when imagining “A Christmas Carol” (either that or they are heavy London copycats), and enjoyed the sights and smells of this fairy tale town. Speaking of smells, there is one street in Bruges, right off the main square that we bike down at least 4 or 5 times. Were we lost? Not at all. The entire street is covered with chocolate stores and the whole streets wafts with the perfumed essence of chocolate. The first time we rode down on accident and upon realizing what we had just encountered, we turned around to inhale the sweet sugary air that made us feel like we were inside Willy Wonka’s factory once more. They should have an apartment on this street just for women to rent out for temporary use, I might have to start looking into investing.

The other wonderful smell in Bruges is from the two competing French fry booths on the square. The booths look identical and have similar menus, but locals will tell you they prefer one over the other and they will shoo you away from the “wrong” line. We picked our pony and enjoyed delicious fries without upsetting any of the locals. Brian ate mostly fries on this trip, myself, I should have tried the waffles much sooner. Everything you’ve heard about Belguim waffles is true. Somehow they manage to make the waffle perfectly crispy on the outside without burning it, and at the same time you still have a delectable, sweet, gooey center. Mouth-watering!

Enough about food for a minute. Brian’s asleep as I type now and I’m staring to get hungry. On to other sights in Bruges. With Christmas coming up, every town has something special to offer. In Bruges it was the Ice Sculptures show. Those of you who are skeptical, so was Brian, but upon entering the massive tents kept at freezing temperatures so nothing melts you see castles, bookcases, bars, and sculptures over 20 feet high made entirely of ice. The photos don’t do justice showing how beautiful these things were and the time and care it took to carve them. The best part was at the top of the ice castle was an ice slide you could ride all the way back down. Its only slightly claustrophobic getting to the top ducking through little ice tunnels. At the end is the ice bar where instead of buying drinks on the rocks you can buy them IN the rocks and have one of the coldest shots I’ve ever taken. Brian and I are already concocting how we will make a mold for these back home.
Another phenomenal sight in Bruges is at the Basilica of the Holy Blood where you can actually view and lay your hands on the blood of Christ. Whether you believe or not, its pretty powerful to see this vial of dried blood brought to Bruges during the Crusades that millions of people have come to Bruges just to see. Allegedly at times of great stress and trouble, the blood will actually go through veneration and turn once again to liquid. It didn’t happen while we were there, but we did lay our hands on it and pray for a dear friend’s brother who is now doing much better along with several family members. Who knows if its true or not, but every little bit counts.

The last bit of Bruges to enjoy is the beer. Girl Cory took me to Belgo Central when we lived in London and introduced me to the wonder that beer can be. My favorite of all time is still mango beer, which I have yet to find anywhere else in the world. At our hostel, as well as many other places around town, you can taste beer. Unlike wine or beer tasting back home, a “taste” in Belgium is a full pint. After five “tastes” I was completely satisfied with my trip to Bruges and all of its fairy-tale wonder. Brian and I bought our first Christmas ornament together here, so now its on to Amsterdam and hopefully someplace that will have a teeny tiny tree!

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Comments

[Cher]

Yay purple door!!!! So awesome! Bring it home for me will ya? ;-)

[matt]

There are two, we can share!