Brugges: awakening your senses

---

So my previous blog may have not been the most chipper, but this one is. Things seemed to have improved (baruch ashem, knock on wood). My luggage is still with me, which may have a bit more to do with the fact that I've been taking transportation overland rather than in the air but it could have been accidentally taken off the bus in Strasborg when I was taking the bus to Paris. My clothes haven't been dyed or destroyed in some freak laundry accident. And most of all I am truly enjoying myself.

Coming back to Europe I am reminded how much your senses can be awakened, in particular in Brugges. I was there this past weekend. It's funny because I had more than one person tell me Belgium is boring and Brugges only derserves an afternoon. I beg to disagree. I felt free again in Brugges and always found something to see, or taste, or smell. And for all of you who are wondering if I have indulged in touching the answer is no lol. No European flings for me.

In Brugges there is a fair bit of beauty. There are little canals that run around the outside and through parts of the old town. Making it a little piece of Venice in Belgium. The sound of waves lapping against stone and brick buildings is quite calming for an evening stroll.

One of the mornings I decided to take an alternative route and instead of taking the main street Langestraat into the central part of town I decided to walk the longer route along the canals. It was a quiet walk with only a few pedestrians and joggers passing by. Since it was a Sunday morning the church bells were ringing adding a bit of elegance and old time Europe feel to the walk. On my walk I passed by an old castle like building and a medival looking tower. Not something you see every day at home.

The architecture overall is beautfiul. But that is something I can say about most of Europe and definitely my more recent stops to Prague and the glorious country of Luxembourg.

Now sight is not the only thing awakened in Europe. There is the sense of smell. There was the not so lovely smell of wet paint drying that had a pickle-like tinge to it at my hostel. But that was only for the last morning and I got used to it after being in the room for five minutes. A more lovely smell was the smell of chocolate. There are numerous chocolatiers in Brugges, because hey Belgium and chocolate are synonamous. You could walk down a street and every third shop is a chocolatier. Even if you don't indulge in tasting the chocolate you at least get to enjoy the rich, sweet smell of it.

Now to taste! Europe is for indulging! There are a few culinary products which are tied to Belgium, they are: beer, fries, waffles and chocolate. I got to enjoy all of them and in one day. I decided to do a brewery tour at the De Halve Maan. I had already tried their blond beer Brugge Zot (which means fool, very fitting for a beer). At the end of the tour you are given a complimentary beer. I was drinking my free beer and reading my kindle when this British couple beside me asked about it. I started talking with them and then talking some more. We decided to indulge in some more beers.

A few hours later we embarked to the cobble stone streets to find this amazing frites shop (fries shop) they had ate at before. On our search for the frites shop Lauren popped into one of the chocolatiers and bought some chocolate goodness. We found the frites shop and each got a small greasy basket of fries. In true Belgium style it was served with mayonaisse gouped right onto the top. It was amazing! After the fries we needed something sweet so the chocolate came out and we helped to lighten up the load of carrying the chocolate by indulging in a few. The chocolate was amazing, even the lemon filled one, which under normal circumstances I would spit right out.

After filling our bellies we went to another pub to taste some more of Brugges' brews. I chose the Piraat beer because of the name. It was a beer for pirates. The percentage of alcohol was 10.5% and it had a strong barley taste. I manned up and drank it...very slowly. The night did not end at the pub no no. We still needed to get our waffles. So at 11 o'clock we embarked back onto the cobble stone streets and searched and searched for a waffle place. We did eventually find one, so we marched in, ordered (or more like Lauren ordered since she knows Dutch) and we devoured our sugar sprinkled (or in Jon's case, ice cream topped) waffles. The waffles was warm, crisp and delcious.

To all of those who may think Brugges is boring to each their own. But I will say to anyone planning to venture there make sure to indulge. Make sure to look up a little bit more and notice the detailing on the cute house which line the canals. Make sure to pass along as many chocolatiers as possible, not to buy but just to smell. And make sure to eat. Throw the Wieght Watchers point system out the window. Its about enjoying the richness, the greasiness, and the thirst quenching goods this cute little city has to offer.

---

Comments

[Eric]

Hey I enjoyed your Brugges post. It reminded me of my time there. My blog is looking for some good travel photos. If you have the time, check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric