BRUGES!

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Well, today I got my test back. I didn't do amazing, but I didn't fail. I got above average in the class so no complaints here. We also got a new teacher for class. I didn't realize that I would have to deal with 2 professors from the University of Florida. Anyway, this one isn't too bad. I'll get over it.

On Thursday night, my host sister, Dadou, her sister's boyfriend, Mike, and I went to Delirium. It's a world famous bar here in Brussels. They offer 2,004 beers. There is a giant book that lists all the beers. We chose random beers from the Belgian section. My finger first landed on 'Cookie Beer' but unfortunately they didn't have any. I settled for La Wallonie from the French-speaking part of Belgium. It was a really cool place. I enjoyed myself. I really like how each beer is served with a different type of glass. They are serious about beer here like the French are about wine. Beer has to breathe as well. I just couldn't believe there were so many choices! There were some good names too (I can't remember any now; I'll go back for more research).

Friday morning, Dadou and I went to see where my host mother works. Her office is across the street from Erasmus' house. He was an important philosophe during the 1500s. His house was built in 1515 and it was really cool. However, (Wendy you will enjoy this) coming from a house museum background, it was not presented in the best way. My host mother's coworker who is a history buff took us around the house. He touched everything!!! I wanted to yell at him. There was an original leather wall covering that he offered me to feel. I just couldn't do it without my white gloves on. It made me cringe. Other than that...it was pretty and interesting. The gardens were very impressive. They had a rose archway that would be perfect for a wedding (maybe I can bring you guys here!! haha). Friday night, Dadou and I returned to Delirium because she wanted to meet up with a boy that she has a major crush on. Of course, being the third wheel in America sucks, but it majorly sucks when the other two speak a different language. I just looked around at the different beer advertisements on the walls and the ceiling.

On Saturday, as Dadou was leaving for two weeks to go Puerto Rico, I was getting on my first train to Bruges!! I got lucky and barely caught the 10am train to Bruges. The train ride was one hour and twenty minutes, very easy. It was supposed to rain all weekend. I am happy to report that it didn’t rain until I came out of the metro station to walk home on Sunday afternoon. Anyway, back to Bruges. Thanks to Theresa (my favorite big sister), I had a guidebook to the city of Bruges. Rick Steves (the author) had a city walk that I could take to see all the major sites of the city. First I walked to my hostel to make sure I had a bed for the night. It was called Charlie Rockets. It’s the American bar in town. It was more like a European biker bar with American license plates on the walls. I did have a bed, and I checked in. I was too nervous to leave my backpack in the room so I walked all day with my backpack. It got pretty heavy by the end of the day. My tour of Bruges started in the Markt (Dutch spelling, not a mistake) which is very much like the Grand Place in Brussels but wider. There were beautiful guild houses around the square as well. The next stop was the Burg which was another square only smaller and for more political buildings, except the church that was there too. I went in one of the buildings (because Rick told me to) and saw an amazing Gothic hall. The walls were covered with murals telling the story of the city and the ceiling was just fantastic. The date on the mantel piece was 1305. That’s crazy old.

My next stop was the Groeninge Museum. It houses beautiful Flemish artwork. I was really impressed by this place. It was small, but you really got the feel for their certain style of art and how it evolved over time. Right near the art museum was the Church of Our Lady. The bell tower is just tremendous. I was really impressed by it and took pictures of it from every angle. The church holds the only one of Michelangelo’s artworks to leave Italy in his lifetime. It is a marble statue of Madonna and Child. I am excited to be able to say that I have seen a Michelangelo original. The whole church was impressive. The ceilings were high and you could see the flying buttresses on the outside (Gothic architecture). After seeing the church, I went shopping for presents and just walked around some of the side streets. I also took a brewery tour. It was really interesting. We climbed to the top of the building and could see a lot of the city. I really enjoyed the view. They had a room dedicated to the different glasses that each Belgian beer comes in. It is ridiculous to have so many ways to serve a drink. They had cans from all over the world on the walls to. (I found Budweiser and Colt 45 cans.) I even got to taste their award winning beer at the end of the tour. It was delicious.

After all that walking, I went back to the Markt and sat on the ground (all the benches were taken) and wrote in my journal. It was really fun to people watch and to see all the commotion in the big square of the town. The whole city looks like it has been put in a time capsule; it is amazing that it is kept up so well and so clean with all the tourists that go through there. After I was finished sightseeing, I realized how much the place looked like a Disney ride which is unfortunate. On all the canals, there are little boats for tours from the water. Every few seconds, you hear the clip clop of horse hooves on the cobblestones. There were so many carriage tours going on; I just couldn’t believe it. I finally decided to walk back to my hostel and check out my room. There were three sets of bunk beds in the room, and everyone else’s things were in the room so I felt comfortable leaving mine there too. I walked back to the Burg to sit on a bench to read my Hemingway novel (I felt studious). While I was reading, two travelers came up to me and asked if I was American. They were brother and sister and had just decided to travel Europe with no plans. They wanted to know what there was to do in Bruges at night. I didn’t really have an answer because past 5 o’clock the only things open were restaurants and bars. We chatted for awhile and ended up having dinner together. I just couldn’t believe that they had no plans in Europe. They had plans to be there for two weeks staying in different random cities. I took pity on them because they already wanted to go home after only being in Europe for six days. I don’t know why anyone would want to go back after less than a week. I was almost offended that they didn’t enjoy Belgium. I gave them my Rick Steves guidebook because they were headed to Amsterdam next and he had a huge chapter on it and I knew I wasn’t going there. I hope it helped them.

Sleeping in the hostel was like sleeping in the dorms: random banging on doors by drunk people and loud noises on the streets at all hours. In the morning, I took the first boat ride through the canals. It was a very different perspective on the city. Bruges used to be a major harbor for ships coming in from the North Sea. I was really amazed by that. After the boat ride, I headed to my last stop in Bruges. It was a hospital/art museum. The St. Joseph’s Hospital was a functioning hospital for 600 years! Can you believe that? That is almost three times older than the United States. They had some wonderful paintings by the Flemish artist Hans Melming. If you are interested at all in art, you should google Melming. I just sat and looked at the painting for about ten or fifteen minutes. I walked back to the train station and again barely caught the train back to Brussels. It was an amazing adventure in a beautiful city. Thank you Grandma Pat for forcing me to go there. It was totally worth it.

Sorry for the wicked long entry. There is just so much to share! Au revoir!

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