Bruges & Brussels

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We boarded our Eurostar train in London so early in the morning that when we emerged from the tunnel in France it was still dark - actually, it was darker than inside the dimly lit tunnel. Soon after, we arrived in Brussels and changed trains to head up to Bruges, the beautiful medieval city where we were to begin this second European jaunt.

After dropping our bags off at our hostel, I set out on foot, happily wandering through the cobble stone streets and soaking up the Christmas atmosphere. Christmas in Europe has a magical feel, with Christmas markets in every square, fairy lights twinkling in every street and children ice skating whilst the adults drink mulled wine. For our second day in Bruges, we decided to take a self-guided walking tour of this gorgeous city, starting with an ascent up the 366 steps of the belfort, which dominates the main square. We were fortunate to have a day of clear blue sky (considering it is the middle of winter), which afforded us magnificent views across the city and of the fields of Flanders in the far distance. Whilst standing next to the enormous bells at the top of the tower, I was suddenly caught by surprise as they began to ring out the tune of Greensleeves. After recoiling from the initial shock, I watched the bells in a fascinated manner as my body resonated within. During our stroll I discoverd that Bruges is built around a series of canals, which makes the city even more picturesque and I came to understand why it has been compared with Venice by some writers.

Having not booked any accommodation in advance, on our third morning there we discovered that Bruges was entirely booked out on the Saturday night, so we had no choice but to leave this city with which I had become quite enamoured. We caught a train to Brussels and had been lucky enough to find some affordable accommodation right in the heart of the city. I was happily surprised by how much I liked the 'feel' of Brussels. It is a vibrant city that possesses (to my delight) many alternative record stores and a plethora of delicious food options from cultures all over the world. We jumped on a bus one day and saw some of the sights of Brussels, which included the striking atomium, which was built for the World Fair many decades ago. This structure is enormous and is essentially an atom magnified something like 165 billion times and is impossible to draw your eyes away from. We did not enter this structure, but apparently there is a restaurant inside as well as exhibitions. Science nuts would LOVE this thing. We saw many of the beautiful old buildings that typify European cities and saw the park which is designed in the shape of the Freemason logo. On our last day we also saw the famous Mannikin Pis statue, which is of a little boy relieving himself, but he is always dressed in a different attire. Being the festive season, he was dressed as Santa when we saw him. Brussels is a melting pot of different cultures, but I made sure I became familiar with the Belgian specialities of beer, chocolate and waffles. Needless to say, I am fairly certain that when I boarded the Brussels Airlines plane to fly to Warsaw I was carrying a few more kilos than when I alighted from the train upon my arrival in Belgium.

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