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.......BRUGES.......
A pretty site indeed... A quick 55 minute train ride from brussels and we arrived in Bruges...This place was basically the reason we began in Belgium in the first place..People found it quite random when we said we were taking a plane from dublin to brussels to begin the first leg of our journey instead of simply going from cork to Amsterdam!!!We had our reasons though, and by god didn't it pay off in the end. A few months ago me and jamsie came out of the cinema after seeing the film IN BRUGES (starring coilin farrel), fully intent on starting our interrailing trip there...WE soon realised we'd need to fly to brussels first though, but we were okay with that. Its funny, because in the film coilin's character was fully against bruges and hated every minute there. He said "If i was retarded and lived on a farm, then MAYBE i'd like this place, but i didn't so i don't" However, no.....I think many people felt quite the opposite after seeing this film. It's fairytale quailty conveyed in every seen almost draws you to the place...and so here we are a few months later roaming the streets of bruges on a fine summers evening..ha
The Final Bridge..
Our last look back on bruges.. ha...
As soon as we arrived here we became aware of how INSANE some of it's inhabitants really were....When we managed to hop on a bus going in the same vague direction of our hostel the bus driver blew us away by how BIZZARE she really was....She saw how confused i kinda looked, grabbed the map from our hands and started to figure out how we'd get to our hostel (MEANWHILE THE BUS WAS FULL OF PEOPLE TRYING TO GET HOME)....when we got to our stop she shouted back at us, brought us to the front of the bus and started directing üs in the right direction(or so we thought)...once out in the fresh air we soon realised she was pointing us in the COMPLETE wrong direction...one word...CRAZY....but at the same time i was warming to the place already...i felt very much at home in this peculiar lil town...ha ha...
we went to the hostel and were greeted by VERY friendly people who brought us across the road to our place..i mean for the little amount we're paying we managed to get this MASSIVE two floor room, private, two single beds, table, chairs, tv, balcony(ok so i think
CONFUSION
so...we're wandering back from the windmills..and SUDDENLY we come across about thirty see through tent things (or pods as james is calling them) no one near them!!inside everyone was an old suitcase and a goldy coloured stereo within them...and all above we could here whistling...lots of whistling of tunes from the 50's...WIERD...and we have no idea what it was about... its actually a fire escape but whatever...ha ha) and a massive cupboard...wasted space if ya ask me but i aint complaining...it's a slight walk from the centre but its totally worth it for what we're paying and getting.....as we walked aimlessly around the outer parts of the centre It's then that we really see the true bruges...and its quite simply WONDERFUL...past every corner is another fairytale looking house or bridge or church or just about anything....
We took a boat ride around the river of bruges under all the bridges, it's nice to see how the city was meant to be seen and toured...from the water...However do be warned the tour guide who was driving the boat spoke very little english and mostly spoke through french and german...but i didn't regret it all the same...My favourite part has to be the dog chilling, looking out the window at all us tourists in the water....okay..yes ye may laugh at me but i'm telling you, you had to be there to get its hilariouty i guess...
The food is divine here...pizza, pasta,pita bread...yummmy....one of the places we ate was merdards....
the windmills are pretty to walk by and can
The Square
View from the Bellfry tower.. often be forgotten as there on the outskirts of the town but take the extra few minutes to go out and see them, as its worth it...
The Gurthouse Musuem was pretty nice, 5euro with a bruges card (which the hostel kindly gave us for free)...i kind of lost track of time here as i got engrossed in everything quickly which meant we missed out on the beer tour...woops.....The church is right next door where ya can check out the Madonna and child sculpture. there's a nice atmosphere here, everyone has to remain silent (which i found hard) and church-like music is playing in the back ground. Best of all, it's free...ha ha...
The stairway to heaven is a must. We walked all 366 steps up the bellfry tower and i even did so barefoot(ya, don't do this in flip-flops, one word DANGEROUS)......the view from up here is a AMAZING and plenty of pit-stops for all those who are feeling it midway...
The upside-down cannon...FIND IT AND YOU WILL FELL SO MUCH RELIEF(or so jamsie did anyway..ha ha...)
Overall it has been a pleasent stay except waking up this morning COVERED in bites..i have no idea
BRUGES
what a view.. how i managed it but some how i did...oh well...i'll get over it..
One last thing..ya know the way cars ruled in brussels well here, people FEAR BIKES...motorbikes, mopeds, bicycles, tricycles, unicycles...if ya gotta pedal then your one to be feared...they have their own red line on all the roads and they fly on and off footpaths which terrifies all pedestrians..i had ONE very close call yesterday morning that's sure...so definitely have a watchful eye when it comes to them...it seems to be the thing here..to travel by bike...EVERYWHERE..
Bruges..."the venice of the north"...they weren't far wrong when they said that now...
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