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Published: June 11th 2011
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We decided to take a day trip to see Brugge, touted as a nearly perfectly preserved medieval city and the 'Venice' of the North ( I was thinking Fargo could use this marketing strategy every Spring during flooding). We hopped the train and enjoyed the hour long journey through the Flemmish countryside. It was nice to get out of the city.
Upon our arrival in Brugge we grabbed a map (as we had no idea what there was to do in Brugge) and wandered in to the city. We immediately found the only brewery still operating in the city (those with a functioning nose will have no problem finding it), Halve Maan. They offer a tour, but we had had our fill of brewery tours at this point and decided to wander the streets instead. We grabbed a quick lunch before boarding one of the canal boat tours. Our boat driver strangely reminded me of my dissertation supervisor, complete with somewhat off color remarks in English, French, and Russian. The city from the canals was breathtaking, though we were somewhat distracted by D's sudden need for a nap.
After the tour we wandered the city taking in the sites
and allowing D to run amok in the main square. She made another friend from Bangladesh and we met our first Americans that weren't Mormon missionaries (seriously, every American we had met prior to this were Mormons). We then headed back to the brewery to taste their brew (which was the only reason we would have done the tour anyway). Their beers were quite delightful and we had a good laugh at the high school tour group picking up their free beers. Then it was time to head back home.
Our last day in Brussels we decided to forgo the art museums and just do some more walking tours. On our way to take in some more Art Nouveau homes, we ran across yet another protest (or 'manifestation' as they called it). It was apparently for the Green Party, though someone more fluent in Flemmish is welcome to translate.
We passed a beautiful park and had a nice Italian lunch (mozzarella flown in from Naples and the eggplant Parmesan that wasn't breaded and fried). After nap time, we wandered in to the central district to take in some of the comic strip walls (comic strips are very respected
here) and sample some of the chocolate shops. Each of the chocolate shops was set up more like a jewelry store. We tried both Neuhaus (the oldest of the Belgian chocolate stores) and Leonidas (a Greek American who relocated to Belgium). Neuhaus was hands down the best chocolate either of us had ever tasted. If we weren't headed for hot as hell Greece, we would have brought some with us to take home.
Then it was time to head back to the house and pack again. We were really looking forward to staying in one place for a month so as not to have to pack again for awhile. Luckily we have lost so much stuff by now that packing is getting easier 😊
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