Rainy in Brugge

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I'll start with a general update. The weather has warmed such that we don't need the heater on at night. David hasn't worn his long johns for about 5 days and I am now wearing shorts and a t-shirt without a tank top underneath for warmth. In terms of rain, it is supposed to rain on and off most of this week so we are planning as we go and the clouds move. Don't think I have told you before, but the days are very long this far north. Doesn't get dark until at least 10:00 PM. One campground had a laundry room with only small windows and no lights. Surprised me at first, but since they aren't open in the winter why would they need lights. Doubt anyone does laundry after 10:00 PM. Here are our happenings so far this week.

On Monday, June 7, we drove from Delft to Brugge, Belium. This was our longest drive so far - 135 miles. Spent some time finding a campground since the one in our camp book no longer exists. Found a nice one in Jabbeke which is about 5 miles from Brugge. Our camp book says Brugge is the kicking off point for many Brits traveling in Europe. Met a couple in the slot next to us doing just that. Also visited for awhile with a lady from the NL who has done extensive traveling and lived in the US for a couple of years. Interesting conversation with her about the upcoming elections in the NL and immigration. Weather in low 70's and alternated all day between cloudy and sunny, but no rain. Enjoyable drive and evening in the campground.

Got up on Tuesday. Weather looked to be same as Monday so decided to bicycle into Brugge instead of taking the bus. Very pleasant ride. Bike lanes in towns in Belgium, but not as plentiful between towns as in the NL, but did have a separate bike lane all the way from Jabbeke to the city center in Brugge. Beautiful old city originally founded in the 800's. Several building from the 1200's still exist. City Center is fairly intact as a pre-1800 town with traditional look. This part of Belgium has a strong Dutch influence and buildings look very much as in the NL. Can tell the French influence in food, however, and tours given in Belgian, French and English whereas in the NL done in Dutch, German and English. Spent some time wandering the streets to the main square and the old Town Hall - very impressive. Stopped along the way to buy some Belgian chocolates. Decided to take the canal tour since the weather looked pretty good. Was quite interesting and you really see the “old” town this way. Started to rain during the tour, but not a problem since the guide gave us all umbrellas and it only rained for about 5 minutes. After the tour we decided to have lunch. Good thing we did because just as we selected the cafe and took a table it started to rain in torrents. For about 45 minutes it varied between a steady rain and buckets of water falling from the sky. Good timing on our part. I have to describe our lunch since we both had traditional Flemish items and they were both delicious. David had Flemish beef stew. It came in a small enameled pot with a lid. Large chunks of beef in a rich brown gravy. No vegetables in the stew. They don't seem to add veggies to stews here. My lamb stew in Den Burg didn't have any either. The stew came with french fries as usual and a small salad on the side AND warm, chunky, homemade applesauce. Really good. I had Flemish asparagus. This was about 8 large spears of white asparagus (most common form in Europe) with a butter sauce and chopped hard boiled egg on top. A boiled potato came with it. I don't know how they fix their potatoes or if it is just the potatoes they use, but they don't come with any butter or gravy on them, but have a superb flavor. Had a very leisurely lunch to enjoy the good food and avoid going out in the rain.

Rain finally stopped and the sun came out so we spent a couple of hours doing a walking tour of the city. Decided to head back to the campground while the weather held up since it was clouding up again. Made it about halfway home before it started to rain- not as hard as during lunch, but a good steady rain. We had our rain gear with us which was good because we ended up bicycling about 2 miles in the rain. Not cold out so other than getting wet it wasn't a bad ride. Will head to northeast NL tomorrow.

Started our drive to Arnhem in eastern NL, but started raining and continued on and off as we drove so we decided to use this rainy day and tomorrow to get to Denmark. By then the weather should be clearing. Will visit the north and eastern sections of the NL as we come back south. Drove about 350 miles, but made it to Bremen in northern Germany. Cleared up about an hour before we arrived and beautiful weather this evening. Stayed in the same campground we stayed in 4 years ago when we were here. Very nice with excellent facilities. Arrived about 7:00. Made a run to the grocery store and then settled in for a light supper and laundry. Bremen is a neat town, but since we spent time here 4 years ago we will move on to Denmark tomorrow. Looking forward to Denmark and sunny weather.

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Photos

Street in Brugge
Walking on a Narrow street with toward the main square. Buildings tall, narrow and old. As usual, bicycles everywhere.

Town Hall in Brugge
Magnificant building with many, many additions over the years. First section built in the 13th century, I believe.

A Typical Street
This street is in Brugge, but could be in the Netherlands. Note the pedestrian sidewalk, bike line in red and lanes for vehicles.