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Published: August 19th 2006
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Three months. That's the length of our travels around Europe. One week. That's the amount of time we have been here. But man does it already feel like a few months are under our belts. We have been cramming all the good and bad, the touristy and off-the-beaten track activities, and cheap, cheap, and more cheap food and accomodations under our belts way too fast. PB&J's are already getting old. We have stuffed ourselves with so much Belgian cheese that we won't hit a "water cooler" until we arrive in Italy. And the chocolate. Like we have never had before. We have adapted the saying of "When in Rome..." to "When in (insert present city here)..." We walk an average of 5-6 hours a day simply exploring the city. Getting lost is both fun and frustrating. And we haven't even been to the larger countries. And to think, we have only crossed one border. Our minds race as we are surrounded by countless languages. Luckily English has been the root and foundation in our travels...but not for long.
We arrived in Brugges, Belgium by train from Amsterdam for a quick 2-nighter . It is a quaint little town suspended in
Belfort
View from the bell tower overlooking Brugge time. Completely medieval. It used to be a big trading town but the canals dried up and the workmen and traders fled the city leaving it be. Deserted. Like a ghost town. In a stoppage of time. The 15th century. It was not rebuilt and "refounded" until the late 19th and 20th centuries. There are very few canals that remain. The town square--the core-- is amazing. It hosts Belgium's oldest city hall and the 366-step (we only counted 361) belfort (bell tower) thqt looms large and still tolls every quarter hour. We had to climb it for the spectacular views until the town simply faded away in the distance. One of the highlights was Michelangelo's Madonna and Child sculpture in a church. His only piece to leave Italy during his lifetime. Our first "big piece of art" on the trip. The Basilica of Holy Blood (church) holds and cherishes a few drops of Christ's coagulated blood..supposedly.
Our hostel was quite interesting. There was no common room. We felt like we were college freshman. Four bunk beds. Eight people. A very small room. The downpour didn't help at all either. Water gushed from the ceiling out of the smoke detector.
Brugge
One of the few canals Something tells me that it no longer, or never, works. The room smelled of B.O. and dirty socks. This seems to be the norm. We get what we pay for. That's what fifteen bucks and cheaper gets us. But fine by us. More to spend on beer. Or for those non-drinkers (Tenille), more for..well, I'm not sure what she gets to spend it on (now that we our out of of legal Amsterdam and a joint isn't easily available...just kidding).
A quick hop, skip, and a jump later..meaning 60 minutes...we were arriving in Brussels, home to the European Union and International community. Our first time on the metro. A little difficult, but who said traveling was easy? We made it to the hostel thanks to great help from a Belgian woman who led us five minutes to our hostel (The Van Gogh Hostel--he actually worked in the building in 1880).
I have hit my dream. The wonderland. But we are leaving tomorrow. I am getting lost in the over 700 different available brews. Like a kid in a candy store. Tenille decides to catch up on her napping when I indulge. She does try some of the beers
though. We went to a local brewery where we were able to roam the place and learn all about the art of brewing. Fruity beers are also popular. It ended in some free tasting.
Beer is to Ryan as Chocolate is to Tenille. She was foaming at the mouth as the rich scent hit us smack in the face as we walked through the doors. You wanted to eat the air it smelled that good. We learned how to make their popular praline chocolates. It is basically filled chocolate (caramel, etc. etc.) There were huge busts made of pure milk chocolate. And full-length dresses too. Yes, made of chocolate.
The center of town is a local's nightmare. A tourist haven of some sort. Expensive chocolate is everywhere. Belgian waffles are off the radar. Mom, you better find their recipe. I'll live at home with you instead of putting you in an old-folks home if you can make them like the one we ate in the picture. The Fine Arts Musuem was, well, fine art. Belgium is home to the Flemish Primitives (painters)--Jan van Eyck, Pieter Paul Rubens, Hans Memling, etc. A stop at the Royal Palace--Belgium is a
monarchy--was pretty cool too. I wouldn't mind living there. Heck, I'd live in their drawing room. Or the Hall of Mirrors. I didn't see the basement, but I'm sure that would suffice. It would've been nice to sit on the throne in the Throne Room.
Well, cheers from Brussels! Au revoir.
Ryan and Tenille
Next up: Paris, France ; August 19, 2006
Copy and Paste this link that is from our Amsterdam travels:
http://annefrank_engels.bitmove.tv:80/bitmove/annefrank_engels/index.jsp?uid=9D17A9D66759D9BA5DB49D3E36A926EA&format=wmv
http://www.travelblog.org/gmaps/map_1MG.html
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Amy
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I'm so glad you guys got to see Brugges. I loved that cozy little town. Sounds like you're having a blast. Keep on trucking and have fun!