We're in Brugge, Brussels. So after such a bad day yesterday, we could only get better. And although the weather was wackydoodle and was rainy, windy, sunny, cold, windy, rainy, sunny, and rainy, we had fun. We checked out of our hotel and shared a cab with a couple of American men to the train station. We put our bags in a locker and went into town to make the most of the day. It was rainy when we went out to catch a bus. It stopped by the time we got to the Market Square. This city is amazing, old, and beautiful. Chocolate shops are everywhere you turn, buildings are from the 1300s and on, cobblestone streets, and tourists everywhere. The first thing we did was get breakfast at a bakery. I had a croissant and a slice of gouda cheese. Scott had a sweet roll. When I ordered the cheese, I asked in English if I could get a slice because I didn't know how to say slice in French. But the rest I ordered in French. The baker laughed at how I "broke out" in French in the middle of my order. After eating our breakfast, we followed Rick Steves' advice and went to the Bell Tower.
We climbed to the top of that thing!
I'm glad we went first because the crowds came soon after us and the line was a mile long. They can only let about 70 people up at a time because it is a small area. We climbed up, and up, and up, and up. 366 steps to be exact. On a tiny, narrow staircase. With the wind blowing furiously. It was quite scary. I didn't find out till later that it is tilting 4 feet and has been since te 1600s, but they have been monitoring it since then and it hasn't moved more. We got to see and hear the bells chiming and how it all worked. At the tippy top, it was an amazing view of the city, but oh my gosh was it windy! The Bell Tower was originally built in the early 1200s and was added on to every few hundred years until it was as tall as it was.
After the tower, we went souvenir shopping and got a Belgian waffle to share. It was soooo good!
Then we went to take a canal boat ride. Their boats didn't have covers and almost as soon as we got in, it started downpouring again. We were trying to huddle under one umbrella (I forgot mine at the train station) and the seat next to me was so wet that when the boat moved, all of the water ran into my leg. By the time I got off, my pants were drenched. But Scott was pretty dry. Yep, the things I do for my man. :)
The canal tour was pretty cool and we got to see parts of the city we wouldn't have otherwise seen. The rain was crazy, coming off and on like a sprinkler.
We went into a little place to get lunch and dry off. Then we went to go take the Halve Moon Brewery tour. We had just missed the last tour so we had to wait an hour. So we went to the Church of Our Lady and saw an original Michelangelo sculpture.
It was a beautiful church but we couldn't see much because they were renovating. We also stopped in a chocolate shop that was newly opened this weekend and the owner was so cute. Her chocolate was A-mazing, so of course we bought some.
Finally it was time for the beer tour. It was one of the more interesting tours we had been on since they showed us all of the old beer brewing stuff. This brewery had been around since the mid 1800s and was the only one to survive WWII.
After the tour, we caught the train to Brussels and checked into our hotel. We went and saw the "Pissing Boy" which is a statue/water fountain of a boy, well, going to the bathroom. It apparently is the "symbol" of the city, their refusal to be too serious and enjoy the funny things in life.
We also went to the Grand Place, which is a market type square with very old buildings. Because it was already dark, the buildings were lit up beautifully.
We ate dinner at "La Chaloupe D'Or" which means "The Golden Boat." Scott had mussels and I had steak.
Overall, it was a good day.
1 comment:
cool. bring me some chocolate.
Post a Comment