Tag Archives: Bruges

Goodbye Bruges

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We began our day with our 7:00 alarm because we were meeting up in Jan and Greg’s room for pastries and coffee (thanks, you two!). They needed to get on the road early, as they had a long drive ahead of them. We then said our goodbyes until next time (which happens to be this coming November, but not in either their neck of the woods — as in Heidelberg — or ours). I’m just so very glad we could meet up for this brief time!

We didn’t yet have our train scheduled, but it appeared easy to figure out (wish I’d investigated this prior to our Brussels to Bruges train because I think we paid quite a bit more than necessary … hindsight!). Dan was (I think) writing in his journal so, since I was packed once we brushed our teeth (I’m the carrier of the toothbrush and toothpaste: it’s a tough job, but I am willing to go the extra mile) I sat around a bit. Dan suggested I go out on a walk while he packed and that sounded like an excellent idea to me.

I went out our hotel door and, for the first time, turned left instead of right. Flowers were there, calling out to the camera, and then I continued on my way. Obviously we didn’t explore nearly anywhere close to the All of It in our area. Ah well. Too late now!

Dan met up with me while I was walking (we use “Find My” to locate each other — it’s very handy on trips like this!), and we walked only small bit more and then went back to the room so we could gather up everything and go to check out. Then we only had to wait for the cab.

The drive to the train station was uneventful, Dan paid the driver (who mentioned a tip, which is the first time we’ve been asked, I think), Dan paid said tip, and then into the station we went.

We had time to spare (very good for my stress level), so we bought lunch there, sat and ate that. Not bad for train station food!

When it was close to time went up to track #9. Shortly after the train arrived, and in we went. We are in second class (gasp!) and it is absolutely fine. I only took a few photos — train photos are just so meh. You’ll see a photo of my backpack between seats. I just wanted to show that and explain that the racks above are frequently incapable of holding our packs (or people’s roller luggage) and I was shown some time ago about putting them between seats. Just a little fyi.

We arrived at our new city …

Hello Antwerp!

Dan said he’d read about the train station: the trains tunnel in so they could keep the old station above. It’s very cool!

We called a cab, having decided we hadn’t quite figured out the tram. That was a costly mistake! For the short ride (but somewhat traffic-filled) we spent over 31€. Ouch! I commented on the expense and the driver (very nice man from Afghanistan — he told us he had worked for the US, British, and Belgians during the war and I’m betting he had no choice but to leave his country. Maybe Dan will clarify if I’m getting this wrong!) showed me the posted notice on the window and explained they raised the price because drivers had been (if I understood him correctly) kind of vying for rides and it was unpleasant. Or something like that. I didn’t tell him that paying 31€ for a short ride in a slow moving machine was unpleasant as well. What good would it do?

And then to our hotel. Or inn. Or whatever this is called. Our room is huge. And nearly everything is just out in the open — the tub, the shower, and it has a mini-kitchen (as if we’d cook). Thankfully the toilet has a solid door. Call me old and boring, but I prefer to have more privacy. I had written to the place when I was figuring out where to stay because the best room, on the top floor, clearly had a toilet that was fully visible by anyone else in the room. No thanks!

We ate our little chocolates that were on our bed — hooray, marzipan! — sat around a bit, and eventually decided it was time to explore. We are just outside the old part of the city and, in fact, Dan says this is the fashion district. I do hope they don’t kick us out! We walked outside and … yikes is it warm here! I’m a fan of upper 50°s and 60°s. But 77°? No thanks! Alas, I will have to cope.

There are some astounding buildings, and the most so is the church near the square, the Cathedral of our Lady. It’s nearly impossible to get a photo it’s so tall. We haven’t gone inside yet, but I’m thinking that might happen tomorrow. We continued our walk until we decided a snack was in order.

From there we ambled our way back to our room. It’s going to take me some time to adjust to this heat, I think.

We took a rest in our room, and eventually decided we should get dinner. In all honesty I could have skipped dinner after our snack, but I know I’m odd that way. As we left the hotel I noticed a man going out was carrying an umbrella. Really?! Well, turns out there actually was a chance of rain, the weather had cooled slightly, and it was pretty comfortable outside.

Now there are so very many places to eat, but us being us, we really couldn’t figure out where to go. Being in the tourist section so much is overpriced, and other things are rated poorly. Eventually we just decided to go to a burger place called Manhattn (yes, really), and have chicken burgers. Believe it or not I’ve had so many fries I opted for the cole slaw instead! I’m hoping that tomorrow we choose something a little more interesting, but I think a train ride and a cab ride and just being a bit out of it meant we had little energy to really get creative or adventurous.

Back to the hotel we went. You can barely notice the door to this place, and yes, there are stairs, but there is also an elevator. We are superior in case you are wondering. (Deluxe costs more.) I like being superior in my humble sort of way. The last photo below is looking down from our floor. Just because.

It’s now only a bit after 21:00, and as I’m rather full I’ll have to try and stay up longer or I’ll not sleep well at all. I’ll sign off here, though.

Goodnight!

Final Full Day in Bruges

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After our typical slow start we went in search of breakfast. We found a table for four at the Verdi Restaurant … or maybe we were in the Tea Room. Who knows? I had a simple breakfast of two rather sad slices of toast (I thought they would be a bit nicer than they were, but whatever) and a cappuccino. While we ate we heard (no surprise) snippets from Verdi operas. Outside were what appeared to be very musical frogs.

From there we opted to go in search of the loading spot for a boat tour on the canal.

We bought our 15€ each boat tickets and waited for our “ship” to come in. The tour guide spoke several languages, but I must confess I could barely understand him even when he spoke in English between my bad ear, the mic, and the general noises nearby. So it goes. It was a pretty ride, and we saw a few things we wanted to later check out.

After the ride we were planning on finding a place to sit and enjoy a beer (it’s’ Belgium, after all), but first we saw a church so we opted to go in. We soon found out it was a church-turned-museum. We looked around a small amount, but then opted not to pay the fee to see more and went back outside.

Walking more, we ended up at a place we had seen from the boat tour. Beers and Padron peppers were ordered and enjoyed. We had hoped for fries, but it didn’t appear that they had them. This meant we would “have” to take another stop somewhere later to get those. As we sat there the sun would come and go, but no rain! The people sitting in the next table over offered to take photos for us (on Greg’s camera: mine are from Dan and his nice long arm that can manage to get us all into the frame). Then “we” (primarily Greg and Dan) chatted with them for a while. My bad ear was aimed toward them, so I missed some things, but I believe the woman was from the Netherlands and the man from Germany. I could very well have gotten that wrong, though.

More walking transpired, and of course more photos were taken.

We entered one area where we were instructed to be quiet. It was a place where, in the 13th century, emancipated women who dedicated themselves to God resided. It is still a place for nuns and single women. It was so very quiet there, and quite peaceful.

Now, keeping in mind that we had not gotten our much deserved fries, we found a place that would serve them. You’d think it would be easy, but some places didn’t have them, so we walked until we found a place. It was … um … interesting: bras were hanging from the ceiling and many coasters were signed and on the walls. I suspect some women offer up their bras and maybe it’s for a free beer or something. Who knows? No beer for Jan and me this time: the one from earlier seemed stronger than we expected, so sparkling water was our drink of choice! I should have taken a photo of the bathroom area out back but neglected to do so. (I wasn’t interested in the ceiling with bras, nor was I willing to sacrifice mine. Breathe a sigh of relief if you’d like!) But back to the bathrooms — one sign pointed to the right and read, “Women are always right,” while the other pointed left and read, “Men to the left.” Yep! Truth.

More walking, and then we entered the Sint-Salvatorskathedraal. I had seen it on the map and it showed a few photos that made it seem rather interesting. And it was. We saw a few things there that were in yesterday’s parade, a few organs, and of course lots of stained glass.

By that time it was nearing 16:00, so we decided it was back to our hotel for a bit of rest. I even managed to sleep a bit. And suddenly it was time to leave for our dinner at Curiosa. I had booked dinners for both nights here because of the festivities yesterday and the warning from our hotel that restaurants fill quickly on weekends. Sure enough, we we got to the restaurant it said it had no openings, so I’m really glad I had made reservations. The place was, as far as I’m concerned, quite special. It was down some steep stairs, very quiet, and not all that many tables were there (and some never did fill up). As far as we could tell the server was the only person working. Was he also the cook? We wondered! The food was delicious and the ambience lovely. And the huge thing? I didn’t have to struggle to hear conversation! I’m just sorry I didn’t take a photo of the place itself, as it was really fun.

Before going back to the hotel we picked up a few pieces of chocolate. I decided to hang on to mine — I’m too stuffed to eat another bite! We also took some final photos.

Tomorrow we sadly must say goodbye to Jan and Greg. This has been a whirlwind of a visit, but I’m so very glad they drove here to meet up with us!

Goodnight … and tuned for tomorrow’s city!

Thursday in Bruges

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(Note: slow internet may mean some photos aren’t working at this point. I will try to fix things when the connection is better.)

Once we got moving (long after Greg had already gone out and investigated) we went to find breakfast. Not much was alive at this time of day, on a holiday in Bruges. It’s Ascension Day, and later today there would be the Heilig Bloedprocessie or Procession of the Holy Blood. Many places were closed, and they were setting up a huge stands in the market square and putting up barricades for the whole route. But we walked, found the place Greg had seen earlier, and bought our pastries and coffees. Goodbye low prices. Belgium is not cheap! But the pastries were delicious, and our server was quite delightful, very friendly and ready to joke around with us. No food photos below, but just some from our walk and yes, there is a Tupperware store here.

Then we walked. And walked. It wasn’t a sunny day in Bruges and, eventually, it was misty enough that one might call it rain. My glasses certainly thought so, and I neglected to wear a raincoat or hat, nor did I bring my umbrella. Ah well. At least it wasn’t freezing.

One thing you have to learn in each city is whether a pedestrian has a right of way or a vehicle. Here it appears the vehicles do, so one has to be a bit careful when out walking.

We did find a special little spot for the boys. (HAH!)

Someone had written that the church where we saw this (St. Anne’s) was the “strangest in the city”. Hm. We couldn’t enter so if it was about the inside we didn’t see it, but maybe it was because of the “facilities” for the men attached to it? Dunno!

More walking …

We finally thought it was getting wet enough that we wanted to find a lunch spot. After wandering through extremely tourist centered places we got to a place Greg had remembered from earlier (maybe yesterday?) and it was really nice inside, warm, and the food was tasty, although there was much to much of it and they made it clear on the menu that there was no sharing! Still, it was good to be inside, we finally got some nice photos of each other, and it was a relaxing, though rather expensive, time. When we went to pay I suggested we put it on two cards, splitting it in half, and the guy we were going to pay said, “No splitting. Welcome to Belgium!” I couldn’t tell if he was being blunt or funny, but it was clear that we are in a different country and the thought of splitting or sharing was now out of the question. At least in some places. I am having to readjust due to the expense of it all. And to think we go from this to New York, where it will, most likely, cost even more! I think I’d rather move in the opposite directions so I wonder if I need to think of that when planning the next trip. Hmmm.

We went back to the hotel for a bit of a rest, and since it had been cleaned I could grab a photo or two of our room.

Then it was out to see if we could catch some of Heilig Bloedprocessie. And, indeed, we could. From start to finish, in fact. It is a fairly amazing thing to see, and you can read about it, if you are interested. It begins with police, but soon moves to various Biblical events, starting with Adam and Eve, and ending with the resurrection. Eventually it moves to other things, including various dignitaries and priests and more. It is a fascinating thing to watch, and the number of people, instrumentalists, animals, costumes … well, let’s just say I was rather amazed. I took gobs of photos and videos.

I could add more, but I suppose that’s enough for now.

We decided to go back to our rooms to freshen up for a very brief moment. Since the room had been cleaned I finally remember to grab a few photos.

Soon it was to to go to dinner. We’d been warned that this particular day could mean difficulty in finding a spot to eat so I had made reservations a few days ago at a place called Breydel DeConinc. What a wonderful meal it was! I would say I ate too much but that’s getting boring so I won’t tell you I ate too much even though I did. You’re welcome.

Taking a small bit of time we looked at the nearby square.

Shortly after the detour, we walked back to the hotel, and enjoyed some wine at Jan and Greg’s premier room. (Ours is simply too plain, small, and humbling so we dare not offer to serve glasses here. 😉 ) I mean REALLY … this room …

I’m not sure what’s up for tomorrow. A canal boat ride? Some churches? Something else? Who knows? This is a fun city just to roam in, so that works too.

Bonne nuit!

Goodbye Bilbao … Hello …

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Today was definitely a very late start day. The locals were eating when we went out, which hasn’t been the norm. Maybe we are learning to relax a bit? Heh.

We wound up at the Plaza Nueva, and enjoyed our coffees and choices of breakfast food. I’ve no clue what Dan had, but my croissant was so large he had to do me a favor and finish it for me. (But the angle from which this is taken makes his treat look rather small and it really wasn’t quite like that. Honest!)

We had asked the desk if we could have a late checkout due to our later, 16:55 flight, but that was denied, but they told us they could hold our luggage for us, so that worked too. Up to our room we went, and did a variety of wasting time kind of things, and packing (but hey, I had already done that … some other person had to do a lot more. Hah!) before we went downstairs prior the checkout time of noon. We got to the desk at 11:58. No one was there. Okay, can’t be our fault if it’s after noon, but yours truly always gets uptight about time. When someone finally showed up she immediately knew our room number. I have a feeling she had us pegged for annoying tourists or something, but who knows?

Then we took a walk in a direction we had yet to go, and ended up climbing up a hill for a pretty good view! We spotted the funicular we took the other day (final photo).

Then back to the hotel. We figured we could eat at the airport lounge, saving a bit of money as well. We collected our luggage, grabbed a taxi (not literally), and took a short but somewhat costly ride to the airport. (I do wonder if Uber would have been less, and we knew we could take a train and then a bus but we went for simple and easy.)

We checked our larger bags (required not only because of our trekking poles but because this plane said we wouldn’t be allowed as much carryon luggage), and went through security in pretty much no time, even while we had to take all electronic devices and cameras out of our bags and I had to remove my sweater and scarf. But hey, shoes could stay on.

Up to the lounge we went, and food was had. Even the lounge had 0.0% beer. It appears it’s everywhere.

We had gotten to the airport with a lot of time to spare, so that meant blogging, resting, and time for coffee and sweets too.

Finally on to the plane we went. And oh my, the woman to my left, who spoke English much better than we could speak French, had a long story to tell about her car rental and getting charged for damage. She was a character, for sure.

The flight was non-eventful, and since I was in the middle seat I didn’t get photos, aside from before the woman arrived and when she went back to talk to her partner.

We landed, got out of the plane, bought an expensive bottle over water (nearly $4!), and … hello Brussels! But not for long. We had a long walk to the baggage area, collected our bags eventually, and walked to the train we needed to take. With help from a very kind young man we got tickets, first to the south Brussels station and eventually to our next destination. Oh … and three of the photos below (the last three) are of bikes … like SO many bikes. I am not sure if you can see them, but I’m hoping you can make them out. This was at the train station in Ghent, I think.

Hello Bruges!

We took a cab to our hotel, and then … hooray … after getting to our room we met up with Jan and Greg (for those who don’t know, my sister-in-law and my brother). Let the fun begin! Sadly I didn’t even think to take a photo of them or our room, but after getting to our room, the “upgraded executive room” or so we were told, we went to theirs. Now wait a minute! Theirs is much, much larger than ours! What is it? The presidential room or something?! Hmmm.

We enjoyed glasses of wine, some chips, and devoured the remainder of Greg’s breakfast sweet since we hadn’t managed to get any dinner. (Thanks, Greg!)

Now, back in our room, it is late and we are ready for bed. We’ll see what tomorrow brings. (Internet is extremely sketchy here, so I can’t promise posts will get through … time will tell.)

Welterusten!