Gail noticed that today is Tuesday... What is that movie? "If it's Tuesday, it must be Belgium."
Well Brussels was pretty impressive. After we got off the train we ditched out luggage into storage lockers at the station and set out into town. There were Gypsies (Roma) everywhere, but we dodged them and walked right into a square, surrounded by tall spired, gold highlighted buildings from the 1600s, each covered with statues.
In the Grand Place (Grand Square) we had great Belgium beer, soup and shrimp croquettes at a sidewalk cafe. The croquettes were heavenly with the rich-tasting beer.
As we strolled the streets we had a Belgium waffle (pretty good, the plain one was perfect, hot and sweet, and we noticed the people who got the chocolate covered ones didn't hardly eat them, they were so sweet. The plain ones were hot perfection.) and chocolate of course.
We found Mannikin Piss, the Little Boy Peeing statue that is so famous and copied the world over. Some golden robed Tibetan Monks were walking the streets, heads shaved and carrying nice digital cameras. Their robes were a nice contrast to the dark buildings. A little window shopping, and then back to the station.
On the hour long train transfer to Brugge (also called Bruges) I learned some quick Dutch for the next few days. Dag. Ja. Nee. Dank u wel.
We have had 18 days of rain so far. Some days it rains all day, others it just rains off and on. Today is the sunniest day by far.
Impressions while looking out the train window: The German trains are new and punctual, but the Swiss and Austrian riders complain how old and late they are compared to home. Once we crossed into Belgium, which is very heavy French influence, the trains were older and predictably 15 to 20 minutes late. The food, however, has improved!
We are seeing windmills here in the Nederlands, the kind of electric generating windmills we have in California. None of the cute ones on a dike yet. More heavy forests here than anywhere else we have been. The houses are turning more to brick, in the country they are shorter, in towns taller and narrow with step-up roofs made of red tiles.
Right as I wrote this we were in a crazy area of a mixture of French signs, German announcements (gott sie dank!) Dutch speaking and signs... The Dutch, to read it, is like a mix of English and German with some French words like "billet."
Brugge is a beautiful city, exactly what you would think the Nederlands is like. Old brick buildings, cathedrals, bell towers, canals, dikes and windmills. Chocolate everywhere, twisty windy streets lined by multi colored narrow homes. Stopping at the square as the clouds were clearing, flags flapping in the sun, it was like stepping into a European dream.
Our hotel is right on the canal. I mean, you open the floor-to-ceiling window of the room, sit down and dangle your toes in the water.
We walked the streets, up to the last windmills ringing the city perimeter, down past ornate brick houses, windows filled with lace curtains and flowers. We stopped for a quick beer break, and stopped to gaze at chocolates.
For dinner that first night we ate at a bar where they had not 100, not 250, but 400 different beers. That means you could drink a different beer every day for a year and still not try them all! What a great goal for retirement. I had this beef stew, cooked in guess what? Beer, and it was so tender and delicious. I think perhaps the beer has a better flavor than the Munich beers, which I really liked.
I decided earlier that day that I should diet on the chocolate and waffles, so I could pig out on the beer. So far my diet seems to be working.
Walking at night, we noticed the cathedrals, high towers and all, are made of brick, which is really different. The church bells have a funny ring. They are not the thunderous cathedral bells, but sound more like chimes, playing a tune.
Talk about people riding bikes everywhere, rows and rows of bikes, riders weaving in and out effortlessly... And the city must be really safe as most bikes are simply leaned up in front of the business or home, not even locked.
The city is especially lovely at night, with the buildings reflecting in the canals. It doesn't get dark until about 10:30pm, so we eat late and wander.
The cops are called POLITIE here and the cars, vans, motorcycles and police bikes are all blue, white and have that neon orange on them. I watched them bust a guy, drunk in public, and they were very POLITE indeed.
Our second day we had to do some laundry, out of clothes again. The laundry mat was just down the street, and early in the morning there was one old couple there, arguing. I loaded the machine, walked up the street to grab a cup of coffee, and came back to stand on the stoop with the old man. He smoked, I drank coffee and we watched the sun come up.
Rain again early the second morning, but it cleared to a sunny, but cold day. Hard to believe it is summer. We walked to the farmers and flower market in the old town square, stopped in a church to see a Michelangelo statue, and stopped at a chocolate store and were surprised by the treats!
More beer, another nice dinner, and a cool evening walking the city.
Brugge is magical, cute, and quirky, but two days is enough and we are ready to push on.
I am pretty damn sure we are not heading into the sun as we make tracks to Amsterdam.