Friday, April 26, 2013

I Grew Up On a Farm....

(If you don't recognize the title, it's the beginning of a quote from In Brugge. Yes I think I quoted it the last time I was there; no, I don't care.)

At the top of the bell tower
Today was my day for Brugge. I love Brugge. I can't explain what it is, but it really makes me happy to be there. When I was there in January 2012, the bell tower and the brewery were both closed for renovations, so I didn't get to do either typical tourist activity. So today I got them both in. When yesterday was so gorgeous and rain was predicted today, I guessed that the line for the bell tower would be short today - as it was! No line no waiting. Just up 366 steps. (Whew!)

I made it up and down the tower in time to check out 2 beer shops and get to De Halve Maan, the local brewery, for the 11 am tour. It was a nice little tour with a free beer at the end; while drinking mine, I met a lovely couple from Bellingham, WA who took my picture and vice versa. We had a good chat about travel while downing our beers.

Then I had a few hours to just play around. I bought some beers, went to the De Struise tasting room and chatted with the daughter of the owner for a while as I was the only one there, and got some chocolates. Eventually it was time to grab my (very heavy!) bags from the B&B and head to the train station.

The train ride was very uneventful but it was the first time a train I was on was late. Then, I looked at the metro map and realized I should have gotten off the train at Midi, not Nord, because I now had to backtrack to get on the goofy line to the apartment. Crankypants time! The metro was no big deal once I worked it out (and I have since found a tram/metro combination to avoid backtracking).

The apartment is teeny!!! The bed is up in a loft. But it is cute, and quiet, and in a lovely neighborhood that I like more than last weekend's.

After I settled in, I set off to meet my internet pals at Delirium Cafe. That damn place was SO hard to find! I wandered for quite a while, which meant they were that many more beers ahead of me when I arrived. It was odd, but good, to see them in a different country, and we had a nice chat before heading out to look for food. I'd eaten but figured I would get a drink. In the end, 3 people went back to the hotel and the rest of us got frites, which I shared. And missed the metro closing time, so took a taxi back to the hotel... one less beer for me.  :-(

So, off to bed - tomorrow is the big beer festival in Leuven!


Enjoying my Bruges Zot


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