I went to Bruges, Belgium last weekend, and it was beautiful.
Adeola, Jen, Stewart, Tommy and I left Amsterdam at 10:54AM on Friday (after missing the 9:54 train because of the slow-moving ticket line). We transferred in Antwerp and got to Bruges (or Brugge, in Dutch) around 3PM. Our first mission was to find and check into our hostel, which was a short walk from both the train station and the center of the city. Then we wandered into the city. The medieval buildings were beautiful, and there were chocolate shops and cafes everywhere. I found it hard to believe that people actually live in such a gorgeous place! Lucky! After walking around for a while, we went to a restaurant that our map recommended. We all ordered the 3 euro spaghetti and various drinks. I got a fanta, which I've decided is my new favorite thing. After dinner, we explored some more and hung out by a pretty canal. Then we had Belgian waffles! Adeola and I shared one with ice cream on it. We decided to go back to the hostel for a while before meeting the 4 other people who were joining us that night at the train station. But when they called, they told us that because some crazy stuff had happened they had gotten on the wrong train and ended up in a random city called Kortrijk. After some panicking, we figured out that Kortrijk is about 37 miles south of Bruges, and suggested they take a taxi to Bruges since our hostel was already paid for. They finally arrived at 1AM. Yay!
On Saturday, we had a super exciting, busy day. Our first stop was the The Chocolate Museum, followed by The Frites Museum. We had frites there for lunch and tried a bunch of different frites sauces (pickle sauce was crazy, but not actually very good) Next we climbed the 366 winding, spiral steps to the top of the Belfry. The view from the top was wonderful! And we could see and hear the bells play beautiful music. Then we visited the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk. I saw Michelangelo's Madonna and Child, and then paid a euro to see the museum part of the church (because I wanted to see the stained glass windows up close!). The church was really impressive, and I took a ton of pictures in it. Then we all went back to the hostel and took naps (yay regression! but seriously, we were exhausted!). We had dinner at another pasta place. Then Jen and I walked around the city some more. We went into two chocolate shops that were still open, and were given a delicious free sample (a cookie with rasberry filling).
It was great to spend the weekend IN BRUGES (lol)! I would love to go back someday. Or tomorrow. :)
