Philip & I decided last Tuesday that we'd take advantage of his 3-day weekend. I was able to take Monday off. We made last-minute arrangements to take the train to Belgium. It was a WONDERFUL weekend. We took the tube into London and then took the high speed train to Belgium. We decided that taking the train is a great way to travel to Europe. It's much less stressful than flying. It was nice not having to be everywhere hours before we actually departed. I tried really hard to stay awake to watch the sights outside my window but there is something about the motion of the train that knocks me out (my mom would say it's my extra sleep gene --- I can sleep for about two people and still be tired where as my brother has never been much of a sleeper)
We took the train to Brussels and then went up to Bruges (pronounced like "rouge" with a B - rhymes with "luge"). We heard rave reviews from friends about the city. When we got there we understood why. It's a beautiful city with a wonderful square. One of my favorite parts of the city was the sweet smell of waffles wafting through the air down a few streets close to an outdoor waffle stand. It was amazing.
Philip enjoyed a Belgian waffle and some good Belgian beer. I took care of taste testing the chocolate. The first night we were there we went to the "Flemish Pot" on the recommendation of some friends. Philip didn't realize that his waffle would come with molasses for "syrup" rather than maple syrup. I really liked the hot chocolate there.
Sunday we toured a local brewery in the morning (I know my mom would be proud of my Sunday AM activity). Philip really liked the beer so we brought some back with us to give our friend Matt and for Philip's dad (who is visiting in a few weeks). We took a beautiful walk around the city and enjoyed the day. We lucked out on the weather. It was supposed to be cold and rainy the whole time we were there. It was chilly, but we did get some sunshine!
I had to laugh at the brewery. At the end of our tour Philip was enjoying his sample and I was having a hot chocolate. I looked over my shoulder and about 10 people filed through the door. I knew INSTANTLY where they were from. They all had seedcorn caps on and were wearing jackets from implement dealers with their names ebroidered on the front. It screamed MIDWEST. I figured out that they were from WI when I saw one of the lady's WI Badgers coat. Philip had to restrain himself from calling out, "hi Don, you must be from Wisconsin!" to one of the coat wearers. It was pretty funny :) Small world.
Sunday afternoon, we climbed up 335 steep stairs for a beautiful view out of the bell tower in the town center.
I got to do a bit of shopping this morning (they have an amazing sense of style in Belgium - I was really surprised and impressed) and then we came back home, filled the fuel tank back up and restocked the house with groceries. Back to the real world tomorrow.
*i've put more pictures on facebook if you want to take more of a peek*
2 comments:
Very, very funny about the seed corn caps and the implement dealer jackets!! You really should have greeted your fellow "Midwesterners." Dad thinks that our Ford tractors were made in Belguim. Maybe those people took a tour of that plant before coming for free beer. I'm wondering if the waffles you talk about are similar to ones I remember from my music trip. I remember getting them at outdoor stands, and how good they were.
oh how fun! I'm so living vicariously through you and your travels in my homeland! haha. :) Glad you got to see another beautiful part of Europe!
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