Day 2 - Brugge (And a little Bruxelles):
We finally got the hang of the tram/train system and made our way to Brugge (after an unfriendly man placed his luggage on my bad foot and just stared at me when I yelled ow – no apologies!!). Oh yeah, and our first train was broken and they kept sending alert bells and making announcements in French. Didn't help us so much! It wasn't until people started disembarking that we figured out what was going on.
Alas, we made it to Brugge. It is a picturesque town in western Belgium. Our first surprise was that they spoke Flemish, not French. Flemish is close to Dutch, so I knew the basic pleasantries, and the translator was able to figure out some of the things I entered. Our first stop was lunch at Bar Choc. They spoke virtually no English here, so that was fun. I ordered a mysterious beef in chocolate sauce and Natalie ordered Chicken in a mushroom chocolate sauce. (We knew the words for beef, chicken, mushrooms, and chocolate). Surprisingly, both dishes were amazing! Who would have thought you could combine beef and chocolate?? We also had the most amazing hot chocolate in the world. Added bonus: they served the hot chocolate with 2 truffles – why doesn't every place do this???
We walked all around the town (and took a billion pictures). It was so beautiful! We also saw an alleged vial of Christ's blood. I'm not sure why this isn't more famous. We were going to go to a diamond museum, but we ran out of time. We did go to Belfort, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (in addition to 1,000 places to see before you die, I'm also keeping track of the WHSs that I've been to... Apparently I have too much time on my hands). We also tried a cola-flavored Belgium chocolate. It wasn't as tasty as it sounds...
The journey back to Bruxelles was an eventful one. We sat next to some very friendly Flems (I don't think that's what they're really called, but it amuses me), and they spoke very little English. I got the guy to read the entire coloring book that Natalie bought for her niece (it was about underwater creatures). He even made sound effects! It was a hilarious hour back to town. Then, on the tram ride back to town I accidentally hit a guy's butt. Young, cute guy (yes, it was an accident!!). I panicked, then said I was sorry and was all flustered, he turned around and laughed. It was very awkward and embarrassing and all of us kept laughing. Prior to getting to our stop, Natalie was told off in French. We still don't know why! We also saw a bachelor party where the guys hair was dyed blue and he was on a leash. They forced us to take a picture with them. It was rather amusing. We did hold on tight to our purses though, just in case – see, all those lectures paid off!
We had dinner at a traditional Belgian restaurant. I had mussels from Brussels! I followed it with Belgian chocolate lava cake. (When in Rome...). This was another marathon dinner, with the requisite kitty in the garden area where we ate. Halfway through our meal we realized there were dolls hanging in the doorway, by their necks! When the waiter brought our meal, it came with a dish of Swedish fish, and I exclaimed to Natalie – what are they doing with Swedish fish in Belgium... her reply... they aren't Swedish fish, it's Mannekin Pis! They were gummy Mannekin's, oh the laughs that ensued :)
No comments:
Post a Comment