Semester Break Part 2: Bruges!

After three full days in Amsterdam, we took a bus to Bruges with the most adorable and hysterical bus driver to ever exist in any time or place. My friend Lizzy’s uncle lived there for a while and he recommended going, and since Brussels is the only Belgian city I’ve ever visited (and I certainly enjoyed it a lot) I thought Bruges sounded like a lovely place to add to the Amsterdam trip!

Although the forecast for Bruges looked pretty grim, we majorly lucked out weather-wise and ended up spending a lot of time outside, wandering the picturesque canals and alleyways, enjoying blue skies and only getting rained on a little (despite the freezing temperatures—we just combated those with lots of hot chocolate). Bruges is another city of canals, and is often called Venice of the North because of its mega-importance in the trade industry during the 15^th century. That was Bruges’ golden age, and during that time lots of artists called the city home. I think it’s similar to Amsterdam in that they had similar industries and similar cultures but just peaked at different times; Bruges a little earlier than Amsterdam. I didn’t know anything about that before visiting either city, so that ended up being a cool way to tie the trip together!

Despite their similar pasts, the two cities could not be more different today. Amsterdam is a big, bustling city with lots of energy that never stops going, and Bruges is quiet, quaint, charming, and shuts down around 6:00 similar to the rest of Europe. The city has only 20,000 inhabitants, but has been getting more and more touristy as of late, and I was glad that we visited in the off-season, because I can imagine the city losing some of its charm when it’s filled to the brim with other tourists! 

Van Eyck Square, with a statue of the painter in the middle

Market Square, with a horse, how picturesque

I don't know what this is, but it's pretty

We spent our first day wandering the streets, getting a lay of the land, and stumbling upon all sorts of beautiful things that we had no idea how to identify. One thing we did identify was this store advertising “The World’s Best Hot Chocolate.” Now, normally, when a store has some kind of sign like that, it basically screams “I want you naïve tourists to come give me money because you are tacky and I am smart” so we were pretty reluctant to buy into the scheme. However we did REALLY want some hot chocolate…and it was cold…so went to inside. Now let me just explain to you exactly what it was that we experienced inside that little hut of magic. We sat upstairs in their tearoom and ordered one hot chocolate each, but were greeted with SO much more than that. I took a video because I knew words couldn’t describe it.

HOW AMAZING IS THAT!??!?!?! ANDDDDD it was less than 4 Euros, which is the going rate for a cup of hot chocolate pretty much anywhere in Europe. What is this sweet madness!? To top things off, the waiter was super attractive (like basically single other waiter/bar tender we encountered…what is it with Holland and Belgium and attractive service people?) Needless to say, having such an enchanting  experience our first day set the bar quite high for the rest of the trip.

We started Day 2 at the Historium, an interactive museum that involved this walk through exhibit, complete with audio, videos, interior decorating, smells, music: it was advertised as an experience that engages all 5 senses, and it certainly was. The exhibit was supposed to teach about Bruges in the Golden Ages, and it did so by following the story of a young apprentice of Jan Van Eyck as he falls in love with a young girl who has been sent by the artist’s patron to be a model for his latest painting. There is a green bird named Frederico involved, and lots of things being lost and found and a rosary and a sensual bath house and some serious drama, but it all works out in the end, so don’t worry. It’s difficult for me to explain what exactly this whole thing was, but just trust me when I say it was not worth the money we paid for it. It was, however, a really well-done technological feat, and a hilarious experience that provided great material for mocking later on in the trip. There's a "trailer" for the exhibit below. In case you're interested...

"cast photo" from the film

We had heard that the thing to do when in Bruges is a canal tour, so that was our next activity of the day! Luckily we stumbled upon one that was still operating, even though it’s February, and it turned out to be really fun. The boat took us all through the various canals, as the driver pointed out important monuments, and terrified us every time we went under a really low bridge. At several points we were swimming next to swans. It was delightful.

We also spent some time just wandering around the city on our own, stopping for several photo shoots along the way.

Old City Hall, with the flags of the EU, Belgium, Flanders, and Bruges

Old Courthouse, and the square in the middle was
used for executions, so that's nice.

Zooming in on these faces is great fun

Because we had some time to kill before our evening walking tour, and because it was cold outside and our feet hurt from walking so much, we decided to hang out at the hostel for a few hours in the afternoon, and ended up playing Trivial Pursuit. So that happened.

This board is ancient. Also we're terrible at this game.

Our walking tour was really cool because it ended up being just the five of us plus one other guy, who turned out to be awesome, and our super cool but kind of intense and at times questionable tourguide Kai, who had an incredibly un-PC sense of humor but was informative and funny and absolutely entertaining. I loved seeing the city at night, because I’ve always felt that the way buildings are lit up at night really does make them beautiful in an entirely new way! To be honest, I can’t remember much of what I learned on the tour, so I don’t have any fun facts for you. Sorry.

We spent our next morning at the Saturday market, which was not as cool as we’d hoped—it was just your typical market—and because the sun was out, we decided to take a long walk along the canal that runs completely around the perimeter of the city.  This walk was absolutely gorgeous, and included a series of windmills that are no longer in operation, but are still beautiful. Because of this walk, I think I saw more windmills in Belgium than I did in Holland! This was one of those situations where I wouldn’t shut up about how beautiful everything was. It was so great.

One of the old gates to the city

After a quick lunch (which included a sandwhich called the Humpty Dumpty, described as a "ribburger"--amazing), Michelle and I split off from the group and went to De Halve Mann Brewery, the only brewery still operating within the city of Bruges today. Belgium is famous for its beer, and we learned that it’s because they’re allowed to add special ingredients, unlike in Germany where there are rules about this kind of thing. We learned all about the beer making process, from our incredibly dry and monotone but somehow incredibly hilarious tour guide (she made lots of jokes about feeling "hoppy"), and got to see their facilities, including the roof of the brewery which had a perfectly wonderful view of the whole city. As one of those family-run-for-five-generations kind of places, the brewery itself was quite small, but charming, and we got a free beer at the end which was actually delicious. I recommend this place for a visitor to Bruges!

Aside from a little more window shopping and wandering, that pretty much concludes the highlights of the few days we spent in Bruges, except for the most important part of the whole experience: THE FOOD.

Of course, when in Belgium, you must eat Belgian waffles. Many times. Literally one of the only things I remember from my time in Brussels several years ago was how amazing the street waffles we got were, and I have been dying to get another one ever since. I would be lying if I said this wasn’t the main thing I was looking forward to in Bruges. The waffles of Bruges did not disappoint. They were every bit as delicious as I remembered. In fact, maybe even more so. I really do not understand how it is possible for these waffles to be as amazing as they are, and maybe it’s all mind games, but I don’t care. I just want another one.

whipped creme and chocolate

chocolate and bananas!

Another an incredibly necessary food item when one goes to Belgium is, of course, Chocolate! We pretty much consumed any and every form of chocolate imaginable during our few days in Bruges, and while I’d like to say I was sick of it by the end, that would be false. I don’t know how it’s possible for so many chocolate shops to stay in business because literally every other shop is a Chocolatier. This included Dumon, the one advocated by Rick Steves, because I actually do anything Rick Steves tells me to do. When asked where we were from in the chocolate shop, and said America, the guy working goes “oh, so you know Rick Steves?” My response was “Man, I wish.”

Finally, another Belgian specialty: Fries. They were invented in Belgium, which is a little known fact, and they are readily available from street carts offering a plethora of sauces to go with them (but not barbecue sauce—is it really so much to ask for, Europe!??!?!?!). There are two stands in front of the Belfry in the main market square in Bruges that have this legendary battle about which has better fries. If that’s not an invitation to try both and make the decision for yourself, I don’t know what is. So, Rebecca and I each got an order from different stands and then had Meredith and Lizzy do a blind taste test. All results came up the same, the stand on the right was better. So, now you know.

warring fries

Oh! And there was that time my friends got pulled into a quasi flash mob (which was more like some high school boys dressed in women's clothing, trying to do the macarena but failing at it)--I feel kind of bad that I didn't join, but someone had to videotape, right? Also, my memory ran out halfway through, so the video comes in two parts. Enjoy!

Now for my usual concluding thoughts: I LOVED BRUGES! It was beyond charming, the food was amazing, it has a rich history, the people are friendly, and of course everything is so so beautiful. I highly recommend a trip there if you get the chance!