Thoughts on Bruges

December 28th to December 29th, 2018

Photo by Juliana on Unsplash

Things I Did

• We arrived in Bruges relatively late at night via a relatively short (2 hour train ride) from Rotterdam. A quick aside about the train system in that part of Europe: it is really nice and easy to navigate (very similar to Chinese infrastructure). The US really missing out on convenient and accessible interstate travel. Imagine how much more diversity cities would have!
• Anyways, we got into the city and immediately wandered around, finding a semi-authentic Belgian restaurant to consume some sort of “beef stew.” It was nice! And so were the views of the city. Bruges felt very romantic (but not in a cheesy touristy way like Venice is) and intimate. The streets run along the water which creates a beautiful backdrop. The old city feels quite safe, such that you can roam around aimlessly four hours without really having to worry. We stayed at St. Christopher’s hostel — a really cozy/clean place that I would recommend!

• Perhaps my favorite part about Bruges, and really Belgium in general, is just how good and cheap all the beer is. It probably is a good thing I do not live there, as we tended to order a beer (or 2) pretty much everywhere we went! Duvels!

• IMO, we came to Europe at the perfect time — being right around Christmas meant that all of the cities still had Christmas markets up and active. They served loads of things like hot wine, beer, pretzels, and much more. Bruges’ market was really nicely located, directly in the town square. In the center, you will find a beautiful clocktower that overlooks the city.

• We woke up early on our (only) day in Bruges and rented bicycles from our hostel. They recommended we travel a bit outside of the city — we followed their advice and roamed around for hours making it into the rural countryside. It was awesome. I have written endlessly about my love for biking as a vehicle for seeing cities — and this place was no exception. Was a fun ride.

• Went to the Dali Museum — wow that man is wild. Definitely learned a thing or two just by staring at a few of his quotes and paintings.

• I could not go to Bruges without finding the best chocolate they had to offer…and I really think we did. We visited the small tea parlor located above the Old Chocolate House and ate the best Chocolate Belgian Waffle I think has ever been created. This was amazing!

Overall:

• Bruges… I think I will be back!!

Photos