This morning Mary and I decided to sleep in and take advantage of a late breakfast offered at our B&B. The Grand Place stayed pretty lively the night before, until about 12:30, at which point, I closed the large picture windows into our room. Staying up so late necesitated a late start.
Once we got the day rolling, around noon, we set out for a stroll down to Midi/Zuid station, where we caught a twice an hour train to the medieval city of Bruges (French)/Brugge (Flemish). The walk only took about twenty minutes, but buying tickets and finding the right train was a little confusing. After consulting an information kiosk, we found a train stopping in Bruges that was departing in 5 minutes. The ride out was uneventful and took about an hour. Once we reached the station we prepurchased two bus tickets for the trip into town (€1.20 in advance, €1.60 from driver). The city center, or centrum, was impressive and filled with even more people than the Grand Place in Brussels.
We lined up for a 30 minute carriage ride (€36, €4 tip) that takes you on an interesting narrated trip around the city at street level. One word of warning, the ride stops for five minutes to feed and water the horses, which surprises many visitors. We used this time to take some pictures and have some pictures of us in the carriage taken. The ride continued on and ended where it began in the Market Square, where afterwards we tried Flemish fries with mayonaisse for lunch.
Our next activity was some small shopping, I bought my daughter and wife some small hand-made lace embroidered with their initials. We then stopped by a boutique chocolate shop and purchased a small box of mixed truffles. After, we embarked on a canal boat tour, where we learned Bruges is called the Venice of the north. The boat tour afforded us some great views, but the commentary was split between, French, Dutch, and English (which was the least used). I was proud of myself, because I completed our transaction for the tickets entirely in Flemish/Dutch.
We then took to the streets to find a cafe where Mary could use the restroom. Eventually we found a series of cozy cafes nestled into a small tree-filled courtyard (they are found at every second left turn on any street in town). Seriously, this place is filled with picturesque squares, courtyards, parks, and little alleyways. We settled on hot chocolate milk for Mary, a local Brugge Zos beer for me, and a Brussels waffle with ice cream to share. After we walked the ten minutes back to the station (to burn off calories) and hopped one of the twice hourly intercity trains back to Brussels Centraal station. Now it's time for Moules and frites (mussels and fries) with some great Belgian beer.
Evening update - We just got back to the room and settled in time to catch the 11:00 light show at the Grand Place. While it is very cool, four times is really enough for us I think. Before dinner we took a walk down Rue de Bouchers, where we saw numerous (and niave) tourist being cojolled into dining at expensive and subpar establishments (research goes a long way). For our dinner we stopped by a place on the Grand Place that I had found during my own trip research, T' Kelderkerk. It was great, I really liked that we were able to order without reverting to English or asking for the English menu (which all restaurant's on the GP have, just ask).
Mary had steak and stoemp, while I had mussels and fries with Bruggs Witte bier (little one for Mary, big one for me). I rarely eat mussles at home, but for my first time in Brussels I figured why not. I was not dissapointed. If anything, I was worried I would not be able to finish (the pot was huge!) The stock was amazing, beer, onion, and celery (which I do not usually like). The mussels themselves were very delicate, not rubbery/chewy in consistency.
After dinner, we decided to go for another walk, which led us back to the Grand Place. We found a cafe that had Framboise (raspberry) lambic, and other types as well. We stayed for a couple Framboise and Krieks (cherry), then returned to our room. Well we have a full day as we set out for Paris tomortow, so Au reviour.
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