Hello hello,
Before I start anything I have to say that I forgot to mention something we did yesterday, something incredibly important and the true reason I wanted to visit Belgium... (have you guessed yet?); CHOCOLATE.
We went for a walk while our clothes were in the wash and came across our first Chocolatier, so of course I bought a bag, lol. And let me tell you, it was the best chocolate ever. Even Jeff, who doesnt have much of a sweet tooth, was mmmmmm-ing it. We sat and tasted the variety of chocolates in the laundrymat. The bag didnt last long but that was okay because we knew we would find more.
So, last night I left off saying that Jeff and I were going to relax, and thats exactly what we did. We found an English channel on our t.v. in our room that played some movie with Denzel Washington (everything I have seen him in has been pretty good so it was fun to watch). We were ready for sleep by 11pm, knowing we would be getting up early to leave town the next day.
We made our own breakfast in our hotel room, bread with peanut butter and some yogurt, and then headed off to the train station (after leaving our room key at the front desk... apparently thats how it works here; I dont get it, but oh well, lol). The sation isnt far from where we are staying, which is nice and the ticket to Bruges wasnt as costly as we thought it might be.
The ride was pretty uneventful but we did get to see more of the country. There are more detatched homes here, very different than other places we have seen so far and the houses are really cute.
We arrived to Bruges, after about an hour and fifteen minute ride, without a map (the one in our book was definitely not sufficient) and so just started walking. Within minutes we were snippy with each other; Im sure the cool air and misty grey weather didnt help the fact that we didnt have a clue where we were or where to go.
We eventually found a free standing town map and headed toward the centre of town, or the centrum.
One of the things we noticed during our walk, and we noticed this in Brussels as well, drivers dont seem to notice pedestrians or cross walks... at all. I think we are invisible because the number of close calls Ive seen is incredible.
Anyway, the centre of Bruges was just as our travel book said, beautiful, even on an ugly day. There were canals where people took boat tours, horse and buggy tours, and many walking tours in all sorts of different languages.
Jeff and I wandered around on our own for the most part, just exploring what we came across, such as huge churches. At one of them, I lighted a candle for my cousin Dan who had been on my mind.
There was one site in Bruges however that Jeff really wanted to see, a church with a vile of the supposed blood of Jesus. Now, finding this place was like a mad scavenger hunt that nearly turned nightmarish. I kid you not, the street names changed every 200 feet and since we didnt have a map in our hands it became extremely frustrating. In the end though, we found it and it was pretty neat. Along the way we had stopped for a hot chocolate to share in the smallest cup ever and that cost more than a Tim Hortons small... but it was the BEST hot chocolate we have ever had. It was like drinking warm liquid milk chocolate... I cant even explain how creamy and delicious it was; even Jeff was utterly impressed.
Now, since we were in a very touristy area in Belgium, chocolate was a major theme and there were chocolatiers EVERYWHERE. I swear, every block had at least three different places to get chocolate, so of course I picked some more up. Jeff and I have contemplated trying to bring some home but we cant see how we would carry it for another six weeks and between the postage and the chocolate we could probably find it at home for the same price (sorry family).
We stopped in the afternoon before heading home at a little cafe for a snack; Jeff had a beer and I had a piece of warm apple pie with whipped cream; It was delicious of course :)
Once we made it back home we decided to grab the same chicken sandwich we had from the place the night before and once again, it was really good (there is some spicy sauce they put on it that makes it delicious; Jeff and I picked up a bottle of similar looking stuff from the grocery store to take home with us).
The thing I noticed tonight, that I had suspected last night on the way to the supermarket, was the sex workers on the side of the street close to our hotel. We have walked by this corner a number of times and I have watched as they talked to men in vehicles driving by. There must have been six girls in that area. Jeff then suggested that we may not be staying in the best area... The constant sound of sirens may have confirmed that for me. I think we are fine; I feel for the girls though - it definitely does not have the glamourous feel like in Amsterdam, where it seems more fantasy than reality... this is definitely a reality for these women (and I absolutely know it is for the girls in Holland too).
Anyway, we are staying in town tomorrow as there are a few things we would like to see; I guess we will see how it goes :)
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