Oh Brugge!

When I woke up in the morning it was so bright outside that I was afraid I slept in till noon.  Luckily, it was only ~9 AM but due to the time change it felt much later.  I quickly got around and started heading for the rail station as I knew I wanted to catch the 10:25 train to Brugge.  I had booked a ticket to go on a hot air balloon ride over Brugge in the evening, choosing sunset over sunrise as I was hoping to see the sunset over the sea and I chose a perfect day for it as it was sunny and warm without many clouds in the sky (rare for Belgium).  I knew I needed to call the ballooning company by 2 PM to confirm of the location in the city they would pick me up at, as well as confirm that the trip was still scheduled for that evening.  They originally pick you up at 6 but due to the time change they were starting to pick people up around 2:30 which totally shot much of my chances to see the rest of the city so I was quite perturbed when the train was delayed 40 minutes!  I started heading to the city center hauling past all of the lazy losers who were waiting for the bus shuttle and was trying to find a hotel where I could find a phone to use.  I finally found a hotel and made the call – and of course, the journey was canceled due to high winds!!!  So I was quite bummed but I knew at least I could slow down a bit and enjoy doing all I had planned in the city for the day.  I then went back to the Grote Markt which I was unfortunately unable to soak in the first time as I was running around trying to find a phone! 

I then decided it was time to do the boat canal tour which was very nice – the city has quite a few parks and a bunch of trees that were changing colors it was beautiful!  There were these lame French women who not only cut in front of me (of course I was first), but stole the seat I wanted (truth: I waited for another boat so I could get the seat I wanted), AND she blocked my view and “did not want to squeeze her legs close to the seat” so she wasn’t even sitting in the seat I wanted… I almost knocked her sunglasses off of her head into the canal--that would have been sweet.

I then walked around and went into a couple shops looking for a cool magnet as I decided I am going to get one magnet from each different city I visit so then I can remember them all when it is said and done, and finally be able to put things on my fridge.  There was a store which sold almost all of the Belgian beers and the glasses for that specific beer, it was amazing how many there are.  So I went to quench my thirst by grabbing a Leffe on the patio of one of the restaurants in the Markt and just people watched while I planned the rest of my afternoon. 

Caption: Amazing view.  Amazing beer.

Next I decided to go to the brewery tour I was interested in – it was pretty interesting, the coolest part was they took us on the roof which gave some remarkable views (minus my camera battery dying at that exact moment…) plus a ‘free’ beer included in the admission. After this I knew I had just enough daylight left to rent a bicycle for an hour and ride around the outskirts of the city center without all of the tourists in effort to see some of the parks and streets where “the real people” live.  And boy did I have a bike that flew… Within the first ten minutes I was feeling to confident that I thought I would try a Cru Jones move and try to ride up onto a sidewalk, up over this tiny maybe 3 quarter inch curb, but the bike tire did not like that and I completely bit it… luckily I escaped with only a nice strawberry on my right knee and a couple bent wheel covers on the bike.  I then found a bike path and rode along a river where there were a handful of old-style windmills which was very nice.  Let me tell you the perfect equation for clown fingers – me flying around in this bike on brick roads, so the cold of the wind and the vibration from the brick roads – wow I definitely had to stop a couple times to let my hands breathe a bit before they swelled up too much.  While I did this, I had a chance to get another quick picture out of my dead battery camera.

After this epic bike ride I grabbed dinner at a cozy place called “La Curiosa” and ordered a fish stew – goldfish, salmon, shrimp, etc. – so delicious that even the family sitting next to me asked me what I was eating because it smelled so good.  After dinner I checked the time and realized I had 16 minutes to make it to the train and I made the decision I was going to make it.  I knew I did not even have time to check the map and I just started going in the direction I thought the train was in and guessed correctly.  As soon as I saw the train station I ran to check which rail my train was on and ran all the way up to the train and of course when I get up to the platform the first three cars I try to get into are packed, so I run to the back of the train and slide in the door just as the usher was blowing his whistle to close the doors, so glad I made it otherwise I would have had to hang out in the station for another hour!