And by dear Belgium I mean Bruges and Brussels….
Bruges! Brugge! You are very pretty. Picturesque. Much much much better than I thought you would be. I still haven’t seen “In Bruges” (I knoooooooooooow) but I’ve heard it says you’re lame. Well, wrong! Youre very very pretty and un-lame. Though I was a little disappointed not to run into Ralph or Colin….
We got there by train- so many stops!- and we almost didn’t make it. youre sooooooo confusing to get to! If it weren’t for Faye (bein boss) we probs wouldnt have made it. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the image of her bolting from the escalator and reading the sign just as our train was about to leave. I’ve learned that while it’s incredibly comical, running for trains=not the most fun. We did that a lot. I did get a lot of reading done, though. Threshold of Fire. Oh, Hella Haasse you are a sassy lady.
Once IN BRUGES <—- funny, right? we made our way through a cute shopping street- where Faye and Jackie took the opportunity to buy some watches (yah, time to synch up!)- and past the Belfry and the Burg to our hostel.
Oh, the hostel! Charlie Rockets, a hostel I immediately found on hostelworld because of a story I read in my Cr Wr class last semester (it was actually a horror story about the hostel, but i wanted to go!) and booked for the night we were there. Charlie Rockets is an american themed bar with a few rooms above it. i loved it. yeah, it was a little creepy getting to the room (the hallway was painted like radioactive sludge green and it smelled like burnt hair) but we had fun in the bar. or, at least, i did. but ill get to that later.
We wandered around Bruges until dusk and, after taking a tiny street a ways away from the touristy square, we had dinner at a cute little pub run by the nicest woman ever. We had yummy meals- i had a waffle too!- and Jackie and I had tasty local beers. At around 7 we left the pub to go to a tattoo place down the street where FAYE GOT HER SEPTUM pierced. bad ass, i know. it looks fab on her. aaaand i have a fantastical video that documents it. (or, not it,-ew!-but mostly Jackie and I wasting time while Faye was in the back room) After that, we made our way back to the hostel with Faye’s face a little shinier than it was before.
Anecdote! there were two bartenders, Leo and…hmmm… lets call him Orlando. Leo was a fan of Jackie- the hugest, he loved her from the tips of his toes to the ends of his euro/fashion mullet- and made her a flower out of paper. awe, isn’t that cute? yeah… until he insisted that she give him a kiss as a thank you. in the back room. we didn’t sit at the bar. if only Orlando (who’s name i don’t remember, but who WAS orlando bloom) wasn’t so busy moving back and forth from the bar to the radio, where he played a number of “classic american rock” songs, we might have stayed. sigh.
After a drink in Charlie Rockets, we went out on the town! at… 8:45. yep. we went to two different bars and a frites shop before 10:30, and decided to turn in early so we could get up the next morning for the belfry.
Which was b e a utiful! It was totally worth it to climb all those steps (i’ve blocked out the actual number) to get that view of you, bruges. Really cool. after spending a long time up in the tower, we descended and made our way to the train station.
Brussels! we spent less time with you, but you had some very nifty qualities. chocolate! vintage shops! peeing statues! fantastic falafel! chocolate! we hit the high parts and had time to stop (and defrost!) in Mr. Falafel, a little restaurant we found on our “Young Brussels/Brussels from Locals” map. Delicious! soooooo good. After filling up we hurried back to the train station and made our way back to Well by Saturday night in time for CARNIVAL in the morning.
Overall, a fantastic few days. Thanks Belgium.
Love,
Me.
