Ah, Bruges. The town where nothing much happens at all. Old people eat in expensive cafes, horse's trot around with bags to catch their poo (direct quote from the Bruges map: "At first everyone thought the bags were really hilarious, but then we were just glad that there wasn't shit everywhere") some people climb the wonky clock tower, some people go into the Basilica of the Holy Blood to touch some dried drops of "Jesus' blood", chocolate is eaten, beer is drunk, but mostly, there's a whole lot of sitting and wondering what there is to do in Bruges. In case you were wondering what there is to do in Bruges, see above.
Not that Bruges is a boring or unpleasant place to be. I mean, It smells like a cross between horse and fried potato and everything is really expensive, but it was something of a holiday within our travels. And our hostel was called 'Snuffel.' Yes, that is why we chose it.
The first thing we did after arriving and trudging across town to our hostel was seek out some frites. Underneath the clock tower are two fried food shacks that basically sell bratwurst and fries. Medieval, right? Apparently they've been at war for quite some time, but I'm sure tourists don't know any better and just waddle to whichever is fewer steps away (can you tell how much I'm starting to hate tourists? I blame Australians) Having now experienced frites I stand convinced that Belgians have two stomachs. One for food, and one for mayonnaise. They pile it on so thick!! After getting about a quarter of a way through her serve of frites Courtney declared she couldn't finish them because she was all full of mayo.
Our main pass time was just wandering around and looking at canals. We didn't see any swans though and we frequently hit the edge of town and had to retrace our steps lest we end up in Gent or Brussels.We did climb the clock tower though. Such narrow steps, with traffic going both ways all the time. It was being renovated too so the view was less panoramic than it usually is, but it was impressive none the less. I think it's about 80 metres high with 356 steps to climb to the top.
I read somewhere that of the three million or so visitors a year, two million go on a canal ride and a further one million catch a horse and carriage around the town. Needless to say we did neither of these things, but It subsequently looks like absolute hell to drive around. All one way streets and non-existent street signs. Not to mention horse traffic.
Everyone who'd been to Bruges had told us to go to a family run restaurant where they serve giant plates of three euro pasta. It was so popular that in order to get a table we had to book for the next day. It was incredibly tasty and neither of us could finish our meals. Three euros!! If you do go to Bruges and end up in this cafe, beware, the one young waitress that works there is a crazy cow and she will not at any point wish that you have a pleasant meal or deign to make eye contact with you. That said, if she did, your face may melt off or explode like at the end of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc. No tips for you.
Bruges is also full of pubs and lot's of boutique beers... Or beers made by monks. Our hostel had a bar, so we got to sample many different kinds for very little money. The bar also played some Midnight Oil songs, which I thought was odd. It wasn't the first time we'd heard them over here either. Apparently the Europeans like Peter Garrett. I suppose someone has to now.
The highlight of Bruges though? A bridge over a canal near our hostel that had at least two dozen fluffy bunnies roaming around underneath it. Some of them were small enough to fit into the palm of your hand! I wanted to go bunny fishing, but decided against it. It wasn't actually the highlight either, it was just super cute.
All in all, had we stayed in Bruges any longer we probably would have gone crazy and started tearing our hair out, but having been there, I can now say it is a lovely little place.
Stay tuned for Bruges photo's!
Love Bron xoxox
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