Hello again,
Two weeks ago we took the Eurostar to Brussels and then another train on to Bruges. Eurostar tickets to Belgium include an additional leg to any domestic station from Brussels, so this was all very easy and economical. One of our reasons for going was just how easy it is to get there from London.
We had two nights in Bruges, and the idea of this mini-break was simply to take it easy and soak up the atmosphere in a new country. Bruges has been on the radar ever since Tim watched the movie ‘In Bruges’ with Colin Farrell (Tim made Lesley watch this before we went). It’s a film about two assassins hiding out in Bruges after a hit gone wrong, and features a lot of stunning scenery. The town’s historic centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2000 – most of its medieval architecture is still intact.
It was cloudy and often quite cold during our time there, with quite a heavy fog adding to the atmosphere. We unfortunately missed the start of the Christmas markets by about 4 days. Other than walking around and taking it all in, we of course sampled the local food. Belgian specialties include mussels, french fries (double or triple fried), mussels and french fries (the national dish), stew (with french fries), waffles, beer and chocolate. Lesley found that waffles and chocolate together was a winner.
Walking around Bruges, you notice that there are lots of chocolate shops. Some are good but most are surprisingly tacky (chocolate penises or breasts anyone?). It was a bit disappointing how commercial parts of the old town felt – the high street sported all manner of trendy shops and tourist crapstores (Tim’s word).There were two waffle stalls (with accompanying bins) setup 10 foot from the entrance to the famous Belfry. It didn’t look like it did in ‘In Bruges’.
Walking back from dinner one night, a group of tourists were getting into a horse drawn coach, when the horse let out an enormous fart whilst simultaneously relieving itself with the strength of a fire hose. It did kind of sum up how (at least Tim) felt about the main square.
Having said all that, parts of the town were pretty, and it was especially nice walking around the cobblestone streets at night when everything was lit up (including the fog). We’ll throw in a few pics at this point so you can see what we mean. Swans are a feature all over the place…
Lesley was very patient in the cold while Tim took photos. The Belfry is the tower in the background…
The fog made everything look kind of creepy….
Of course the other thing we had to indulge in whilst in Belgium was the beer. We found a pub that had 400 different types of beer, and instead of actually trying to pick one we just went for the tasting option. They were good, but honestly they didn’t have an edge on the ales in London.
Soon enough our two nights in Bruges had passed and it was time to head home. We decided to make a move early on our last day and check out Brussels. Brussels is known for a big pretty square in the centre of town… and not much else. So, we got off the Eurostar and began walking to the square through a less than pretty area of Brussels. It was about a 20 minute walk to the square and honestly there were no redeeming features along the way.
After that stellar start the square seemed ok but not overwhelming. We stopped for a coffee and spent some time mucking around with the camera (Lesley dutifully walking for the longer exposure shots… and clearly loving it haha).
There is a small statue of a boy urinating not far from the main square in Brussels, and bizarrely, this ‘Manneken Pis’ is the symbol of Brussels. There are various legends about the peeing boy, and they have chocolate versions and statues of him in convenience shops / fast food joints. It seemed a little weird to us! When we caught the Eurostar back that afternoon, we both agreed we’d pretty much ‘done’ Belgium.
Our next trip will be with Garry and Debbie to the Lake District for Christmas.
Will keep you posted.
TL
timandlesley 