For the next leg of our journey we left the U.K. and headed to the mainland of Europe. The next eight days would take us to Paris, Germany, and back to Amsterdam. However, our first stop was a one-night layover in Brugge, Belguim. I had already been to Belguim earlier in the month when I went to Brussels with my friends, but my family also wanted to see the country since we were so close. We decided to spend one night in Brugge on the way to Paris.
Friday (8/21/15) we got up rather early. We had an 8:00 am train to Brussels we needed to catch, which means we were out of the apartment by 7:00 am. We said goodbye to the eclectic apartment in Hackney and took a taxi to St. Pancreas Station. We had a little trouble finding a taxi and my dad only got one to come when we said we had "5 people and small bags each." Needless to say the taxi driver was a little annoyed when he showed up and we all had our giant rolling suitcases. To make things better my dad was nearly out of British currency, so the taxi driver got a very small tip. I don't think we started his day off very well.
The Eurostar train was less eventful than I thought it would be. We traveled through the Chunnel, but we were going so fast we couldn't really see anything. It did get us to Belgium very fast though. Even with a layover in Brussels and another hour train ride to Brugge, we were still at our destination around 1:00 pm. We walked the 15 minutes from the train station to our hotel with our bags clanging on the cobblestones the entire way. Our accommodations in Brugge were at the Hotel Academie. From Brugge onward, all of our accommodations were now in hotels instead of Air BnBs.
The first thing we did was a brewery tour at the Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan (Half Moon Brewery). I think this was one of my favorite things all trip. It was an old Belgian brewery that had been in business for over a hundred years. It was really cool to see the brewery and to try some authentic Belgian beer.
Old sign in the attic of the brewery.
Giant old tanks that used to be used in the brewing process.
View from the roof of the brewery. Because naturally the roof was a part of the tour.
Me on the rooftop.
After the brewery I got some authentic Belgian fries (or frites). The Belgian fries were delicious here just as in Brussels. Recently (May 2016) I got some fries here in the US that were cooked Belgian style and I forgot how good the fries were over in Europe. It made me want to go back again!
The next step on the itinerary was to walk around Brugge and take a boat tour on the canals. Brugge is a beautiful city! It reminded me a lot of Delft, but much more touristy. It was probably the most touristy location I went to all trip, minus maybe Central Amsterdam. But I still enjoyed walking around the city and seeing all of the Belgian architecture.
Old Chocolate shop across from our hotel.
The Grote Markt in the center of Brugge.
The Belfort in the center of Brugge.
Boats riding along the canals in Brugge. Am I in Venice or Belgium???
View from our boat ride along the canals.
Looks just like the architecture in Delft!
Mom and Dad on the boat ride.
After the boat ride we walked around Brugge some more. We went in some gift shops and strolled around. In the evening we went to a couple of bars so the family could try some authentic Belgian beer. I was surprised how much more expensive beer was here compared to Delft, but that must be because they were catering to tourists. I can't remember at all what we ate for dinner. I remember eating a waffle later in the evening though. Maybe that was all we ate? Funny I remember finding the beer expensive but I can't remember where I ate dinner.
Old bar that Lauren, John, and I went to. Rick Steve's recommended, of course!
The Belfort lit up at night.
Saturday (8/22/15) we had the morning to explore Brugge. Our train to Brussels wasn't until noon-ish, so we spent the morning exploring. Lauren and John went to the old churches in town while me and the parents just wandered around. We found a market going on, which again reminded me a lot of the markets they had in Delft. Good times!
Morning exploration of Brugge. You can notice the different lighting because of the time of day (thanks Photography class!)
There's an entire museum dedicated to fries! Sadly not enough time to explore.
Classic Brugge architecture. I made this photo the background on my laptop once I got home.
Overall I really enjoyed my time in Brugge! It was a nice snapshot of Belgium for the rest of my family. While I could have stayed here longer, I think we saw everything that we wanted to see in our 24 hours. I'm probably biased, but I did prefer Delft over Brugge. Onto Paris!!
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