Hello!
After a sad goodbye in Holland, we were off to Belgium. To be honest, I wasn't even sure what the language was in Brugge (answer: Flemish, closely related to Dutch) What excited us most, was that we were meeting up with friends from home. Gerry and Ellen Marcotte have been friends with Andrew's parent for years. They happened to be on a 5 week trip in Europe, so we kept in touch, making a plan to meet at some point in our travels.
We decided on Brugge, and spent two nights exploring the small medieval town, testing out beer, and cycling away the calories the next day ;)
After a few emails back and forth, we agreed to meet in the main sunny square of Brugge. After a quick walk around, we hadn't found our fellow Grande Prairiens, but minutes later, Ellen spotted us with our noses stuck in a map. Tourists much??
First on order? Belgium beer!
We headed to 'T Brugs Beertje, a hole-in-the-wall type pub (aren't they all?) with a ridiculously large beer selection. The guys tried some local brew, while us ladies went for the fruit beer. Thirst-quenching!! Our stomachs were talking to us, so we went in search for a suitable restaurant after finishing our pint. Gerry and Ellen treated us to a wonderful meal, and we spent the rest of the evening walking around Brugge. It's quite pretty, with old castle-like buildings, canals filled with swans. Narrow side-streets. Along the streets, you'll find lace and chocolate shops. Restaurants and bars. We walked down the super narrow street that was once the Red Light District of Brugge. Not overly exciting. Unless of course, you like looking through the windows of Chocolate Shops like I do ;)
The next day we decided to rent bikes and head to the coast. We had a quick breakfast and then stopped at the main square where the Wednesday Food Market was set up. It was the perfect spot to get some picnic supplies. It was also a perfect spot to try some belgium waffles! Deeelish.
It was a beautiful day. We rode past farms, small towns, the beach. We stopped for our picnic lunch at the Zeebrugge harbor, a coffee on the coast, and later, a beer in the small village of Damme. We biked our sore butts back to Brugge in time for another beer...I mean dinner!
We headed to another pub called De Garre, where we tried their locally brewed beer that you won't find anywhere else.
After another good meal, we went to Gerry and Ellen's hotel for one last drink before parting ways.
It was so good to see people we know from home. It definitely reminded us how much we miss everyone. Thank you so much for taking care of us for a couple days Gerry and Ellen! We so appreciate it. We hope the rest of your Euro trip went well, and we will be seeing you back in Grande Prairie!
After Brugge, we took a bus to the Brussels airport and hopped on a plane to Dublin!
That's next,
A&C
No comments:
Post a Comment