And off we went to Bruges. Emily and I boarded a train at Market Harborough and popped down to St Pancras, got in the queue for the Eurostar and skipped under the channel to Brussels via Lille where we had a small wait for a potential terrorist incident at Brussels train station to blow over. Suspicious package, nothing doing. At Brussels we hustled to our third train of the day into Bruges. 6 hours of travelling, 4 hours of that on trains and we were in Belgium. It was really simple as travelling goes and I was very dubious before we went as I’m not overly keen on trains, but I would recommend it. Once out of the train station you can immediately see what everyone is wanging on about, Bruges is stunning.
We stayed at a lovely boutique hotel right in the centre of the city. And I mean right in the centre, 3 minutes walk to the main square. We picked a lovely room at the top of the hotel so we could see the city spread out before us. The rooftops are gorgeous. The room was ridiculously big and a little odd. From the door there was a long corridor you had to walk down (where the toilet was) before you got to the room proper. And it’s hard to describe but the rest of the bathroom was in the middle of the room for everyone to see. The bath, which was right next to the bed, was never actually used, apart from as a towel rack. The shower was enclosed by glass but open at both ends. We caused a mini flood on first use, which was soon sorted. The hotel had a mini spa and we enjoyed the hot tub and steam room.
Enough about the hotel. On our first proper day we went beer tasting and waffle making combined. We absolutely adored Eric, the retiree who took our class, he was so lovely and sweet. The waffles we made were fucking good, the beer not so much. Emily enjoyed the beer a little. And the waffles had a secret ingredient, that wasn’t so secret… it was beer. The waffles still tasted fucking good. We did so much touristy stuff when we were there. In the afternoon we walked up the Belfort which was steep and the bells were huge. Good views up there though.
On our second day we went for a quick cycle. Or a four hour tour from Bruges to the Dutch border with our guide Jos. Now Jos was a little grumpy at the beginning because it was only us two on the tour so it wasn’t really worth his time, but… due to how we booked, he couldn’t cancel us, so off we went. He warmed up and we got an extra half hour out in the countryside on our e-bikes. We bought him a non-alcoholic beer at the awesome little pub we stopped at. The cycle network was extensive and the countryside reminded me of the UK and was beautiful like the UK, just more thought through for cyclists. Jos did not like the cyclists clad in spandex, we weren’t so bothered. It was fun and we got a great history lesson.
Our third day was spent on a walking and boat tour of Bruges which included chocolate and then after hot chocolate and more waffles. We spent a lot of time on our little break just wandering around the city, especially after dinner, walking off some amazing food. I felt completely safe at all times. I think on the last night we were there we had the best meal out I’ve ever had. We wandered a little further out from the centre of the city to this restaurant at the end of a residential street. After Emily told me off for being inpatient about not being served quickly, I realised that this husband and wife team were deliberately creating a slower atmosphere for everyone to relax into. They turned away a party of six who had not booked with a half empty restaurant. The food was so amazingly tasty, the steak was the best I think I’ve ever had. It was spenny but worth it.
Our four nights in Bruges were fantastic. We had a great time, great food, great relaxing and I would definitely recommend it. I’m sure we’ll be going back.
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