In Bruges

After DCL finished, Tiffany, Kathleen and I decided to be spontaneous and we planned a last minute trip to Bruges, Belgium! We decided to leave Saturday afternoon and come back Sunday. It was a very short term but we saw a lot in those few hours. 

It started the night before, where I watched In Bruges with Collin Farrell. Weird movie, but it was a good set up to go and see the town myself. 

We left Saturday afternoon around 1 and got a €15,50 round trip ticket. Great price. It took a little over 2 hours to get from Maastricht, through Belgium and into Bruges. When we got off the train we saw this guy that was from Australia that had been on exchange in Maastricht. We didn't really know him, but we recognized him and he recognized us. Said hi in passing, then the girls and I decided to somehow find our way to the hostel by walking because walking is a great way to get acquainted with a city.

First sight

Our plan was to walk towards the huge tower, because from the movie, I knew that was the main city square and from there we could find our way. 

The Belfort tower

We made it to the center, found a map and were off to our hostel. Bruges is super cute. Cobblestoned streets, brick old buildings, canals, the lot. Also there are horses drawn carriages carrying tourists running around all the time. Made it feel like we were back in time a bit. But it also made the main areas smell like horse poo. Bleck.

Horsey!

We eventually made it to the hostel, cold and starving. We checked in and guess who was there? The Australian! So we officially met. His name is Josh and he happened to be assigned our same room. What a small world it is. After we checked in, we got dinner at the closest place, and it was absolutely terrible, but it was food, and we had to go somewhere close because we were doing a free walking tour at 7. So it was worth it. We also had time to stop and get some belgium specialties from the nearby grocery store.

YUM! Belgium chocolate, beer, and my absolute obsession, Speculoos

Our tour guide was great. Funny and full of life. It was not your conventional tour but it was a great way to see Bruges at night.

Our group plus Josh the Aussie

 Our tour guide made sure to throw in some good movie references like this one!

The hotel where Colin Farell stayed and where the chase scene begins

We also stopped for a beer on the tour and Tiff and Kathleen shared an amazing beer thats made in Bruges. It was so good. After we went back to the hostel and spent way too long trying to get beers open with out a bottle opener. It made for a lot of laughs and a lot of beer everywhere. Also, the heater in our room was leaking a ton of water so the hostel maintenance guy kept coming in to check it out. He happened to also be the bartender and since we were so understanding decided to give us free Jaeger shots. They do love their Jaeger here. It was the start to a very good night. Also, on the tour we met these 5 guys from America/ Canada that were studying abroad in Paris and had rented a car for the weekend and drove to Bruges. They were fun and we had a great time exploring Bruges together. It was so much fun.

The next morning we got up, checked out of the hostel and went to go exploring!

First things first, we went to go climb the Belfort tower to see the view but it was closed cause it was Sunday, so instead we went and got Belgium waffles. I got one with Speculoos paste on top. BEST IDEA EVER. Oh man. I still dream about it sometimes.

Heaven

We wandered around and saw some cute sites and looked for bottle openers as a souvenir so we would never forget our struggles of trying to get 6 beers open with no opener. 

Never forget.

Our last stop was the huge church. The Michelangelo piece, Madonna and Child, is displayed here, which is the only Michelangelo piece to leave Italy while he was still alive. It was quite the statue. Marble statues never cease to amaze me in their detail and perfectness. The church was beautiful too. Huge stained glass windows, details upon details. Incredible.

The Madonna and Child

After we headed back to the train station and got back to Maastricht around 7:30. It was a great weekend filled with tons of memories.

Goodbye Bruges! You were so great.