Bruges, Belgium

My son, Nathan (20) and I left for a trip on June 22 headed for Belgium, France and Spain. He was heading to Santander, Spain for a month-long intensive Spanish course and we thought it would be fun to travel through Europe for eight days en route to Santander. He had never been to Europe so he was looking forward to it with excitement and minor trepidation. We are both fairly serious amateur photographers/writers and planned to keep a blog and photo gallery of our trip. I'm writing from the perspective of a 56-year old graying but active father.

June 23, 2007

We arrived in Brussels at 8:30am on June 23 after flying all night from Charleston, SC. via Atlanta on Delta. We were in coach on Sky Choice (more miles required) award tickets due to Delta’s infuriating policies on frequent flyer tickets. I have flown over two million miles on Delta and currently have gold Skymiles status. Delta tries to hold onto seats until the last minute, especially for their cheaper (fewer miles required) seats. That makes some business sense. However, they also have a policy that says you can’t upgrade international flights within 24 hours of flight time. Consequently, some seats in business class go empty when they could reward frequent flyers with those seats at the last minute. Oh well, enough of Delta and my issues with them. Thank god for drugs with Ambien being my choice for a good five hour rest even sitting up straight in coach.

We had a reservation in Bruges for the next two nights and decided to go straight there vs touring Brussels. I’m not much of a city person and prefer smaller towns and a laid back atmosphere instead of the hustle of the city. Probably because I spend too much time in NYC on business. Customs and immigration was a breeze, no lines, no hassles. I changed dollars for euros though later figured out the airport exchange offices gave me the worst rate. Hotels were a lot better. We figured out where the train ticket office was at the airport. Belgians are pretty friendly and helpful and most of them speak some English. I expected to hear more French but most of the language, written and spoken, was Flemish and German. I suspect the Belgians are like most of the Benelux and Denmark populations in that they understand they are small countries with limited outside exposure to their language. Hence, they are smart and humble enough to know they need to be conversant in other languages so most learn English as their international language. Good for us Americans. We bought a ticket from the airport to Brussels Zuid (south) and then transferred to a train to Bruges. Great trains, quiet, clean, comfortable. We should be so lucky in the US. We arrived in Bruges about 11:30am. Brussels to Bruges is about 45 minutes. Adult ticket was about $50 euro with those under 26 getting a significant discount. The Belgian countryside is pastoral, looking something like Ohio or Pennsylvania. Weather was partly cloudy and probably 65F or so.

Outside the train station, there are somewhat close to a million bikes parked outside. Ok, that’s an exaggeration but there were LOTS of bikes testament to the Benelux predilection to be smart and ride despite wind, rain, and cold. We’re such wimps in the US not to mention completely clueless when it comes to designing our towns and cities to be bike friendly. We took a taxi from the train station to the Hotel Navarra pretty near the main town square. It’s a Best Western which Europe are pretty good hotels contrary to the low rent versions in the US. We paid $165 euros for the first night (Saturday) and $135 euros for Sunday night. Our room was reasonable by US standards with two twin beds pushed together to make one. Bathroom was clean and nice. A good buffet breakfast was included in the price. However, keeping with other northern European hotels I have been to, the concept of a bellhop is non-existent. Ditto for porters in the airports and train stations. Which means traveling there is not for wimps. You carry your own bags and the hallways are convoluted often taking you up and down small flights of stairs even on your own floor. And don’t try to figure out the room numbering system; it’s a Rubix cube without a solution! My only guess is that they have added on a bunch of times and can’t keep up with any room numbering. I’ve been up flights of stairs in Amsterdam where you almost need pitons and ropes to get up, while carrying your bags. That being said, the northern Europeans seem to expect self-reliance and accountability, admirable qualities.

Being whipped from all night travel, plus Nathan was fighting a cold, we decided to take a nap for couple of hours. Refreshed, we headed the 3-4 blocks to the main square anchored by the castle like building and Belfry clock tower you can see in the pictures. We went to a rental bike shop which is down the street that runs on the right side (as you face the front of the building) of the Belfry. You have to go into a small hotel lobby to pay and then you take your ticket back outside to an attendant who takes you down a small but steep flight of stairs to get your bike. You then push it back out. Not for wimps remember. We bought some papas frites (French fries) which you can get with various condiments (catsup, hot sauce, mayonnaise). French fries there are more ubiquitous than hot dogs in the US. Good too.

Nathan went to a Salvador Dali exhibit next to the Belfry. I’m not a Dali fan. He said it was pretty good. We tried to go up in the Belfry but it closed at 6pm so we headed off on our bikes equipped with cameras and a map. Bruges streets are usually pretty narrow, sometimes cobble stoned, though not heavily traveled with vehicles as they have an extra charge to bring your car into the center part of the city. Smart. Bikes rock!! If you don’t get a bike while there, you’re crazy. You can see so much of the city in a short period of time. Bruges is a beautiful medieval city which you can see by the pictures, and bikes allow you to go all over, finding hidden streets, restaurants, and canals. Only once in a while do you worry about safety like when a bus is coming down a narrow street. Pay attention. Not for wimps but in this case not too hard either. You’re responsible for yourself again. No law suits. Two of the nicest spots we found were the Beguinage which was started by nuns to have a quiet place to be. It’s still a peaceful quiet place. The other was Minnewater park. We stopped at the Atlantic restaurant there which was right alongside the Lake of Love. We sat outside and had a couple of beers. Waitress was friendly and inquisitive. This was one of the cheaper places we went to for beer but still expensive at six euros for a pint. It was so peaceful that we decided to eat there though almost reconsidered when we found out they were only serving a BBQ buffet. Having two South Carolina boys eating BBQ in Belgium was a bit too ironic but decided to give it a shot. It was basically just various grilled meats (lamb, top sirloin, sausages, chicken) and a salad bar for $25 euros which also included a mojito (hey, a Cuban drink and BBQ in Bruges, why not? It’s a global world). It was all pretty good. We lingered for a while longer only getting slightly hammered. We were also getting cold. A cool wind was blowing and the temp must have fallen to about 60F. We had both become a bit frozen. By now it was about 10pm and still quite light. We meandered back the hotel and parked our bikes and then walked back to the main square and found a small side street with about three outside bar areas. Pretty crowded back there and one place was advertising male dancers but it never seemed to take place. Nathan, ever the outgoing one and not shy, met some traveling college students from the US, New Zealand, and Australia. I was beat by now as it was probably 11:30 so I headed back to the hotel. (As a side note, in my travels I’ve found the best way to get over jet lag and just to set your watch to the local time and quit trying to say “well, at home it’s 7pm so I must be hungry, sleepy, etc. I find just being on the time where I am takes care of most of the issue.) Nathan can tell you about his little adventure getting lost, etc.

June 24, 2007 – Bruges

Slept a bit late, like 9am. Nathan a bit later. After breakfast at the hotel, which was a pretty good buffet with the usual European fare, yogurt, breads, cheese, assorted meats, hard boiled eggs, sausage, fruit, juices, coffee, we headed out on bikes. Weather was cloudy and occasionally drizzly. Being Sunday the main square was fairly crowded. Tour buses get dropped off there. Despite that, there wasn’t any sense of being crowded in. We just had to dodge everyone on our bikes. Surprisingly they let cars drive through the main square even on busy weekends. For about five euros a piece, we went up into the Belfry which was one of the original large buildings in Bruges. A castle like building is the foundation for a tall clock tower. We climbed up the windy, narrow staircase to reach the top for a great view of the city. (see pictures of the rooftops and other large buildings in the distance. We could almost see to the coast despite the overcast. The square is also anchored by a Great Palace, quite ornate. We didn’t go in. We stopped at a semi-flea market and bought some beer mugs which I’m sure are tourist goods in Belgium but will be fine at home. Rather than carry them around, we rode back to the hotel and dropped them off. I had a bike with a small rack on the back and a strap so got used to strapping things on including my camera bag. We rode back to Minnewater Park, the Beguinage which is a part of the city started by some Sisters of Mercy as a haven for quiet and peace. It still reflects that. We went to the train station and bought tickets to Paris for the next day. $69 euros for me; $48 for Nathan. By Astrid Park and just ambled around. Ending up having lunch at a restaurant something like Vieuw de Walnutje. Sat under an awning to ward off the rain. I had roast chicken which came with potatoes and a little vegetable for $13 euros and Nathan had raviolis for $9 euros. Horse drawn carriages would clomp by, a very nice European scene. Despite the not always engaging weather, most of the restaurants have a lot of outside seating which suited us just fine. Somewhat tired (the carafe of wine might have helped) we decided to ride back and take a nap. We cruised back through the still busy square despite being 5 o’clock or so. Arriving back at the hotel, I realized the camera bag was missing from the back! In a panic, I grabbed Nathan and we quickly retraced our steps to see if it had fallen out. Alas, it was nowhere to be found. A very good Nikon D80, another lens, external flash, camera bag, and two tickets to Paris, gone. Probably $2500 worth of stuff. Maybe the worst of all were all the pictures Nathan had taken to date as he hadn’t downloaded any to his laptop since arriving. I told him to go back to the hotel and take a nap as he wasn’t feeling well due to his cold. I retraced our steps again and then went to the police station. A rather obtuse guard there told me there were a lot pickpockets around and the camera bag was probably pulled off the back without our knowing. But we couldn’t file a claim because we didn’t see anyone take it. Seemed kind of ridiculous. I traced our steps again hoping against hope that it really had fallen off and some honest person would be standing there or would turn it in to the police. Didn’t happen. I woke Nathan up later and we went back to the station and filed a claim this time for insurance purposed. Policeman this time was helpful though not optimistic about our chances of recovering anything. This was quite a downer. Nathan was pissed, justifiably that he had lost his camera and his pictures. We both felt violated, remarking that woe be the person if we should catch them with the bag. That evening we rode back to the train station and rebought Paris tickets. We had lost both of our 18-70mm lenses so all we had left was two 70-300 lenses which aren’t too good for many tourist shots where you want to shoot wide. We were finally able to make jokes about the problem like “Boy, that would be a great shot if we had a wide lens.” Or “Give me the camera so I can take that shot. Oh yeah, we don’t have a lens that will capture it.” In true male fashion, we finally got over it. Sort of. We returned our bikes as they had to be there by 10pm. Try doing that in the US. Only ended up being $7 euros each even though we had had them since noon the day before. Had dinner that night outside by by the main square, probably eating about 10:15 or so. Like most of Europe, people eat late. Dinner was usually about $60-70 euros or about $100. That included some wine, sometimes dessert, taxes and tip. Not exactly cheap. Food was fine though nothing to write home about. Menus tend to be all the same with only slight variations on the options. Went back to bed.