Bruges started off just right. We drove into to town in the evening after all day on the road, we left Berlin around 10am and drove all day across Europe to Belgium. We checked in with our BnB host, Luc. (Steve Ricks book recommendation). Luc and his wife run a nice bnb that includes breakfast, and good hot chocolate.
The next day was rough, I (and Dom) were hung over and hurting, we stumbled around the city, took pictures and just kept it low key. Climbing the tower today was a huge mistake! You go up a tight set of stairs that are circular, full of people, I was so hungover and hurting I thought I was going to hurl. The view is ok, but I would skip the tower climb and go do the Halve Maan brewery tour instead, which has a decent view at the top.
Me and Luc
Tired from the drive, Dom and I went to dinner, a recommendation from Luc, the dinner was delicious. Then we went to the bar next door (same owner), to watch the rest of the soccer game, just one drink! There we met Yurrim, Yurrim is the perfect bartender, and a perfect Belgium brew guru, he (and the beer) made me fall in love with the Belgian beer. This was officially my first night trying Belgium beer and I was impressed.
We proceeded to have a long and drunk night at the bar, then met a few locals, Jonas and his friend and went to their house for a few drinks. We left their house and stumbled home, around 3-4am, coming in late into our bnb, making noise as we ransacked the kitchen and passing out. Then having to wake up at 830 for breakfast, like you are at your parents house and try not to let the hangover get the best of you. Luc made a comment at breakfast that his wife heard us bumbling around :) I could tell he was not amuzed.
Yurrim @ Charlie Rockets
The tower
Center of town
Lunch w/ Belgian Beer (of course)
Good picture spot in Bruges
View from the top of the tower
After the tower climb, we went to the wall of beers, super cool spot. There we met Brandon and Katrina (I recognized them as they sat next to us at dinner the night before), they were from the UK visiting Belgium for the weekend. We had a fun night sitting around drinking and swapping stories. I got some really good ideas from Brandon about things to do around the world to pad things for my bucket list.
Dom calls this my bottle service face :)
We met them out for dinner and a night out to see the Spunyboys at Charlie Rockets https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Spunyboys-official/248248108522315, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9s3kYBgr_E. These guys were a rockibilly band from Belgium and they rocked it! I havent had this much fun dancing and hanging out in a while. My general out of shape-ness really started to come into play by the end of this night. I met Liselot, Arne and their fun friends at the show. This was another crazy late night in Bruges. I was out so late that getting into our place was difficult, I did not have keys. Throwing coins at the window did not help :(
I was so out of it, I skipped breakfasat the next morning and understand that Luc was not happy with my late night drinking.
The last day in Bruges was non-eventful, we walked around, got drinks. My drinking and eating was really starting to catch up to me, I was starting to feel super sluggish, overweight and slow overall. Went to Halve Maan brewery tour. It was very cool and a worthwhile thing to do in Bruges. We turned in early to ready to head to Amsterdam, the final stop of the trip.
My take - I loved Bruges and I loved Belgium! Definitely a spot to stop! Every country and place has something they are very proud of, the Belgians are proud of beer, it strong, delicious and everybody is drinking it. The people are amazing! We skipped Brussels to add an extra day here and I think it was worth it.
Cool spots to stop...
- BnB - http://www.gastenhuisst-andriescruyse.be/
- Fun bar / hostel - http://www.charlierockets.com/
- Haave Maan brewery tour is pretty cool and would do this instead of climbing the tower
- Wall of beers is cool
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