Belting About Bruges

The night time canals are, apart from being full of water, also picturesque.

      A weekend out of the London hustle and bustle brought me to Bruges, Belgium.  As I so often come to regret, I caught the bus to Bruges from London, but unlike my previous trips to Amsterdam and Paris, the number of hours on the bus was a single digit figure (six to be exact).

A Boy Band

 Once I had arrived I moved toward the centre of town, from where I would be able to navigate my way to the hostel.  Bruges is an old city, with a very European feel to it, emanating from it's architecture to it's cobbled streets, and to the wafts of open sewers that you consistently walk through unexpectedly.  On arrival to the centre square, and with enough of an appetite to settle for eating the crotch out of a low flying duck, I purchased myself some famous Belgium Frites with Mayonnaise, and sat down to watch some live music and get my bearings.  While the music was great, I was disappointed when my request for some Michael Bolton tracks was shot down.

This tower was built specially for In Bruges

       While the music played, I sat in the shadows of the famous Bruges clock tower, which you may recall was the lead actor in In Bruges.  Just like in the film, there were an array of larger sized American tourists trying their luck with climbing the stairs to reach the top.  I didn't go up myself, owing to the fact that I still held out hope of hearing Michael Bolton, mixed in with the fact that I really could not be arsed.


      I went and checked into my hostel, and, to my horror, was awarded a Top Bunk bed, breaking my 44 hostel streak of getting a bottom bunk bed. Despite my protests, the Hostel manager would not negotiate on bed altitude, and so I begrudgingly made my bed from such lofty heights, and set back out into Bruges for some more sight-seeing type activities

Lot's of empty calories

This is a picture of my left hand.  Apologies the
Waffle is in the way.

BELGIUM

TREATS

This Fall has Niagara beat

     

      No trip to Belgium is complete without the cuisine.  I had already sampled the Frites, and later that evening it was time to hook into a famous Belgium Waffle!  I can confirm that these monstrosities taste like heaven, and luckily for me, my (trendy) beard was able to catch all the cream before it hit my face.  Coincidentally, Belgium is also the source (and sauce) of Belgium Chocolate, and there were no shortage of shops selling the very same product that drives Jenny Craig's profits.  While I didn't try any Chocolates on this trip, I did look longingly into many a shop window...sometimes at the chocolates, and sometimes at my own reflection.

Olives...why did I photograph them...because they are olives.

       One of my favourite parts of travelling, is hanging in the markets.  Here you get a great cross-section of different people, including locals.  Earlier that day, I had had a mini-crisis involving my belt snapping (unrelated to the consumption of the Waffle).  My exploration of the markets was one delicate balancing act, as I focused on keeping my pants from falling down, whilst trying to locate a bargain belt store.  Finally I located the finest/cheapest belt stand in Bruges, and negotiated a deal in which I would swap cash for the belt.  He agreed to this novel deal, and I was off, basking in the glory of having pants that stayed up on their own.

A Windmill.  (Also grass and trees)

       With my belt issues now well behind me, I ventured to the outskirts of Bruges, where I was faced with some type of a Windmill device.  These contraptions are quite famous in Belgium and particularly Holland, where they are used to blow away the smell of marijuana from the cities and towns. 

A Mouthful

     
    After admiring the Windmill for a full three minutes, I began cruising around the canals.  These meander all about Bruges, and it wasn't long before I was completely lost.  Luckily getting lost is the best mechanism for sight-seeing.  While I decided which way I should go, I partook in the consumption of a Belgium Beer at a near-by bar, where, to my immediate excitement, they played Go The Distance by Michael Bolton.  It was at this very moment that I realised how much Michael Bolton sucked, and was grateful for having had my request rejected on my first day in Bruges.

Bruges by Night

Money Shot

BRUGES AT NIGHT IS PRETTY SWEET

      
A weekend is plenty in Bruges.  It is very small, and you soon get sick of tripping over tourists.  In a way, Bruges only survives for it's tourists, every shop seems to sell souvenirs, rather than local goods.  Still there is no doubting it is a pleasant place to be, and it possesses four key culinary items, Beer, Frites, Mussels and Waffles (not strictly in that order).

      I still swear by Eastern Europe, but Bruges is definitely worth a six hour bus ride from London, even if it is just to reinforce how shit Michael Bolton is.