New Year’s in Brugge, Belgium

29Dec07 – The trip from Ypres to Brugge was really only about 60 – 90 minutes long. Once again though I was without good directions to the hotel. We were following directions to “Centre Brugge” and were really feeling very smug about our intelligence factor when we went into this tunnel which led directly into a parking garage. We were able to get out of the parking garage lane but had to pull over and let Ken look at the map. We got into old Brugge at about 5:00pm and it was a madhouse. This is a not a place that was ever built for cars. It was hopping with people shopping and walking around and buggies pulled by horses. Pulled over again and called the hotel. We ended up finding a place to pull over right in front of the hotel and were able to unload and then Ken and Mary went to park the car.

So Brugge was once a 13th-century cloth making center and is know as Brugge (Flemish), or Bruges (French). Apparently the city was right on the North Sea in those days but over the centuries the city has lost its port and canals were built. Today it has a very medieval feel and the center historic section is mainly pedestrian only.

So our hotel is not exactly posh as the Brits would say but the bar was open anytime so we went down and Noah made friends with the lady at the bar. She provided him with his own little bowl of nuts and a never ending supply of apple juice. She finally brought a bottle of apple juice out of the kitchen after the 2nd day instead of having to keep going back to the kitchen for Noah’s refills.

The shops were closing about this time so we decided to rest a while and then head out for dinner. Ken was in search of a cash machine so we did get a chance to walk through the town a little before deciding on a place to eat. We found this place that was covered with rock – n- roll star pictures and movie star memorabilla and Noah found an almost lifesize Elvis standing in the basement outside the bathroom.

Now Noah apparently has taken after his mother when she was young in that he wants to go to the bathroom about every 10 minutes. I actually discussed putting in the Lynlee Burton bathroom rule which I had as a child allowing me one trip per dinner. I can really remember trying to make the most of my one opportunity but that’s another story for my shrink. The interesting part was that I could actually go with Noah to the bathroom because especially in France most of the bathrooms were co-ed. This is really unnerving in a place where you can’t speak the language – walking into a bathroom to see a man standing at a urinal and actually being in the correct bathroom.

During our first walk around town all the shops were closed but there was a chocolate shop near the hotel. Of coarse Belgium is famous for its chocolates and you can get almost anything you want molded in chocolate. Mary was very distressed over the chocolate breasts.

30Dec07 – Our hotel did include breakfast and we continued to enjoy the standard European breakfast. I am not much for the meats and cheeses but I think I could get used to French bread and strawberry jam every morning. Yummy. The coffee was excellent in Belgium as well. I think poor Ken struggled with the coffee but it was perfect for me – very strong.

The first thing we did on Sunday morning was head for the center of Brugge and go on a horse and carriage ride. The center had an ice skating rink surrounded by the standard Christmas market shops which are very popular in Europe. The reviews I have seen about the Brugge Christmas market being mostly food and drink stalls are true and will tell you that Germany is the place to go for Christmas markets. They know how to do it.

The carriage ride lasted about 45 minutes and took us through the city to see the main historical spots. We had been promising the kids ice skating since November when we first starting planning the trip so we had to do that next. Mary did a great job and Noah finally got into the groove. Mary wanted to keep skating so I took Noah over to one of the places serving hot chocolate and he downed 2 hot chocolates in about 5 minutes. One of the ladies in the hot chocolate booth was from the US and she told me the best chocolate shop to go to – Gauller. We had lunch and headed to the Chocolate Museum. After the museum we decided it was time to find a place to start trying the 400 Belgium beers.

Now Belgium is also known for their beer and I must say that I am not a big beer fan but some of this stuff was really good. Ken tried and few and had the unfortunate experience to find out after the fact that most of the Belgium beer is actually 9% as opposed to the 3 – 4% that he is used to. We had a little trouble getting him back to the hotel after that first experience and for the rest of the trip he was a lot more careful. Instead of wine stores they have these beer stores and we went in one that was about the size of a small grocery store and did carry several hundred different types. They also have a glass for each type so you could buy your beer and the specific glass to go with it.

31Dec07 – This was the shopping day as well as the discovery of Belgium waffels by the kids. Actually Mary preferred the waffels while Noah preferred the pancakes which were really more like crepes – very thin. Both are served with whipped cream. Both enjoyed this as either breakfast or lunch. I have been eating a lot of omelettes, mussels and french bread. Fortunately we are walking quite a bit so hopefully I will still be able to fit in my clothes when we return.

I have reservations for dinner at an old church that puts on a medievel dinner theatre reenactment of a wedding from the 1400s. We stood in line for ever to get in and finally realized what was taking so long. Before you go in they stamp this big pole and introduce you. Tee hee – We were the Burton family since you know who made the reservations.