Bruges, Belgium
April 1-3, 2012
My sisters Joanna, Megan and I had talked about taking a European Sisters' Trip but financial considerations and vacation time constraints always worked against us. Finally, after years of hoping and dreaming, we were able to embark on a two-week trip to explore a little of Europe. The beginning of our whirlwind European trip got off to a rocky start. After boarding our flight on time and taxiing down the runway to take-off, the pilot came on the speaker system to tell us that we had a flat tire and had to return to the gate. Getting into Brussels, Belgium three hours later than originally expected, we’d been traveling for about 20 hours and still had to take a train to Bruges. Luckily, our introduction to Europe was relatively seamless. We found an ATM, pulled out some cash in Euros (€), located the airport train station and bought our tickets. After a little confusion about what platform we needed to be on and the difference between 1st and 2nd class train cars, we were on the way to our first destination- Bruges, Belgium.
Bruges was the perfect place to spend the first leg of
our trip. Bruges is a small, calm,
historical city and gave us a chance to ease into European ways. The first thing we did upon arrival was stop
for Belgian delicacies- waffles and frites.
From there we took a taxi to our lodging- Lut & Bruno Setola B&B
(€100/night triple). The B&B is lovely,
located in a quiet residential area just a few blocks from the Markt
Square. The rooms of the B&B occupy
the upper level of a three-story building with a central breakfast area. Lut greeted us and led us to our room- the
Red Room. She gave us a map, some
general recommendations and the best advice ever for this extremely walkable
city- “just explore the city by turning left and right, left and right.”
We first headed toward Markt Square to take in the
quintessential Bruges view of the buildings and bellower surrounding the square. Our next goal was to find the Concert Hall
and the adjacent Office of Tourism just a short walk from the square. But
Bruges is made up of a maze of streets, many narrow and cattycornered. We lost and found our way several times. Almost by accident we found the Office of
Tourism as we wandered into a large fountain square.
A canal-boat tour (€7/pp) sounded like a relaxing way to
get an overview of the city. We glided
through the network of canals taking in highlights like Minnewaterpark, the
Begijnhof, various churches and other sights.
Across the street from the canal boat base was Sukerbuyc Chocolaterie where
we indulged in our next Belgian delicacy- chocolate. We bought an assortment of beautiful and
delectable morsels in the shape of swans or fleur de lis and in flavors like
pistachio and cherry. 
For dinner we headed back to a group of restaurants with
indoor and outdoor seating near a square and chose La Source based on the set menu
displayed outside. Sticking to traditional
Belgian foods we shared cheese croquettes, moules-frites-(mussels and fries)
and Vlaamse Stovery- Flemish beef stew cooked in beer. After a long and relaxing dinner, we walked
back to our B&B. We were beat and
ready to finally go to bed.
The next morning we had a traditional European
breakfast of cold cuts, cheese, fruit and bread prepared by Lut, and headed out
to explore more of the city. We set out
to find windmills, happening upon stunning canal views and cute little streets
along the way. The windmills were pretty
cool- each a little different than the others.
We meandered around an artsy neighborhood with lots of clothing and
music shops as we made our way back into the center of town but it was too
early for anything to be open. 
We roamed the city some more, strolling through the
Burg, browsing the jewelry and art at the former fish market turned flea market
and making purchases. We walked through
charming little courtyards, narrow alleyways, along the canals. On Lut’s recommendation we made our way to
Begijnhof, a collection of buildings used to house pious women set around a
courtyard full of blooming daffodils. No
talking is allowed within the walls- it is a very tranquil place. Another very peaceful place we visited was
Minnewaterpark, just a short stroll away from Begijnhof. People relaxed in pairs on park benches or in
groups on blankets spread in the grass among the tulip beds.
We got lunch from a little sandwich shop we’d found
in a narrow alley earlier that day-we all shared scrumptious ham & cheese
and salami & cheese sandwiches toasted and served warm. We sat by a canal and savored the beautiful
weather as much as our paninis. The sun
was shining, the air was warm, spring flowers were blooming- it was a beautiful
spring day in Bruges. We spent the rest
of our afternoon roaming around, visiting Astridpark, sitting on park benches
and taking in the laidback feeling. We ambled
through residential areas and did a little shopping along one of Bruges main
retail streets. Throughout our walk we’d
come upon live performers and musicians- flutists playing in a church courtyard,
a guitar player by a city gate, and a particularly awesome dude playing the
didgeridoo in the Burg.
We decided to have one last waffle before we left
and stopped at De Vier Winden restaurant near the Markt. We were given a nice seat outside near a
heater so that we could enjoy the views of the square. Our French waiter was superb- when we ordered
wine, he presented us with the bottle and made sure I approved before pouring. He called us Madame or Mademoiselle. He was attentive but not overbearing. By the end of the night he had us giggling
and blushing. 
We bought a bottle of wine and relished our last night in Bruges. Everything was closed, the streets were mostly deserted. We walked around, talked, laughed and looked in shop windows as we wandered around the maze of streets we’d gotten to know in the two days we’d been there- it was like we had Bruges to ourselves.
That next morning we loaded up our packs, called a
taxi and headed to the train station for the next leg of our trip- Paris,
France. Our few days in Bruges were full of exploring and discovering. Spring flowers were in full bloom- we enjoyed
tulips and pansies and fields of daffodils.
For me the highlight of this segment of the trip was just weaving in and
out of the city streets, alleys and passageways, taking in a new view with each
turn. I can’t imagine a more delightful
time to be in Bruges than the springtime.
river scenery before heading into the mountains of WV. We followed I-77 South through Charleston to WV-612 to US-19 North to WV-16 to Minden. Minden Road, a narrow road that just about 
Halfway through the trip we pulled over to a sandy beach, rolled a raft over and made a picnic buffet. The lunch was pretty scrumptious- sandwiches, pasta salad, hummus and pita- all sorts of deliciousness. We spent some time chilling with other boaters, crawling around on the large rocks that line the river or swimming. 
The entire whitewater rafting experience was thrilling and we got to relive it all over again by watching a video captured by a kayaking cameraman named Rob that followed along documenting the events of the day. It was hysterical. Rob captured several of the funniest moments in our group including a group of Girl Scouts singing ‘Rock the boat, but don’t tip it over.’ Believe me, that song sticks in your head for days. Not to mention a particularly fun song that I gather is about a dog named after a bean that goes ‘Where oh where has jelly been? Where oh where has green been? Where or where has garbanzo been?’ That’s another song that will never leave my mind. Anyway...
