A Day in Bruges

Sunday brought another day of adventure in Belgium. With Luisa still sick, I set off to explore the streets of Bruges alone. Only a 20 minute train ride away, I made it there in no time to find that the tourist office was already closed for the day. Armed with my zoomed out google map and list of places to see, I walked to the city center to begin my explorations. The city center of Bruges is a world heritage site of UNESCO and looks like a medieval fairytale town filled with ornate buildings, cobbled streets, and canals. I began my adventure by climbing the belfry of Bruges, a medieval bell tower originally built in 1240. 366 stairs lead to the top, getting narrower and steeper at each level. 

  
It was definitely my workout for the day. The view at the top made it worthwhile though. You could see the entirety of the city splayed out below. 

   
 
From there I spent time wandering the cobbled streets, looking at buildings (and getting lost at times). 

   
   
I visited a few churches – the Basilica of the Holy Blood, which contains what is said to be a vial of Christ’s blood, and the Church of Our Lady which contains Michelangelo’s sculpture, Madonna and Child. 

  
After tons of walking, a boat tour through the canals was next on the agenda. The tour guide spoke 3 different languages – French, Dutch, and English – and we cruised along the canals, looking at buildings and bridges. It was nice to see the city from a different view, though the boat was jam packed with tourists all trying to take pictures of each sight. 

  
At the end of the canal sat Minnewater Lake, which means the “Lake of Love” and was quite picturesque. I didn’t want to ask one of the many couples to take a picture of me by it, so I settled with a selfie. 

   
 
Next up was one of the highlights of my day, the Beguinage. It was built in the 13th century to house women that devoted their lives to charitable work without taking any religious vows. Today it is the home of Benedictine nuns, and consists of a gorgeous courtyard full of yellow tulips and surrounded by whitewashed homes and a church. I decided to be brave and actually asked someone to take a picture of me – my only one of the day. 

   
   
From there, my stomach started to growl. Next stop, food! I stopped at one of the many chocolate shops and got a sampling of 6 different chocolates. Delicious. Next I went to the Markt at the center of the city (right where I started my day) to get a Belgian specialty from one of the food stalls outside the Belfry: fries with stoofvlees sauce. Delicious. 

  
Finally, after an unhealthy lunch, I had to try the final Belgian specialty: beer. Trusty travel blogs and trip advisor led me to a small pub down a vacant alleyway. It was called ‘t Brugs Beertje and the beer list contained over 300 beers. 

  
With my limited knowledge of beer, it was certainly overwhelming, but the bartender was incredibly helpful and knowledgable. I first settled on a Straffe Hendrik Brugs Tripel. I really know nothing of beer so I won’t even try to describe it. My second one was an Echt kriekenbier, which was a cherry lambic and also quite good. 

   
 
As I was sitting alone in a Belgian pub drinking beer, I had to take a step back to think about exactly where I was in the world. It struck me how bizarre and out of character something like this was for me. Somehow, an incredible set of circumstances and events had brought me throughout Asia and parts of Europe and had plopped me down on this tiny barstool. I had gained so much confidence in traveling alone and trying new things. In that moment a wave of gratitude and happiness surged within, and I couldn’t stop smiling the whole train ride back. I probably looked like some kind of crazy person and I promise it wasn’t the beer. What a wonderful day in Bruges. 

Bikes, windmills, and beaches – Knokke, Belgium

We took a train from London to Brussels and Brussels to Knokke, Belgium. Knokke is a small, seaside city about an hour and a half away from Brussels by train. A pretty, quiet vacation city characterized by thatched roofs and white walls, it was a perfect place to be based out of for the first half of our time in Belgium. We stayed with Luisa’s family friends who showed generous hospitality by letting us stay in their home and by showing us all the best places to go. When we arrived, it was sunny but cold. We got a nice drink of rosé wine at a beach club called The Blue Buddha with a great atmosphere and beatitude view, then walked along the beach and through the city center. 

   
 
Our second day consisted of a short drive to Holland to a small town called Sluiss. Being from America, it shocked me that I didn’t need my passport to go to another country. Or that there wasn’t really a sign that we were leaving Belgium. Or that it only took 15 minutes to get to the border. Sluiss was great, centered around a beautiful canal and filled with picturesque houses and a windmill. We ate lunch, walked along the canal, and explored the shops of this relaxing town. Definitely worth the short drive. 

   
    
   
We finished the day again at The Blue Buddha, surrounded by good company and good drinks. Not too shabby Belgium. 

  
The third day, Luisa came down with a cold, so while she rested I borrowed a bike and struck out to explore the surrounding area. Belgians love their bike riding, so I was pleased with the number of bike trails and well-marked maps. First I rode up along the coast to a nature park called Zwin. It provided gorgeous views of the ocean and surrounding wetlands, with trails weaving through the dunes and along canals. 

   
 Somehow I ended up in Holland again, so I decided to turn around and get a map from the tourist center. From there I biked back down the coast towards the small towns of Ramskapelle and Westkapelle. Both had gorgeous buildings with churches and windmills and were surrounded by bright green farmland. It was so peaceful to be cycling alone through the countryside, taking in the beautiful sights and perfect weather. 

   
 At one point I found an old WWII bunker built into the side of a hill in the middle of nowhere. There was just so much to explore and see, and so many bike paths that I could have spent days just biking around the area. 

   
 As clouds moved in and the weather grew colder, I made my way back to Knokke. Winding through the roads of the city and making my way back towards the sea, I realized that biking 40+ miles had made me incredibly hungry. I stopped for a Belgian waffle and ended the perfect day doing my favorite thing – eating.  

  

Exploring London by Foot

The plane from Bangkok brought me to London to visit a friend from high school, Luisa. For 4 years we had been planning our European adventure, ever since she entertained the idea of going to school abroad. Being back in western culture brought many changes from my time in Asia, but some things remained the same (driving on the left side of the road). I switched out my tank tops and chacos for some scarves and my raincoat, and we hopped on the train to explore the city – after 13 hours of sleep of course. 

Day one consisted primarily of sight seeing in Central London. We saw the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and Chinatown among others. 

   
    
   
We walked or took the train nearly everywhere, logging miles and miles (or in London kilometers and kilometers) in our shoes. It was nice, as I wasn’t dripping sweat, nearly escaping death by motor bike, or being asked to please come buy something in someone’s shop. Though one of the largest cities in the world and full of the hustle of business people, residents, and tourists, the city seemed calm and orderly to me in comparison to the cities of Asia. I did really miss my $1 fruit smoothies and inexpensive street food though. 

The streets of London were beautiful, with cobbled sidewalks and ornate buildings everywhere. Day 2 was more walking, in the Shoreditch area of London. The buildings in this area were much smaller and on the streets of Brick Lane, beautiful graffiti covered the walls. 

   
 As a hippier part of the city, we saw lots of old antique and thrift stores, cafes, and rainbow bagels. Yes, you heard me correctly. We ate the best, most colorful bagel I had ever seen. For a little less than 2 pounds you could get a delicious rainbow colored bagel filled with smoked salmon and cream cheese. And they did not skimp on the toppings. Yum. 

  
From Shoreditch we took a train to see Tower Bridge and The Tower of London, a large fortress where the Crown Jewels were displayed and people had been imprisonsed and executed. 

   
 Shakespeare’s Globe Theater was a short walk away across the river, and I can say with pride that its resemblance to my 6th grade project replica was on point. 

  
The third day was spent around Chelsea, a gorgeous, upscale part of London. We went to Harrods, an enormous fancy department store, to get a picnic lunch of delicious food (at this point I only remember the apple pie though). We ate the food at Hyde Park, which was lovely, green, and had a lake full of swans. 

   
 Our last day in the UK we spent in Kingston where Luisa goes to school. It was cold and rainy, but we made the most of the day by finding a cute little tea shop and eating the most delicious pastries while drinking 2 full pots of tea.

   
 My short time in London was wonderful. Next stop, Belgium!