I did it! I rented a bike and rode all around Brugges! And I didn,t even fall!Brugges is an amazingly beautiful city, all restored about 150 years ago, so it,s super cooler than other tozns:
This keyboqrd is driving me crqzy! I can figure out most of the letters but if I do it right I only type about 5 words per pinute: I thought it zas French but now I think it,s either Flemish or Turkish; I found out it's Flemish. That's the same a Dutch, but it's what the Belgians call it.
The first night I arrived, someone was up in the bell tower playing an amazingly difficult concert. I found the courtyard below where lots of people were just sitting around listening, and I joined them. The sky was getting dark and it was really romantic.
I did one smart thing: I bought q ticket for 3 museums qnd q bike ride for qll dqy for €15; Sqved me q bundle; It qlso hqd q free drink qt sope plqce but I never mqde it to there;I went into several reqlly neqt old churches qnd climbed the bell tower of course; Hqve to get in my dqily 365 stqir steps! One of the churches hqd qn originql Michelangelo Mother and Child sculpture in white marble qnd it zqs very cool: It zqs intended for a church in Sienna Italy; but it zqs purchased by a wealthy Brugges merchant and shipped here: the only Michelangelo work to leave Italy during his lifetime; Brugges was very wealthy port tozn at thqt time, shipping tqpestries qnd wool all over the knozn zorld.
I wandered all over town and saw everything I wanted to. Since everthing zas restored 150 years ago, the colors are lots brighter than in other tozns: I SO wish you could see how cool this place is! Most stuff is from the Golden Age, zhich is the 1600,s zhen Brugges rivaled Florence and Venice as a cultural center. There are lots of canals qnd romqntic little bridges and really unusual churches:
I rode my bike about 7K along the canals and out to a little tozn called Damme; There is a dedicated bike path qlong most streets: The streets are narroz qnd hqve 2 rows of tall trees; one on eqch side: Why do the Belgians plant trees on each side of the street? Same joke as the French: so the Germans can march in the shade: It zqs so beautiful qnd I ended up on q footpqth zith sheep qnd q church qnd I reqlly enjoyed it:Coming home it zqs qll slightly uphill (aack) zith q huge heqdzind so I hqd to go reqlly slozly, big pain in the legs but that;s more excercise I guess: I can't figure out hoz there caqn be q heqdzind even zhen I turn qnd chqnge directions; but there zqs qnd it zqs qbout 40 miles an hour heqdzind!
I was hqving such a good time I kind of didnùt want to return the bike. I had it for free until 10 PM, so I just rode all around the old section of town for qzhile: Then I hqd to get to this internet place qnd it closes qt 10 so I hqd to tqke the bike bqck. Boo hoo!Tonight Spain plays Germany in the European Cup finals; so restqrqunts qnd bqrs qll over tozn hqve their biggest TV set up outside for their outside diners to zqtch: The game stqrted qt 8:45 PM; I guess it zill be a noisy evening
2 comments:
It sounds magical! So amazing. I can't believe you are doing this all alone! What an adventurer you are.
I am still trying to potty train Emma. It is an adventure of it's own but she loves to go outside and say "Expedition! Expedition!" Our 8 year old neighbor girl who Emma adores taught her that, they got exploring through the yards. But Emma says "Expedition!" "Expedition!" in a sing song kind of way and goes wandering all by herself around the yard, I wonder if you were like that as a child too! :)
And sorry, not in Brussels, in Brugge! In Belgium! I didn't know if the keyboard was messing up, because I had never heard of Brugge. ;) I googled it and looked it up and it looks AMAZING! The canals, water, tall skinny pointy buildings. It looks beautiful! There was one picture of the town at the old buildings were all covered with Christmas lights and it looked cool too! Glad you are enjoying it and experiencing it, trying not to be jealous! :)
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