Well Bruges was a good trip overall. I am exhausted right now because I didn’t have a very nice traveling day, but back to the beginning on Friday…
So I left class at 3:30pm and ran up to my room to get my backpack and some last minute things and met up with the group. We walked to the train station in the cold rain, which set up the weather for the rest of the trip L When we got to the train station, we didn’t actually have our tickets, just this ID number. We had to get in line to print them, and then we waited for our train. While we were waiting, I learned that the train is somewhat like a metro. It goes on multiple stops, and it is up to you to get off at the right time. I was under the impression that trains were direct, so I thought that was interesting.
Lille was the beginning of this train, so we got first pick of the seats. Hannah and I got a 4 person seating area with a little table, so we had plenty of space. The ride was an hour or so, and I wish it was longer. It was so relaxing just to chill, read my book, and listen to my iPod. We finally got there and had to figure out how to get to the hospital. Jackie had planned our route out, so we had a general idea of where to go. Bruges is the shape of a circle with a canal surrounding it, so we had to walk around the edge of the circle to get to the hostel. It was about a 20 minute walk. At one point, we had gone too far, and this lady could tell we were students searching for the hostel and told us where to go. We were so fortunate to have her help; she randomly volunteered to help us when we didn’t even know we went the wrong way. People are so nice sometimes.
We got to the hostel and checked in. Hannah, Victoria, and I were in a 4 person bedroom, so we had the potential to get another roommate, but we never did. The room was nice enough; 4 beds and a bathroom. The others were in a 4 person room that they filled up. We only got our room the one night because the internet said the hostel was booked up for Saturday, so we planned on just piling up in the other’s room Saturday night. There were cameras everywhere, though, so we felt sketched out, but we decided to worry about that later.
We then headed to town to explore and get something to eat. Walking to town took like 20 minutes, but it was a straight shot, so that made things simple. We couldn’t find anywhere to eat that was under 20 euros, but we eventually found a Pizza Hut. I didn’t really like the idea, but it was the cheapest option. It ended up being an extremely satisfying meal. I got a salad from the salad bar, pizza, and ice cream. I was so hungry, so everything tasted delicious. We walked to the center of town after to see the Bell Tower, which was beautiful. We then headed back because we were tired. It had been a long day.
The next morning we started to worry about the room situation because sharing a twin bed with two people didn’t sound too appealing. We eventually just asked if there was extra room and booked a 6 person room. We were worried about having potential roommates again, but we never did! That’s luck! This room was the same, but there were 6 beds and a communal shower in the hall. The night before, Hannah and I had seen a tanning bed and salon nearby the hostel, so wanted to go there. I have always been against tanning beds, but Europe has been cold and rainy the entire time I have been here. I miss the sun and warmth, so I had become desperate enough to use a tanning bed. Unfortunately, we never got the chance to use it. When we walked in, we discovered it was a self-operating tanning bed where you put money in and then go into a room with the tanning bed. The whole shop was in Flemish, so we didn’t know how to read the machines. A guy eventually walked out, and we asked what we had to do. He spoke a little English and said we had to get these cards from a nearby gas station to use them. We headed over to the gas station, and asked about the cards, but the guy said you had to have a Belgian passport. What complete B.S… America would never turn down business! We then learned you had to make an appointment with the salon a month in advance…our plans had been ruined.
We headed into town and met up with the rest of our group by the Bell Tower to have lunch. We went to some cheap fast food place with only fried food. I had a turkey stick and fried cheese patty for lack of a better word. It was ok…enough o fill me up. We all went up the Bell Tower (336 steps), and we got to see a full view of Bruges. It was an amazing view, although extremely windy! I then wandered around town shopping and looking around and dealing with the horrendous weather. It was cold and rainy. The weather was bipolar. It would be sunny and five minutes later rainy and extremely windy. I hated it, and that partly ruined the whole trip for me. I ended up sitting in a café with Amelia for over an hour just to not have to deal with the weather. My goal for the trip was to relax anyway, so that is what I did. We eventually met up with everyone and went back to the hostel. We rested up and then went to town again for dinner and going out.
We had dinner at a Chinese place, and I had chicken fried rice for under 10 euro. It was different than the fried rice I am used to, but I still loved every bit of it. I also drank fizzy apple juice, which is good too. We then headed to a bar that was listed on this free map of Bruges called Bras. It was pretty cool. It had crazy lights, good music, and a lot of people. I drank this cherry beer, which tasted really good! No one was really dancing, but we had our own little dancing party. We headed back to the hostel afterward and crashed.
This morning, I woke up and used the communal shower. It reminded me of my freshman year using the shower in Tucker. I am glad I don’t have to deal with that anymore. I then had breakfast at the hostel, which was pretty good. They had cereal with cold milk (cold milk is unheard of in France), bread with nutella, an orange, and orange juice. We all headed to town, and I planned on renting a bike, but it was way too windy to be enjoyable. Hannah, Bryan, and I just sat at a café for two hours waiting to meet up with everyone again. I then had lunch at Subway, and the bread was so much fuller and fluffier than America’s! The guys working there were really nice, and one of them told us his uncle owns a pizza place in Lille, and he told us to buy cheap chocolate at any supermarket instead of the touristy, expensive chocolate shops. I took his advice and bought the brand he suggested later on, and it was so good! I stayed at Subway for well over an hour just to avoid the weather…again. I then did some shopping for my family and we all headed back to the hostel.
We were there for a few hours waiting to leave for the train. We realized we could have visited Bruges in a day instead of a weekend because it only takes a day to do everything. Oh well.
It hadn’t rained all day today, but (with our luck) it started to torrentially downpour right as we left the hostel for the train station. I got completely soaked even with my umbrella, and me and Hannah eventually stopped at a store to wait the rain out while everyone else continued on. At this point, I was very distressed and pissed off. The weather was completely sucky all weekend, and that was the breaking point for me.
Once it stopped raining, we headed for the station cold, wet, and miserable. The whole walk there it was windy, and I was just really angry and fed up with Belgium in general. We got to the station and rode our first train to Ghent. We then can’t find out train and have to ask someone to learn the tracks were messed up, so we had to take an extra train to some random town, and then to Lille. A perfect way to end the day…uhhg. We got to Lille around 9pm, and walked back. I am just tired right now and glad to be (somewhat) warm and dry. I had a good time in Bruges, but the weather was ridiculous. Hannah and I have decided we really want to go to the south of France next weekend. We just want a warm day on the beach! I really hope that works out. I need to research prices…
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