I decided to put this trip as one post, as there is a lot that happened during the weekend and it would be unfortunate to break it up.
02/07/10 - It was an early morning to get to the train. We got up just after 4 and got to Kings Cross/ St. Pancras and our train left at 6:30ish. Though it was really early, we were both excited to ride through the Chunnel (a personal goal of mine, I'm not really sure why, but ever since I saw Mission Impossible I've wanted to go on it) and go to a really random place to visit. We got a decent amount of sleep in on the train which was much needed, but as soon as we pulled into the train station, I knew it was going to be a shock.
The shock came slowly. At first it was partially masked by excitement. Then it got worse as we made our way through the station. I realized that they spoke French and Flemish in Belgium, but for some reason, it didn't really hit me until we got there. But it wasn't just the language, it was the whole environment. For the first time this summer, I realized that London and England are not really Europe. They're a separate entity. It's part of the mindset, but it's really striking comparing the differences between Brussels and London. I gained a huge appreciation for London that day.
We weren't going to be able to drop off our stuff off at the flat until 1:00 and it was around 10:00, so we decided to walk around and see some of the sites. We went to Gran Plas, basically a huge plaza with cool old buildings. After, we had to get a waffle at a place called Elisabeth. It was amazing. It was fresh and hot with chocolate and fresh strawberries on it. Definitely the best I've ever had and probably the best in all of Brussels. We then went to the only working brewery in Brussels. It was cool to walk around and see how making beer works. Their beer is different because it ferments spontaneously and they don't add yeast to it. It tastes sour, but it's pretty good. And it was nice to sit down for a bit because we did a lot of walking.
After, we headed out to the inferno to find the mysterious frites that Belgium is famous for. I got a suggestion to go to a specific place that was award winning, so we searched for them high and low... and we found them! They were absolutely delicious and we got so many of them for a serving, I couldn't eat all of them! When we done with our frites, it was time to continue our trek and meet Becky's friends who are from Belgium. They were really nice and showed us to the very famous statute of the boy peeing. I'm not kidding. They like to dress him up too.
By the time that we visited Gran Plas a second time, it was time for us to meet up with Becky's friends from Mizzou who were giving us a place to stay in for the weekend. It was such a long day and we were going to go to Brugge in the morning that we both crashed.
03/07/10 - Brugge!!! I was so excited to see more of Belgium and just discover what it had to offer. We didn't have any idea of what it had to offer, but we were going to find out. We were planning on getting up early so that we could get a free train ride, but unfortunately I forgot to change the time on my phone, our alarm, and we woke up an hour later than we anticipated. In a way I'm glad, because we were both dead tired.
When we made it there, it was much cooler and a little rainy. It was like we were back home in England! After getting to the center of town, we walked to try and find the canal tours that they have. It was really cool because there were so many old buildings lining the canal. They call Brugge - Venice of the North, and from what I've heard about Venice, I think Brugge is better. It doesn't smell.
After our canal adventure, it was raining a little harder so we decided to try and find a place to eat along the canal. There were lots of options that we saw on the boat ride, but we didn't end up finding any. We did find a nice restaurant that had some outdoor seating (with a awning so we didn't get wet) and looked out to the quaint little plaza. Becky ordered mussels and frites, a specialty and so I had to try mussels for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised at how good they were, but I really enjoyed my salmon pasta. Delicious!
After a successful lunch, we wanted to find the carriage rides that passed by while we were eating. On the way, we had to stop by a chocolate shop. It claimed to be the best in Brugge, where the chocolate is even better than Brussels. There were lots of tempting options, but we stuck with a sampler box.
Finding the carriages was a task, and after a lot of searching and asking, we went to the plaza where we started. We had a great guide who told us about the old buildings that we passed and our horse was great. It definitely made up for the one we lacked in Kent. We also found out that the chocolate we got was, in fact, very good from the guide who lived in Brugge.
After our ride, we went back to a Plaza we passed that was Burg Plas... I insisted that Becky had to get a picture with the sign! It was lined with really old buildings that were used for the government, including one that was built in the 9th century.
We made our way back to the main Plaza to take pictures and climb the tower to see over Brugge. Unfortunately, the 366 step tower was closed so we didn't get to work off any of the delicious food we ate! Our substitute? Visiting a very fancy chocolate shop we saw earlier in the day. They were so good that they had cleats (football cleats) along with jersey's and footballs made of chocolate. I was tempted to get one, but I decided against and got two pieces that one worker suggested. One was milk chocolate and carmel. The carmel literally poured out of the chocolate. The other was just as delicious. It was a hazelnut chocolate (no actual nuts in it, so all the better!) but was so creamy and perfect I wanted more! I resisted, but they were very good!
Becky and I were both so exhausted that we fell asleep the moment we found seats on the train. They like to overbook, so for a part of the trip, we sat in the entrance of the car until enough people left there were seats available.
04/07/10 - Happy Fourth of July! To celebrate the joyous occasion, Becky and two girls who we stayed with went to where the Tour de France would end. I didn't realize that the Tour went through other countries besides France, but I was not going to give up an opportunity to see it even if we weren't in France! It was reported that this was going to be Lance Armstrong's last Tour, so, being the sports fan I am... this was even more of a reason to go! I was also able to write a story on Mark Cavendish, a British sprinter who is trying to win the green jersey (given to the best sprinter of the Tour) so seeing him in action would be great too!
It was an extremely sunny day, but with the wind it was beautiful. We got to see the Atomium, basically a huge silver structure that looked... well... it's hard to explain! Here's a link to the picture. We walked around the festivities for a bit, looking for souvenirs. Slowly we made our way to the finish line to get as close as we could to the barricade. We eventually found a really great spot and reserved it. I ended up going to find a shirt and bottle of water because it was very sunny and without the wind, hot. Eventually, floats made by the sponsors of the Tour started to come, which meant the team cars were starting to come. It started to get really exciting, even though it was one of the first stages of the race. The riders came whizzing by, so quick we didn't know if we saw anyone famous. Becky got brilliant pictures and as they started going by, we saw Lance Armstrong and I could have sworn I saw Mark Cavendish who I was able to interview not too long ago! As soon as they came, they were gone, so we headed back to the tube to go back to the flat, grab our bags and head to the train!
When we headed to the train, we realized that it left earlier than we expected. Thank goodness we left in plenty of time! It still got us a little frazzled, so we ran to the departure gate. As we got to where Eurostar's terminal was, we saw a couple going through right before us, feet away. When we got to the entrance, one of the workers was closing it, so even more perfect! We just beat it! Apparently not. She directed us to the desk (we had 10 minutes to spare) where they informed us that we were too late. "No more Americans allowed," they told us. As this went one, both Becky and I were getting upset. I looked at her and saw that she looked like she was going to cry, and then she looked me and saw the exact same thing. So out of strategy and pure frustration, we both started to cry. The one guy who was being an arse left, so one of the ladies was able to give us comp tickets for the next morning at 6:59 a.m.
When we left the counter, there were no words to describe the frustration we felt. We walked out of the station to a random, dirty, concrete block and just sat down. Neither of us could form a full sentence for at least a half an hour. The only consolation was that there was a crazy, drunk person running around the entrance and I realized that life could have been worse. After offer up our first born child to our Brussels hosts, we headed back to their flat to crash and get some sleep before our early departure the next morning.
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