Embed Doc
Copy Link
Readcast
Collections

CommentGo Back

Download

A day trip to old BrugesWhile couch surfing in Antwerp I elected to take a day trip to Bruges. I had first heard of themedieval city thanks to a Lonely Planet Pilot Guide episode on Belgium and Luxembourg.The host had described Bruges as the "Venice of the North".This moniker is relatively closeto the truth, with a multitude of canals, Bruges is a beautiful city.No more than two blocksfrom the train station I encountered my first canal unlike Venice the city does not use thecanals for transport though numerous they are not as prolific as the canal system inAmsterdam.You can go a short boat tour of the canals for a nominal fee, a experience thatis highly recommended.Bruges maintained its pre-industrial buildings remarkably well over the years, it was leftuntouched by both world wars.Bruges gives the traveler a rare look into Europe of yearsgone by.The old part of the city is close to the train station and is easily walkable in a day.I started by just walking into the town towards the belfry which I could see over the lowbuildings.Easily finding my way into the old town, I took the opportunity to wander.Nomap, no plans, I was able to focus on enjoying the city around me.I had arrived early inthe morning and a fog still draped the city.This was a perfect accessory to the windingcobblestone streets and the vine covered brick walls.Even without a map I was able to make it easily to the main square, some tourists weremilling about considering a ride around the town in a horse pulled carriage.On one side of the square sits the belfry, Bruges lacks tall buildings so you can pick out the belfry fromalmost any part of the city.This comes in real handy when you have no map. I took theopportunity to climb the belfry and behold the sleeping city from the best vantage point intown. the 350 plus steps doesn't sound like that many until you start climbing.There are afew platforms where you can stop and take a rest, as you near the top of the tower thespiral staircase gets extremely tight and steep so make sure you are up for the challenge.Once you make it to the top you are greeted with expansive views of the city and the claytile rooftops.At ground level once again, I took the opportunity to try a Belgian fast food that had beensuggested to my by my couch surfing host, called a Bicky Burger.I purchased one from theBelgian equivalent of a chip truck in the square.It was definitely something different, themeat was deep fried and was accompanied by a interesting yellow sauce i could distinctlytaste onion and a few other greens inside the meat, which tasted a little odd itself.It wasright on that line between good food and something I wouldn't order again.To this day I'mnot sure what to make of it.After a little of post meal research I'm convinced that I had avariation of a Bicky burger using horse meat.In retrospect it is probably a good thing that Ithought it was beef at the time. Horse meat was and still is something completely new forme.From the square I made my way to the Chocolate museum and purchased a dual ticketwhich also got me admission to the fry museum. The chocolate museum wasunderwhelming although the live demonstration of chocolate making was quite interesting.A polar opposite, the fry museum was excellent and really showcased the pride thatBelgians have in their fries. I had no idea that different ranks of fry makers existed nor thatthere are medals and awards associated with the profession.Also according the Belgiansthe origin of French fries (Belgian fries) goes like this:In a small fishing village, during aharsh winter the ice was so thick that fish couldn't be caught so the local cut potatoes tolook like fish fillets and deep fried them, this was the beginning of Belgian fries.Apparentlybrought to fame during World War II, some Belgian fries were offered to American troopsand since the troops spoke French (Some regions in Belgium speak French while othersspeak Flemish which is akin to Dutch) the Americans called them French fries when they