So long, Bruges...

Well, tomorrow morning I'll be heading back to the train station and hopping on the first train to Paris I can find. I'm super-stoked about Paris. Bruges was an awesome break from the big city atmosphere, but I'm ready to see everything the city of lights has to offer.

This morning, since Cecilia and Marins had already left, I had my entire room to myself. No doors slamming, no showers running, no zippers zipping. Under such circumstances, I felt obligated to sleep in as much as possible, in some futile attempt to stockpile the sleep for another day, when I probably won't be as fortunate. Thus, I slept in until almost 10am, which was amazing. The beds here are really comfortable and I have a big bay window right by my bed to look out of. I woke up quite refreshed.

Starting the day, I first went to the Concert Hall of Bruges. It was built in 2002 when Bruges was named the "Culture Capital of Europe." It's 7 stories high and the top floor offers great panoramic views of the city. Here's an interesting fact: The concert hall is the only non-religious building in Bruges that is more than 40 or 50 feet high. The reason? Centuries ago, the sky-high churches and cathedrals were built tall so that they could be "closer to God." All other buildings had to be built humbly, with a low profile, as regulated by the city.

Leaving the concert hall, I went to the De Halve Maan Brewery, which brews that delicious Brugse Zot that I had with dinner last night. I signed up for a tour, which was given in both english and french luckily. The entire brewing operation is housed in a building that is quite small (for a brewery), so every room is pretty small, and the staircases going up and down are deadly. On two occasions, the guide made us go down backwards because the steps were so steep and tiny. It's a good thing they give those free samples after the tour, or we'd have been enjoying the rest of Bruges with neck braces. After going from room to room, we eventually made our way up a few flights of stairs and out onto the observation deck, which looks over the city. This was really cool, and while we were up there I happened to meet a guy from Auckland, New Zealand. We talked briefly about when I had went there, and then the tour went back downstairs and concluded. Afterwards, my tour ticket earned me one free glass of Brugse Zot blonde. I really wanted to try the bruin (brown) but since it was more expensive, the tour ticket would only get me a blonde. Blast. I sat down in the brewery's courtyard and pulled out my map of the city. After a few minutes, the New Zealand guy I met comes up and asks if he can sit. Always willing to meet a fellow traveler, I oblige, and we end up talking about 45 minutes. As it turns out, he was in Germany and London on business and had come to Belgium in between for a mini vacation. He was also a connoisseur of brewing, and we talked a lot about various beers, as well as the brewery we'd just taken a tour of. He told me that American beers have a reputation of being crap (this is because of the proliferation of the Light pilsner - Bud light, Miller light, Coors light). However, he did say that the reputation wasn't exactly warranted, as some of our microbrews can be quite good. Tomorrow, he was headed to the southwestern coast of Belgium to check out one of those Trappist Monastery breweries (see my last post) and go to a hops farm. Speaking of hops, one cool thing I learned during the tour is that hops will only grow in very particular parts of the world, and that all of the spots lie on the same line. The guide mentioned Belgium, Ireland, Oregon, and Washington, saying hops grow very well there as the latitude is right. Outside that particular line, he only knew of two exceptions in the world where hops will thrive, but I forget what they were. After finishing our Brugse Zot blondes, the guy from New Zealand went and got himself a brown, the one I had really wanted to try. As he came back, I told him that he had to let me know how it was. Instead, he did me one better - he got me one for myself. He was a real nice guy and I appreciated the free beer. It was very good, but I think I liked the blonde a bit better. After we talked a bit more and finished our beers, he went his way and I went mine.

Continuing on, I went to the Bruges beguinage, which is basically a place where women live like nuns, in poverty and fidelity, but without taking any vows. It's a UNESCO world heritage site, but wasn't terribly exciting. I did see one of the sisters riding a bike later, which is something you don't see everyday. Continuing to walk along city paths, I got some better pictures of what the city looks like (I didn't like yesterday's much). There are also a ton of ducks and swans around (because of the river), and I made friends with a bunch of those along the way. They followed me everywhere for some reason.

Away from the canals, I got some pictures of some really awesome 250-year-old windmills. Bruges has four of them along their northeastern side, and they still use them to crush grain when the wind is right.

Then, it was off to the Church of Jerusalem, which was built in the 1400's and is a copy of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. It's kind of bizarre and eerie inside, but for 1.5 euros, it was worth seeing. I got some good pictures of the inside.

Next, I made my way back across town to check out a boat ride down the canals. I know, it's kind of lame, but apparently it's something everyone must do before they leave. It was pretty cool, actually, and we saw a lot of the town as we zipped around the narrow river, clearing bridges by only inches. The guide was fluent in five languages, and was learning Japanese. Hopefully he gets paid accordingly - I gave him a 2-Euro tip for being so knowledgeable and not drowning us.

As soon as our boat pulled into the dock, it had started to rain, and was slowly increasing. I started to make my way back to the hostel, and realized I completely forgot about one of Bruges' biggest attractions. I have no idea how I skipped it (it must have just slipped my mind), but I forgot to go to the Church of Our Lady, which houses an original, authentic Michelangelo, called the Madonna with Child. Apparently, it is to Bruges what the Mona Lisa is to the Louvre. Aaand I forgot all about it. By the time I got there, I was soaked, and the doors had been locked for 20 minutes. Oh well, at least I'll get to see more of his work in Paris and Italy. It still would've been cool to see though.

Now, I'm just hangin at the hostel. It's really raining cats and dogs, and the thunder is crazy loud. Tonight I'm staying with a guy from PA, a girl from Mexico, and some people from Texas. The guy from PA will be backpacking four months total, and he came to Europe on a freighter ship!! It took him nine days... crazy. The people from Texas seem to be rich southerners. They're all "oh my gosh this city is so cold and my pack is so heavy and im all dirty." LAME. I'm going to make some calls home and get ready for the big trip to Paris tomorrow. This city has been great... lots of history, great people, and all kinds of delicious things to investigate. I'll keep you all updated on tomorrow's travels. Wish me luck...

To see all 193 pictures I took in Bruges, click here.