Day 4 – Finally awoke at a somewhat decent hour and managed to check out of the hotel by 10:00. There were no issues or charges with checkout, but since I’ve been back I’ve read a few reports that made me realize we really should have asked for a final bill. Even though it was pre-paid through Priceline and there were no additional charges, some people have had problems with charges showing up later. No issues for us though.

We got to the train station and I was once again glad I’d gone to the ticket counter instead of the machine. It seems the direct train to Antwerp was cancelled today due to construction so we had to take a different one and change trains. Now luckily, there were some American girls in front of us in the same situation. The attendant told them where to transfer and they asked him to write it down, thank goodness! I quickly introduced myself to these girls and kept them in my sight the whole time we were on the trains so we wouldn’t get lost. They were going on to Brussels but Antwerp was on the way so we stuck together.

I had planned to pay for the tickets on Visa but the attendant said cash only. It was unclear whether it was my Canadian card that was the problem or if their system was down or if they just don’t take credit cards. We had to rush to make our train so I didn’t ask questions, I just paid cash. €31 each, but no time to grab breakfast.

The mystery stop turned out to be ‘s-Hertogenbosch which we would have had a hard time spelling on our own. When we got off the train there was another waiting but of course we were not going to jump on a train without knowing where it was going. Sadly, that’s just what we should have done. It departed quickly and we found out it was the train to Antwerp & Brussels and there wouldn’t be another for an hour. So we lugged our bags through the station and Albert Heijn saved the day again. There was a small grocery store and we bought some drinks and hot croissants stuffed with ham & cheese plus a bag of fresh carrots & radishes since our vegetable intake had been pretty low so far. It was a nice way to wait. I also had to buy some large bandages because I had injured my toe on the shower plug that morning and it was really starting to get bad. There was a small drugstore-type shop and I was a little intimidated by the selection. When I chose my bandages, the cashier started speaking to me in Dutch and I got a bit nervous. I used my patented technique of a blank stare followed by “I’m sorry I only speak English” and of course she repeated herself in perfect English. It turns out the bandages were on sale 2-for-1 so she wanted me to take another package plus a free little wallet to go with them. How nice! And those extra bandages did come in handy on the trip because my injury was pretty bad.

We finally caught our next train and it seemed like forever, but we got to Antwerp and were rewarded by their beautiful train station. Our original plan had been to arrive in Antwerp early and spend the day here and travel on to Bruges in the late afternoon, but the train delay meant we didn’t get there until 14:00 and also it was Assumption Day and everything was closed, so we only spent an hour in the city before our train to Bruges.

We packed our luggage into lockers. Unfortunately all the big lockers were full so we had to each jam a suitcase into a smaller locker. In all, this was probably not worth the cost and hassle since they were €3.50 each and we didn’t have enough change and had to buy a drink to get more. But we got it sorted and headed out into Antwerp. First we stopped to admire the train station and buy our tickets to Bruges (€13.60 each). Then we popped into the TI and asked what there was to see near the station. The attendant couldn’t have been less helpful and had no suggestions, so we just grabbed a map and set out on our own.

The Antwerp zoo is right outside the station. We love zoos but decided €18.50 each was too much to pay for just an hour, plus there was some kind of children’s festival going on and it looked busy so we decided to see the town instead. We walked along the mostly deserted streets. The architecture is beautiful. Every building is covered in ornate carvings – even the shops. Back home malls are generally modern monstrosities but in Europe they are gorgeous. They were all closed though due to the holiday so we sat in a nice beer garden so we could have our first Belgian beer in Belgium. Prices for beer are much cheaper than Amsterdam. It was just €6 for a Tripel and a Kriek.

Headed back to the station and caught our train to Bruges. Our guidebook indicated this should be a 50 minute trip but it took at least 90 minutes stopping at each town along the way. I’m not sure if an express train was available, but we were growing weary of train travel. Fortunately there were a bunch of adorable Belgian children on the train with face paint from the children’s festival so they made us smile while we waited to arrive.

I’d made a budget for this trip that didn’t include many splurges and I’d printed directions by public trainsit to all our hotels, but on this train ride we decided we were tired of hauling suitcases around and we’d take a taxi to our hotel. This was the best decision ever. I don’t know if we would have found our hotel on the winding streets of Bruges. Cost: €12 and well worth it.

The Hotel Fevery is a small hotel about 10 minutes from the centre of Bruges. It was the first hotel I found in my research a year ago and it is very reasonably priced. I had emailed the proprietor to ask for a room without low beams because MB is so tall and when he showed us to our room he told us it was a bit bigger than the others. It was about twice the size of our 4-star room in Amsterdam It was on the 3rd (top) floor and there is a lift that stops part way up and a few stairs to the door, then a few stairs down inside. There was a standard 2-beds-pushed-together queen sized bed with separate duvets, a small table with 2 chairs, a tv and a huge bathroom. The room was spotlessly clean. I loved this hotel. Once we were planning the trip in earnest I looked at B&Bs but we’re not used to staying in those and we like our privacy, so this was an excellent choice. Paul, the proprietor was completely unobtrusive but extremely helpful when we had questions. He gave us a map and circled all the most interesting sights and also gave us a discount card for most of them. And we were on our way out into Bruges.

Due to the delays we had just missed the Procession of the Holy Blood in the main square, where they take out the vial of Christ’s blood and parade it around. I can’t say I was heartbroken to miss it because once we made it to the centre, the crowds were gone and even though the bleachers were still set up for the parade, it was very peaceful. When planning our trip I really wanted to be in Bruges early in the week to avoid the busy weekend, but we unavoidably ended up there on a busy holiday weekend. It caused almost no problems except one crowd scene. I’d still go back on a weekend but would choose a weekday if I could. And I would stay longer than 3 days because we just loved it there.

The streets of Bruges were gorgeous. We took a picture of the first canal we saw outside our hotel and laughed at it later because each subsequent canal was even more beautiful. We wandered kind of off course but finally made it to the Market Square and saw all the gorgeous buildings and the bell tower. Time for a beer, of course. We went just outside the square and found a place that boasted 15 different fruit beers: Don Quichotte. I tried the strangest one – coconut! It was actually delicious. MB had the only beer still brewed in Bruges and we were very happy. The weather was gorgeous and we were finally at our destination. We had another round (cranberry for me this time) and were on our way to see more of the town after paying the €20 bill.

We stopped for some frites in market square and sat on the empty bleachers to eat them and take a look at our surroundings. The frites were hot and they were served with mayo on request and for a €0.50 surcharge. Not a fan of mayo, I had ketchup (also €0.50) but MB loved the mayo. We walked through Burg square and past the canals. We were looking for another bar called ‘t Brugs Beertje. Since we never figured out how to pronounce it we called it the 300 beer bar. We were afraid of another Gollem incident because it looked difficult to find, but Bruges is small and we came across it easily. When we first entered we were concerned because the place was packed and there were no seats, but the bartender directed us to the back and we walked in to the the smoke-free back room which turned out to be the best decision of our whole trip.

MB is a real beer lover. Over the past few years he and his brother have been tasting more and more advanced and rare beers from all over the world. When I first started dreaming of going to Europe, I knew I could entice my husband with all the rare and delicious Belgian beer and it worked. So to see him sit down to a menu of 300 beers was a very happy moment. He was in heaven. There was a young man behind the bar and a young girl helping him (both looked like early 20s). They were so helpful and kind to us. We ordered our choices from the menu and then chose a second round on our own and had a nice croque monsieur with a wonderful salad from the small food menu.

For the next round we asked for assistance and told him what kind of beers we liked. He made perfect recommendations for us. MB had Black Albert which turned out to be his second favourite beer of all time after the Westvleteren (unfortunately, just as rare). And I had Gueze which is an unflavoured lambic with a nice sour taste. I loved it. Prices were very reasonable at about €3 per beer but some of the premium ones were more like €7 – still cheaper than Amsterdam! We also purchased the Bruges beer guide which had some pretty vague coupons in it I think it was around €10. With that and our sandwich our bill was €42 for a whole evening of Belgian beer. We were very satisfied!

Finding our hotel after that was a bit of a challenge. We got a little lost and it took us about 30 minutes but we made it back by midnight. The streets were completely deserted and it felt a little eerie at times, but it seems very safe.

Tomorrow – Exploring Bruges by boat + our fancy dinner
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