Brussels .... No, Not the Sprouts!!

Actually, it was Belgium, with a quick stop at Brussels to change trains to go to Brugge.  A town an hour's train ride from Brussels.  The suggestions was Laura's, my friend from cooking school.  We were originally going only to Brussels, but Laura had several suggestions that Brugge (pronounced "Brouge" like "rouge" that you put on your cheeks, if you are from France, Broog if you are not!!) was much prettier!

A Brazilian girl I met at cooking classes, Deborah, also suggested I go.

Laura and I were to meet at the train station at 8am so I could get a ticket and then we could have a coffee.  Poor Laura's alarm didn't go off, so she had a mad scramble to get to the station, but made it in plenty of time!!  We nearly didn't find each other because she was at one end of the platform and I was at the other ... we met in the middle ... thank God for mobile phones!!

We settled into the warm train, glad that we had made it!!  




It was really cold in Paris that morning, but when we got to Brussels ... it was freezing.  We found a tourist box that told us where to book the train for Brugge and we got our tickets just in time to run up stairs (of which there seem to be a lot at stations) and catch the train!!

An hour later, we were there.  
 
After some enquiries, we found which bus would take us to our first stop ... the market.  From there we thought we'd just wander around.  It was FREEZING, and I love the cold, but this was a bit much even for me.  We did try to buy me a beanie or hat, but no matter which one we chose, I looked like a slow ... I just have one of those heads I guess?  The market is only open on Sundays, but there was still plenty to see.  They have horses and carts to take people on a sightseeing tour, unfortunately I didn't take a pic, the horses were lovely.  


The locals are very friendly and accommodating. 

We had lunch at a pub ... starting with hot tea ... too cold for beer or anything else!! I had the cheese croquette (soooo good) and a beef and pork stew and Laura had Soup and Dover Sole and Chips, it was good.  Dessert was ice cream.  We were supposed to be saving ourselves for waffles, which Belgium is famous for, but it was only one scoop.  We actually never got to try any as we ran out of time in the end.

After lunch we headed off for more sightseeing. We had a few places on our list, but really we just wandered around, we needed to see the market, the church and the canal.  Laura downloaded the top 10 sights to her i-phone so we had everything at our fingertips. 


 








Shopping is GOOD here, much less expensive than Paris and they have beautiful things, just like Paris. Laura and I managed to wander into quite a few shops, especially those selling cooking related items ..... I only bought a few .....

 

It seems the Belgians are big celebrators of Valentine's Day as shop windows everywhere we went were filled with hearts and messages of love, even the restaurant had hearts hanging off the lights!!  

And the chocolate shops .... they are everywhere too .... we only had one tiny marshmallow square each.  I did buy Peter a chocolate cigar

When it was time to go back, we found the right bus, and made it in time.  Unfortunately our train from Brussels to Paris was delayed, as we can't understand the language, we nearly boarded a train for Amsterdam!!  Laura has asked one of the staff if this was the right train and he had said yes, it was only when she showed her ticket to see which cabin we were in that we were told we were not on that train.  Thank God, normally you get on and find the seat yourself and conductors don't check your ticket for a while.  

It was a great day and if you are ever over this way I would recommend a day or two there.  My brother says it is the perfect place for a romantic weekend and I agree.

Footnote:  This is a picture of our meal on the train.  Laura and I couldn't believe it .... while everyone else at it, we were cracking up because it didn't look the least bit appetising, and it tasted pretty awful.  We covered it over with a serviette and ate our bread roll and drank red wine instead .... bon appetit!!