An entry in the TFS Travel Journal.
(written while trying to come down from a delicious chocolate buzz)
Another enjoyable Swan breakfast (lots of fresh fruit) then off with the group to a canal cruise. This was a quickie, as Brugge is quite small, but medievally scenic, with lots of flower boxes along the canals which we saw being watered by the city’s personnel in their boats. We couldn’t understand much of what the guide was saying, but we more than made up for that, since whenever we sat in our hotel room overlooking the canal, a boat would go by every 20 minutes or so and we’d get a snippet of a tour in some language.
Saw the oldest bridge, the smallest bridge, the smallest window, etc. Docked, then we came upstairs to do some errands before setting off for sightseeing and shopping (which included the key finds of euro-decongestant for Milton and bug-bite itch-eraser for Wendy). Between the two of us, we sampled at over 1/3 of Brugge’s 20-odd chocolate shops and browsed 1/3 of the 40+ lace shops. Also toured the lace museum which was just about worth the BF120 ($3) admission. We visited the Groenine museum and saw some Flemish old master paintings — remarkably rich colors for works over 500 years old, but heavy on the Biblical imagery, some beautiful Flemish landscapes and several rooms of modern art which would have made the aforementioned artists quite ill, I’m sure.
We wanted a light lunch since the B & R farewell (already?) dinner was tonight, so we ate outside at the Crowne Plaza, enjoying a great view of the from-another-era Burg (square) and had soup and salad.
We had to get back to meet the group for the brewery tour, so to best lay down a base for the beer tasting we finally bought some Belgian pomme frites and were unimpressed, but ate them all anyway. (they were served with an interesting spicy-mayo-type sauce, though).
Walked over to the brewery for the tour which was minimally interesting and maximally hot. The guide’s canned (ha) spiel got old fast, but the info on the richness and history of the country’s brewing industry was educational. Afterward, we were rewarded with a glass of their brew, which was pleasingly blond, sweet, and tasty.
Came upstairs to relax for an hour or so, then down to a lovely sitting room (named for the air which had been sitting in that room since last summer) for drinks, followed by dinner. Three great fish courses (the sliced salmon w/grilled prawns being the winner), enjoyed while circulating pictures of various group members and writing amusing captions on them. Dessert was divine — light coffee-flavored cool whipped something, with fresh berries and plentiful petit-fours. Coffee was then brewed on each table using some dual-vessel, bunsen-burner contraption that looked and worked like something Rube Goldberg would have designed for Alessi. Then a few people read their captions, some toasts were made, some awkward silences were endured, and we all said our goodbyes.
We retired to our room and found a few gifts our guides had left (more chocolate(!) and some cookies in a nice little ceramic cannister), and relaxed for the remainder of the evening.