Getting there is {more} than half the fun

Last Saturday I took almost the entire day to make my way to Bruges. It was not supposed to take that long but because of the company I didn’t mind so much. Well except for the almost missing the boarding time for the airplane. It was another lesson for me that no matter how much you plan, you don’t control the world or the circumstances in it. It was also a lesson not to fly out of that particular airport if at all possible because getting there is a pain!
My traveling partners and I took a series of transportation that day; metro, train, train, bus, plane, bus, train, train, and then more feet. That is the simplified version. And leading up to the plane it was what we have now coined as “Italian Style.” This term is used in a variety of situations.
When we arrived in Bruges we walked out of the door {to a huge “pickpockets beware” sign, why thank you} and into sweet little town. We walked to our hostel which was quite the trendy little place. Emphasis should be added to both those adjectives. Then it was off to a free walking tour. Did I learn stuff on the tour? Yes. Was the tour good? Ummm, not my favorite. Do I now not like the movie ‘In Bruges’ as much as the locals? Getting pretty close. Will I watch said movie? Yes…I guess…I will
Part way through, we stopped following the tour and got Belgian fries. They make a great dinner for very hungry on a budget students. And then we headed back to where the tour was but they had left so we settled down in the crazy Irish pub. It was such a neat place, called Druid’s Cellar and was underground in a cellar. The bartender was so nice and soon everyone was joking around. We met some guys that were there for a Parkor like competition and they were from the Netherlands and then some locals. After a bit we headed out and it was time for bed. It was a little earlier than expected but it took so long to get there I was tired!
Sunday is not the best day to be in any European city, especially a small one but we managed just fine. After breakfast we headed out on the town. We went under a hotel that used to be the foundation of a church that was destroyed. It was so neat down there! And then we traveled the streets stopping and looking in all the windows at the delicious chocolate. Some of the other girls wanted to do a boat tour but instead I just walked around and tried not to get hit by bikes.
Afterward we found a waffle place and had a little snack and then we were off exploring again. We decided to rent bikes and it was so fun. Although I do not recommend cobblestones if you can help it! I was sore the next few days. We stopped and got more fries, looked in more chocolate shops where we got delicious hot chocolate. The real stuff warm milk and melted chocolate. And yes I even bought some truffles. We spent the rest of the afternoon riding around the city and out to the windmills, enjoying the fall leaves and the crisp air. That night we went to the hostel’s restaurant for dinner and I got a veggie burger. It was literally a patty made out of vegetables and mashed potatoes fried to keep form. It was good though.
After our food we headed back to the pub from the night before. It was a little bit of a different scene. I discovered that there is a thing called pub quiz and that it is very competitive.
The next day we headed out for Brussels. It was a short stay in this town that I have fallen in love with, but I am so glad that I got to spend some time enjoying it!

Disclaimer: I wrote this and then the days got really busy so I didn't post it. I figured that ya'll would want to see pictures. And then I remembered that these were the days that my camera battery was dead...so there's not very many pictures. So sorry!