On the Road with Brent & Erika

A 3 hour train ride from Amsterdam is Bruges, Belgium, a cute little town which flourished in the 1300s as a rich trading port. Its well preserved buildings and canals made for a great couple days. We stayed here overnight and enjoyed some good food, a few sights and bike riding. Really, the town itself is the sight here because it's just so cute!


We climbed a STEEP 300+ step bell tower for this aerial shot. It was cool because the bells played while we were up in it.

We knew we had to have three things while in Belgium...waffles, chocolate and beer. Each was completely satisfying and did not disappoint! Let's start with the waffles (I do enjoy food!). We had some with chocolate, some with whipped cream and the grand finale, whipped cream plus fresh fruit. Wow! Each bite was sugary, doughy perfection. Then we made it to a recommended chocolate shop and painstakingly picked out several from the rows of shiny, perfect little treats. My favorite was a white chocolate raspberry shaped egg with a creamy raspberry filling. Brent really loved the dark chocolate with caramel cream. Finally, I think I may have found a beer that suits me. It's called kriek, and it is a sweet, cherry flavored beer. It didn't taste like beer, so therefore I liked it.


Brent in the moments of anticipation before we destroyed these waffles


How cute is the outside of the chocolate shop!?


What to choose, what to choose?

Even if you are not that into biking, it is almost a requirement to bike around Bruges. It's the preferred mode of transportation around here. So we rented bikes for several hours in the evening, dodging fellow bikers and cars, and rode out to a set of four windmills. It was also fun to explore the narrow, cobblestoned side streets and get away from the crowds. Although my bum was very sore the next day!


Us on the rented bikes


Brent cruising down the lane while I nearly fell off my bike trying to take this picture


A shot of us with a couple windmills in the background


I'm the queen of Belgium...um, maybe not...


Me biking down the street

After biking, we had a chance to wander the streets after the school field trip groups and day tours had departed. We found them deserted and perfectly quaint.










At the oldest pub in Bruges (serving beer since 1515), I had the kriek beer mentioned earlier, and we played Belgium scrabble. Very difficult with way too many K, B, G, and J letters. I ran out of vowels like four times.


The view out of our best hostel yet. We slept with the windows open and the cool air coming in.


Perusing the multitude of choices at the cheese vendor at the Saturday market


We rode the train from Bruges back to Amsterdam, and this picture was taken during the confusing moments when the train stopped due to smoke and alarm bells. The conductor rushed through and mentioned something about the brakes being on fire, but no danger. I wasn't sure I believed him. Yet, he was right.

We arranged our plans slightly to ensure that we would be in Amsterdam for the big Holland vs. Russia Europe Cup quarter final game. This is HUGE over here! The national color, orange, is everywhere!!! Brent bought a bright orange Holland shirt to fit in, and I had happened to pack an orange shirt, so I just wore that. Anyway, we decided to take in the game at a local pub, and it was a total party atmosphere. It was standing room only in the pub with the poor bartenders having to squeeze through the throngs of people balancing drinks on their trays. Before the game, the crowd would spontaneously burst out into national songs at full gusto. We didn't know any of the words, but it was fun! Holland managed to score one goal which was total mayhem, but in the end Russia won the game 3-1 in overtime.


Brent with spirited locals...notice the orange fake eyelashes even!


Crowd in the pub at Rembrandt Square in Amsterdam


Brent and I taking it all in!

Here are a few videos from the big game. We haven't previewed these but thought we would post them anyway.









We will be taking some day trips out of Amsterdam in the next few days, so be on the lookout for those.

--Erika