Our Trip Blog

The Events of Saturday, June 11, 2011

                Graceful willow trees draped over the side of a canal, old ladies laughing in Flemish while creating delicate lace, cheerful, bumping bikers on skinny cobblestone streets, plump chocolatiers welcoming tourists with a smile and halting English, all these add up to the real spirit of the beautiful country of Belgium. Since we all wanted to really experience the real Belgium today, we decided to try all of these activities, plus a couple of extras. After a scrumptious breakfast with strawberry and vanilla yogurt (a big treat here) we headed out with our umbrellas and sunscreen to experience Belgium. Some people might think Belgium is all World War I and II, but they are definitely wrong. Belgium has some of the world’s best chocolate, waffles and beer (supposedly), most colorful architecture and art, and lovely people. Belgium also has a very flat landscape. We observed some of this landscape, interrupted solely by white cows and trees, on our way from Oostende to Brugge.

                Upon our arrival in Brugge, we parked and walked along the cobblestone streets and canals, getting lost a couple of times, and finally ending up at the Church of our Lady. This church holds a statue by Michelangelo of the Madonna and Child, said to be the only Michelangelo statue to leave Italy in his lifetime. This is probably because of the wealth produced by Brugge’s cloth trade. After admiring the statue and wandering the church, we headed to a great viewpoint for a picnic lunch. When we arrived there, we found the view spectacular, but only the stone wall along the canal to sit on. So we plopped ourselves down and set up our lunch, glancing nervously at the menacing looking clouds, thankful that it wasn’t raining yet. Our luck didn’t last long, however, as the sky opened up partway through our lunch. It didn’t just rain, it poured, and, after it had poured, it hailed, and then the sun came out. Despite huddling under our umbrellas, all of us were at least partially sopped, and we basked in the sunshine while we had it.

                Continuing on our walk through Brugge, we came next to Burg Square, the historic center of town. Then we went on to the Markt Square, the modern town center. The square was huge, with a bell tower on one end and historic buildings all around. Did you know the Belgians actually invented fries? They did! The reason fries are called “French” fries is because the style of cutting used for fries is the French-style. Even weirder than that fact is the fact that the Belgians eat their fries, or “frites” with mayonnaise! To try this delicacy, we ordered one large order of fries, a basket of “frites” with a plop of mayonnaise on top and tiny forks to eat the fries. We soon found out that fries with mayonnaise are very weird, and will probably stick with ketchup from now on.

                Our next stop was the Dumon Chocolate Shop. Overwhelmed by all the goodies, we ordered a variety of white, milk and dark chocolate treats for dinner. Moving on, we came to the Lace Center. After going through a small museum that had no words, only lace works of art, we went to the demonstrations. There we watched little elderly ladies, all wearing glasses, bend over and rapidly toss little bobbins back and forth in a whirlwind on a specially built round giant pin cushion filled with pins, laughing in Flemish (a different form of Dutch used in Belgium) all the while. After watching this fascinating work for a little, we headed to our bike rental shop, of course, getting lost on the way.

                By the time we arrived, I was so eager to get back on a bike that I almost jumped on my rented bike and rode away before anybody else was ready. Nobody in Belgium uses helmets, so we hopped on our bikes without helmets and bumped down the cobblestone streets until we got on a nice paved path. Considering we haven’t attempted to bike since Michigan, on Mackinaw Island, we did pretty well on the 3.5 mile stretch to a town called Damme. The path was paved, tree-lined, ran right next to a canal and even passed an old-fashioned windmill on the way to Damme. Once at Damme, we rode to another path and went back to Brugge, another 3.5 or so miles. We saw more wind-mills and then turned in our bikes, much to my disappointment.

                Tired and hungry, we made our way to the Belgian waffle stand nearby. Belgian waffles are meant to be desserts and are sweeter than the ones used for breakfast in the States. One could have different toppings on top, and I chose strawberries and whipped cream, while the rest of my family chose a mixture of one or two of the following: chocolate, caramel, and whipped cream. Feeling 100% Belgian, we walked back to the car and drove home. After dinner, we dove into our Belgian chocolate and headed to bed.