Today Was a Travel Day

Our VRBO in Brugge was lovely, and I'll miss the linen sheets our owner provided us.  This morning we got up early - wait, who am I kidding...I got up early and did three loads of laundry, stripped the bed and gathered the used towels.  Our owner didn't have a checkout request list, but we've stayed in enough VBROs to know what's generally expected.

We loved Brugge, and after nearly exhausting our beer choices there - hahahahaha, draws breath, hahahahaha - not even close, we took the train back to Brussels today.  An easy hour-ish ride.  (Joe and I are both sinus-y and didn't sleep well, so having a quiet hour on a gently rocking train was nice.)

The weather's gone a bit rainy, and, without the sun, it feels a colder - all the more reason to get to Brussels where the city is alive and kickin'; warm and welcoming.  It's so Parisian here, that I would not be surprised to round a corner and see the Eiffel Tower.  Of course, it's lit up for the holidays and beautiful - the Brussels' Stock Exchange adjacent to our hotel.


We have five full days here, so I'm sure we'll get to exploring the city center tomorrow.  There are several options (most of them beer related) but there's a tour of Waterloo, the Masters museum which currently has a van Gogh exhibit, and a couple of walking tours laid out in Rick Steves' book on Belgium.  We'll see.

For now, it's just a quick bite, a sudafed, and hopefully a good night's sleep.  Bon Soir!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Little Bit of Home in a Back Alley Bar

Image
You can't swing a dead cat here without hitting a chocolate shop, a waffle stand, a beer bar, or an after Christmas sale.  Brugge seemed to come alive this afternoon - scores of people fresh off of a package unwrapping frenzy, ready to get outdoors and spend some Christmas cash.  It seemed the crowds were denser, more kid-populated, and more rude.  (Ya gotta love the Europeans - they're used to crowds and how to maneuver through them without a second thought of those around them.  It's not that they're rude, really, they're just on a mission and all those stupid tourists are in their way.  I really do totally get it...they're in my way, too!) Anyway, today was mostly about recovery from yesterday's beer binge.  We got a bit of a late start and went out of our way to get away from the tourist spots.  We managed quite well.  And, by the way, the back streets in the city are just as lovely as the bustling squares. After a delicio...
Read more

Well, THAT Sorta Sucks

Image
After a pretty good rest on our overnight flight, we arrived in Munich.  Our connection to Brussels was tight, but all the internet forums crowed about how streamlined and easy Munich airport is.  And it is!  SOOOOOOO easy.  Our connection gate was a quick walk away - no one was in line at passport control, and our gate was one floor down...as long as you weren't distracted by the duty free siren song  - this was a cinch.  Then the wheels came off. Our connecting flight was on a commuter airplane that was parked out in the pasture.  We had to take a shuttle, walk up the kind of stairs that are connected to the plane (not a jet way or Home Depot ladder-type of affair), and then duck to walk down the aisle to our seats.  A Barbie and Ken plane.  Still not terrible, but Barbie and Ken didn't manage to get our bags out to the pasture and in the hold.  Heavy sigh.  We talked to the baggage service people who were very apologetic....
Read more

2019: Day One

Image
Resolved: We'll lose weight this year Reality: Please pass the Belgian chocolates Resolved: We'll maybe not drink as much Reality: Ooooh, that's a good Belgian tripel Resolved: We'll get more exercise Reality: Let's go back to the room and relax Resolved: We should travel more Reality: Who am I kidding? February ski trip to Breckenridge March trip to Dallas? April transatlantic cruise May trip to Baltimore/Philly June Rails & Ales July/August tbd annual road trip September trip to Munich for Oktoberfest (also Prague and Berlin) October trip for 2nd annual convocation  November trip to California December trip tbd for next NYE
Read more