In 2019, I visited Belgium with two friends I had met in London: Beatrice and Leila. We met in Brussels, where Beatrice was working. After two days exploring the capital, we decided to see another part of the country and took a train to Bruges.
Meeting An Old Friend In Bruges
We didn’t go to Bruges just because it’s a gorgeous city. In fact, we had another very good reason. When I was living in Alicante, Leila joined me for a trip To Valencia to experience the Tomatina festival. There, we met a Malaysian girl, Ruba, and became friends with her.
It so happened that Ruba fell in love with a Belgian guy and spent some time with him in Bruges. Talk about good timing! This trip was the opportunity we had been waiting for to see her again.
Visiting The City Center
A Minor Setback
There was a minor setback because after one stop, the train stopped. Some kind of problem. So we had to take another one. Since there are regular trains between Brussels and Bruges, we lost a bit of time, but not too much and finally reached Bruges. We walked a little bit to get to the city center.
Bruges City Center Is Small
Bruges is like Disneyland or the center of Prague. It’s so pretty, so cute, so UNESCO that you start to wonder if real people live there. A chocolate shop, a brewery, a souvenir shop, a chocolate shop, a brewery…
As a tourist, it’s wonderful, the city is really beautiful, but I wondered how far people with no money had to live from the center.
Lunch In A Brewery
Of course, we had lunch in a brewery! Have I told you how beer is part of Belgium’s heritage? I’m not a big fan of beer, but I made an exception. You know what they say “When in Rome…”.
The brewery was named “halv mann“, which doesn’t mean the half man, but the half moon. It was pretty cool, and the food was really good and filling (especially for me since I had a caramel waffle for breakfast).
Then, we went on to buy some souvenirs. After trying to find her for a while, we finally succeeded in meeting Ruba in a shop. We chatted as we walked in the streets of Bruges. A lot of catching up to do!
Seeing Bruges From The Canals
Beatrice and I wanted to take a boat trip on the canals, but Leila and Ruba didn’t, so we split in 2 groups. We did the boat trip and had a lot of fun while Leila and Ruba went to a bar, to drink beer and chat a lot more. I really enjoyed the boat trip and I would definitely recommend it. Plus, it wasn’t too expensive. This way, you get another view of the city and some info about the history of Bruges.
After the trip, we met the girls in the bar and had one last drink before heading to the train station. Such a wonderful day!
PS: Stay a little bit in the evening because Bruges has a different atmosphere at night. I find it very romantic.
To see more photos of Belgium, you can visit the gallery Belgium.
