Back to Belgium for Chocolate, Waffles and Beer

I planned another quick trip to Bruges for the weekend of Oct. 30th with Jim's parents. Jim’s dad was here for that weekend and his parents had never seen Bruges. I also figured that since I have been there 2 other times in the past year, it would be an easy, low stress trip since I already knew my way around.

The plan was to meet them in Bruges since they would be coming from spending a few days in Paris. Unfortunately, their trip took a bit longer than expected when they ran into some trouble during a small detour.

Sylvia’s quest to see just about every Catholic Church ever erected led them to a sketchy neighborhood in Paris called the Arrondissement of Saint Denis (named after the Saint Denis Basilica). According to the legend, St. Denis was a bishop who was beheaded at Montmartre and then picked his head up and walked two miles. The Basilica was then built in his honor.

They decided to visit the church last minute so didn’t let their friends in Paris or Jim know their plan because both would have advised against going to that specific neighborhood.

Jim and Sylvia had some difficulty finding the Basilica with their GPS and after three laps of the area had finally given up on visiting the church. However, their visit to the Saint Denis Arrondissement was extended by a few hours. While stopped in traffic, two men approached the car, shattered the back seat window with a large rock and reached in to grab Sylvia’s fanny pack which was sitting on the back seat. Thankfully they weren’t hurt but only shaken up. There were some students in the area who were very helpful and could speak some English.

After an hour, the police finally showed up and drove the car to the nearest police station to start the 3 hour process of filling out the police report. I guess being Americans, driving an Italian car that they rented in Germany and not speaking French added some confusion to the whole process.

So the moral of this story is either 1) that you should stay away from sketchy neighborhoods while travelling, 2) if you’ve seen one church you’ve seen them all, or 3) that you should never own a fanny pack.

We arrived in Bruges after 9:30 due to traffic near Brussels. Since it was so late we simply stopped for a quick bite at a burger and frites spot near the hotel and Jim was able to get his Bicky sauce fix. Bicky sauce is a Belgian creation that is used like ketchup and reminds me of the Big Mac special sauce.

We weren’t able to reserve a B&B for the two nights we were there because everything was booked up for the holiday weekend. We ended up in a small hotel (Gulden Vlies – www.guldenvlies.be) that was about a 10 minute walk from the center of town. It worked out quite well due to the free parking across the street so was really convenient for our late arrival. I’d definitely stay there again.

The next morning after breakfast we set out for the town and hit most of the main sights before lunch– the two main churches and the main square. We ended up having lunch at a pita place that my mom, Stacy and I had eaten at when we were in Bruges in the spring. It was even better this time around.

After lunch we went in search of a chocolate shop to satisfy Sylvia’s sweet tooth and then did a little shopping. I got the perfect shot of Sylvia in front of another chocolate shop.

We headed back down to the Begijnhof and stopped for a beer at the Half Moon Brewery and a Belgian waffle for Sylvia along the way. We all agreed that the Dutch waffles in Maastricht were better.

The weather turned rainy while we were at the Begijnhof so Jim and I headed back to the hotel while Jim and Sylvia entertained themselves by looking for more churches and getting lost.

That night for dinner we had reservations for Tom’s Diner. Jim and I had a great meal there when we visited Bruges the first time. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to our expectations on our second visit. Jim and I have decided that the dining gods have been against us lately. I consider it fortuitous since we soon won’t be dining out at nice restaurants with a new baby. It is better not to have the memory of great meals fresh in our minds.

The next day we headed to Ghent so Jim and Sylvia could see where Jim lived for two summers. Once again we did a drive by of Kiekenstraat where Jim lived. He took pictures of three or four different apartments figuring that one of those was the right one.

The main square was undergoing a huge construction project so Ghent wasn’t as charming as our last visit. The gray skies and rain didn’t help either.

We wandered around the main square and canals before grabbing a quick lunch at a deli-style restaurant. Sylvia couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get one last Belgian waffle with ice cream and dark chocolate sauce. And what self respecting chocoholic could order anything other than a hot chocolate to top off her waffle lunch?