July 14 - Medeival Brugge

(John) Today our destination was Brugge. We rode the train using our first class Eurail pass for the initial time. And I thank God I bought first class - second class was packed to the rafters with families, children and college students sitting all around the floor. No matter what Rick Steves says, I don't find that to be fun.

In Brugge, we saw Market square where I climbed more than 350 steps to the top of the belfry. When I came down, it was definetely time for some pomme frites with mayonaise. Then it was time for Burg Square and a tour of the town hall museum.

The gothic Church of Our Lady was a peaceful and art filled respite as we continued our walk around this medieval port city.

The end of our journey was at the Half Moon Brewery. We took a tour that showed both the modern and old fashioned process for making beer, followed by a sample of the same "nutritious" brew. Overall, it was a relaxing day, not too rushed.

(Gene) I agree with John on the first class train ticket. Let me add that first class is air conditioned, while some second class train cabins have only little windows to keep them cool.

I think John & I did great today with our journies. We even caught a local bus into town from the train station without getting lost.

Brugge is a charming town. We saw lots of chocolate, lace and waffle shops. Sometimes they sold all three. We didn't buy anything other than the frites that John mentioned. They were tasty to eat as we people watched.

As we walked about town we both noticed that we were only a handful of English speaking people. We heard many languages and of course some Brits too. They don't count though.

I should mention that ATMs were difficult to find. I did manage to find two. However, they did not accept our card. Oh well, we will continue the search back in Brussels!