A day in Brugge/Bruges

The channel in Brugge is so charming. Next time I will take the boat!

I'm not lying when I'm saying Brugge must be one of the most beautiful villages I've ever visited. Yeah, it's a tourist trap and I must admit I was walking around with my selfie stick, Canon camera and mobil camera all day long. But hey, once a tourist in Brugge, always a tourist!

So last weekend I suggested to my fellow Norwegian trainees in Brussels why not go on a day trip to this ancient beautiful little village, which is by the way on the UNESCO list. And the response turned out to be quite good, with 12 (!) people going together. We're all in the same age, staying in Brussels for only a period, so when you have the time you should just go.

12 Norwegian trainees, all from the Ministry of foreign affairs to regional offices. Good mix of people from all around Norway!

It takes a little bit more then an hour to get to Brugge from Brussels. And since it's in the region of Flanders, I'll go by the Flemish name of Brugge (but in French it would be Bruges). I took the train from Gare du midi, which is the train station for all the long distance railways to Paris, London, Cologne and Amsterdam, but the train will also stop in Brussels Nord and Brussels Central. It's actually a lot cheaper to go during weekends, then you can get one way & return ticket to the same price of one - 15 euros, so not bad!

The streets (and channels!) in Brugge as basically packed with people, especially during the weekends. Don't need to tell why...

After taking it from Gare du Midi (which is also the last train station before we head out of the city of Brussels), I would definitely recommend to take it from one of the other stations, as the carriages were so crowded of tourists, even I thought we took an early train (9 am). Anyways I had to stand all the way from Brussels to Ghent (like 1 hour), which was a bit pity, because then I didn't get to see the beautiful landscape and hills we passed on the way.

When we arrived in Brugge around 10:30, the sun was shining and blue heaven everywhere, so you may say we were quite lucky on the weather this beautiful Saturday. Walking from the train station to the city center took us about 10 minutes, and since we left home so early in the morning we decided to have breakfast in one of the nice cafes. Des crêpes with ice cream was definitely not a bad start on the day!

Thanks to my fellow trainee colleague Tyra, who's become my unofficial photographer!

After the meal we just ... walked. Around for hours! Stopping by each corner basically to take som photos, a huge selfie on the main square, taking lots of snaps from the many impressions. Admiring the beautiful ancient streets and brick houses around. Walking by the channels.

We were thinking about talking a boat on the channels but the queus were far too long so we kind of forgot about it. Instead we ended up talking a couple of beers (wine for me!) on this nice little bar just by the river channel. It was lovely just sitting in the sun, enjoying the view with something cold to drink and chatting for hours!

We had drinks on that little "castle" you see on the right side, it's called Kasteel Minnewater, and the restaurant/hotel must be perfect for a romantic dinner or weekend stay in Brugge.

After finishing the wine & beer we walked back to the train station caused some of the others had discovered that this actual Saturday in Brugge they were hosting this great food festival, just next to the station. Omg, it was amazing! We had to pay for these bongs, and then we could just spend them to taste a great mix of small different food meals. I had coq au vin, in a lovely combination with sweet potatoes, vegetables and cranberries and feta. And for desserts I had this excellent Belgian coffee, with chocolate next to it obviously. Omg, it was so good. The other bought more then me, but I was quite tired after sleeping very little the night before so I decided to take an earlier train back to Brussels. But I am so glad we decided to go on this beautiful, sunny Saturday with the food market around.

Food market in Brugge, omg! Belgians definitely know how to enjoy their food.

I was a bit strange coming to Brugge with signs in only Flemish, not Flemish AND French, like we see in Brussels every day. Some people I've talked has told me that many people up in Flanders don't speak French at all, and I must admit I didn't hear a word of it during the day. But English they know perfectly, as it's probably the most touristic city in Belgium.

So this was Brugge. Actually it reminded me a lot about Winchester, this ancient city where I was on exchange in England four years ago. Oh, good times! I will definitely go back here. And I definitely recommend you to pay this city a visit, at least once in your life!

Vaarwel, Brugge!