I LOVE BRUGES

I think this has been my favourite place so far! The town doesn't even feel real! Like people live here! It is the most colourful, historic-looking, and gorgeous city ever! People are so nice and welcoming which was such an amazing change after Paris! Bruges is my little safe haven! My hostel had loads of forks too! And my bed at the hostel was so comfy, which is surprising for a hostel! Stay at the Lybeers Hostel because it was very clean and they were creating a little outdoor jungle with plants so it smelled very fresh! Everything is so close within walking distance too. I never needed to take public transit. Overall I am in love with Bruges!

The best time to tour Bruges without the crowds is before 10 am or after 8 pm, but if you want to enjoy the stores and restaurants then you have to face the crowds!

On my first day, I went to the Choco-Story Museum! It was laid out well and they give you an audio device to listen to the story so I didn't need to read a million different things! The two men who curated the museum were describing everything in the audio guide. They take you back to Mayan times when they used chocolate to make a bitter and spicy drink for the royals and other elite members. They describe the God who brought the cacao bean to earth and you could smell the ingredients used in the original recipe of hot chocolate (which is essentially what this drink was for the Mayans). The museum takes you through how they prepared it, how the Spaniards stole it, how it made its way to England, the changes that occurred to make it sweeter and eventually how it became how we know it today. In the end, you could eat as many pieces of chocolate as you wanted, but couldn't take any home with you! 10/10 would recommend people go to this museum!

Afterwards, I walked to the Park Kruisvest to sit and eat my picnic lunch. This park was special because it had windmills! The days I spent in Bruges were so warm and sunny! A little breezy but it's spring! I walked through shops and talked to some friendly people! I took LOTS of photos of buildings that stood out to me! I walked around Market Square and bought a ticket to hike up the Bell Tower.

The Bell Tower is older than the Eiffel Tower and has 365 steps on a winding stone staircase to the top! The bells ring every hour and a half hour but honestly, I heard bells ringing every quarter hour too so not sure the method they got going on! There would be a little tune that would play before the bells would chime. Have you ever seen one of those little winding music players in stores? They usually look like a barrel with little tick marks on it and depending on how fast you turn the dial a familiar song would play like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Well, imagine that little trinket toy but like 500 times bigger! I got to watch the barrel move and play a tune! I can't imagine how they set up the notches to play a song we all know! It looks like tedious work to get them in the right spot!

I had to hike a little farther up to hear the big bells ringing! It was pretty loud but cool to see the whole city from the top! Luckily my ears weren't ringing on my way down. The ticket holders tell you to wear good shoes but I saw a guy wearing socks and slides so I don't think they are really strict about this rule!

I had tried my first Belgian waffle with strawberries and Belgian dark chocolate around 4 pm so I wasn't starving for dinner. The waffle was SO good by the way and the shop smelled AMAZING! I just grabbed something from the grocery store and ate back at the hostel.

The next day I went out to the House of Waffles for breakfast! My homeland! The waffle I had was delicious but not at all filling for breakfast! I'm used to having two hearty waffles and lots of fruit for breakfast! I meandered through shopping stores and chocolate shops. I walked through gardens and parks! And I bought some chocolate at one of the stores And found a park to eat them in! I rated them on a scale of 1-10 and cleansed my palate with water in between. My favourite one I tried from the Chocolate Line was the Yuzu! It was filled with yummy insides and the coating tasted like cheesecake! I sat in that park for a while reading and people-watching before I headed back to the hostel before dinner. After dinner, I walked to get ice cream and then slowly made my way through the city back to my hostel. It was a beautiful night.

The girls from my room had left and no one had checked in so I had the room to myself for the night! That was a first and it was so nice!

I checked out in the morning and stored my luggage so I could eat more waffles and sit in more parks before catching my train in the afternoon!

I was sad to leave Bruges but I felt like I couldn't stay there either. I had to keep going on this journey, although it'll always hold a place in my heart!

Thanks for reading along, I'll see you at the next blog post!