Rick Gregory, Writer

Translating Messages From Heads To Hearts

Day 6 – Bruges, Belgium

We survived the transit through the “chunnel” this morning. Actually, you don’t even know you’re in it, other than the fact it is absolutely Pitch Black Dark. No sound. No water. No notice. No worries. It was a piece of cake; we were only in the tunnel for about 20 minutes, and then back up on solid ground. The 200 + miles took us 2 hours, including the slower run through the chunnel. That train dropped us in Brussels and within another 30 minutes or so we were on a new train to Bruges. However, I’m not gonna lie to you . . . it isn’t easy navigating when you speak neither Flemish, German or French! And there are very few signs in English. But we did manage to figure it all out. At least for the moment.

Once we got to Bruges, it wasn’t quite so easy to make our way to the Aquarius B & B. If you’re in this part of Bruges, use Google maps. Not Apple maps! We started walking from the train station “towards” the hostel and had an arrival time of about 22 minutes. After walking (and following Apple), for about 20 minutes, we still had 28 minutes to the hostel. Neither of us had eaten; we were thirsty; it was hot and we were both sweating, wearing our backpacks and dragging our rolling backpacks over the cobbled streets. And we were terribly frustrated. With the situation – and with each other.  Fortunately, a kind man stopped and asked if he could help. In English. He asked where we were headed and didn’t recognize the name of the hostel or the address at which it was located. He asked to see the Google map . . . and once again, we were on our way. Google maps rock!

Our room at the Aquarius hostel is twice the size of our London room – and nearly half the cost!

 

The lady who owns the hostel (Magda) is super sweet and told us she only has one room! And we’re in it! Once we got our packs and bags deposited, we headed into the center of town for a visit – and in search of food, to be followed with the finest Belgian Chocolate! We DID finally eat, a vegan bagel-burger with falafel, veggies and waffle fries. The first photo below is the view from our dinner table. When you click on an image, there’s a caption below it.

When it comes to the “finest Belgian Chocolate,” we haven’t been impressed so far with the chocolate we’ve found. Yet. We asked the proprietor of one of the chocolateries about her favorites; they’re not ours. So tomorrow we’re off in search of the perfect chocolate. And in our search, we’re heading to the Chocolate Story Museum. We’ll keep you posted . . .

8 thoughts on “Day 6 – Bruges, Belgium”

  1. I want to follow your wonderful journey! Have a wonderful time, meet lots of new friends and be safe!

    1. Thanks, Susie! This has been amazing so far . . . and we expect it to continue to be so! We’ll keep the posts and photos coming!

  2. Hey buddy, it appears from your blogs all is going well for you guys. We follow and pray for you guys daily not only for safety and a once in a lifetime experience but that God will use you guys to bless someone along your travels.

    I look forward to reading your daily blogs. Keep posting …..

    PS: I hope you found the perfect dark chocolate in Belgium.…

    1. Thanks, my friend! It has truly been one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences so far! No perfect chocolate yet. Still searching . . .

    1. Judy, it wasn’t nearly as good as it sounds! We spent an hour and a half going through the museum and most of it seemed more like “filler talk” than real substance. Yes, there was a good history of chocolate, but no real eating! You’d have tired of it quickly!

  3. Chocolate…..yessssss!!! Wow love these pix n blogs…..now I don’t have to visit all the places!!! Continue on!!!!!!

    1. Thank you, Cecelia! We’re still searching for that “give-it-to-me-or-I’ll-die” chocolate. We’ll let you know as soon as we find it!

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