Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Settling in...with Settlers: the first night in Bruges


Erik and I met up at St. Pancras Station where this giant Christmas tree made entirely out of lego was waiting for us. Yup, just for us.



We boarded a train to Brussels, switched over, and landed here, where some drunk women de-trained before us and exclaimed, "I don't know where we are, 'cause this sign says, "BREW-GEE!" " It was pretty hilarious. Welcome to Brew-Gee.



A winter wonderland awaited us (yup, us again) outside the train station...



...while a calm, ultra-European city provided a backdrop to the night outside our hotel window.




...And so it began.

Chasing the Sun: Day One in Bruges


Naturally, day one in Bruges had to start at the crack of dawn, so it was up at 6 (they're an hour ahead over there, so though it was 7 already there, it felt like 6) so the picture-taking could begin. Gosh, I can't wait until I have a real adult camera. Until then, however, I do try my best.
The day-time view from the third-floor window:



We started off perusing the streets, wishing we lived here instead, marveling at how clean, how chic, how Euro it all was (no Dani, not Eurotrash. But hey, that's cool, too).













Looking up the river, we saw a canoe docked outside the backdoor of a house. Love those Belgiums...they take a
canoe around. Swoon.




Upon arrival in the town centre, the sun was shining a bit, hiding a bit more, but it was smiles all around for us. Here's a bit of what we saw...













The "Administrative Hub" of the city...








...which contains both gorgeous autumn leaves...






...and the Basilica












Running through the town centre is the river. What an adorably glorious waterway...






















Since the weather turned on us, we piled into this quaint cafe and had a few drinks...









Loving the view from inside...






This is the most picturesque spot in all of Bruges (or was it the most photographed place in all of Bruges? I can't recall). I thought it was pretty lovely...






The light shone in the most delightful way...

































Loooove the self-portrait. People so don't get it.












Naturally after our very strong beer (yup, there I went drinking beer. Strangely, it tasted quite different to beer back home...almost as different as Korean beer tasted), we Canadians were off to the skating rink to do some gliding around (or in my case, nearly-falling-around)...









Night descended on the city, casting the most beautiful light on this Belgium town.