In Bruges: Day 2
The first full day started a bit oddly; at exactly 9am, the fire alarm went off - it seemed to be a false alarm, but I remember coming out of our room and finding a fire door in our way which at first we thought was locked. Luckily, it wasn't - but we found the lifts had been disabled, so we had to take the stairs. They were weird stairs because they went into a staff area and when we came out through the only way to the recepton, we saw that on that exit it said, "Staff only". Staff looked a bit panicked in reception, but nothing else was said about this incident.
We had a guided tour of Bruges from Norman, starting with looking up at the tall belfry that features prominently in "In Bruges", the movie. We saw lots of other things - I wish we'd been given a better look at the fish market, which looks like a Roman forum - we also walked around an abbey where there were lots of nuns wandering around.
After this, we got a tour of the Zot Brewery, which was fascinating, but there were lots of steep staircases and low openings to get through. We did get a free glass of Zot when we got to the end!
We found it hard to find somewhere to get something small for lunch, but we got a croque monsieur in a small bar down a side street, and then had a look in the Church of Our Lady. There was some woman standing on a scaffold with a camera, who I think was paid to do it, but I got the idea into my head that maybe she was a tourist getting carried away.
We did go up the bellfry, but it was quite scary. When I was a kid I got freaked out by spiral staircases (leading to a few panic attacks), and the stairs in this place got narrower and steeper; I was having to pull myself up using the stairs above at the end, and coming down was even scarier. I was glad to have gone up but my legs still have not quite recovered.
We found a nice restaurant for dinner, where I watched people cleaning and feeding their horses and offering tourists cart rides. It was only later that realised I'd dropped the keycard for my room in the restaurant; it was lucky we had more than one.
Here is a picspam:
The belfry.
A horse and cart driver.
The canal.
Madonna and Child statue.
In the brewery.
In the evening, we heard various tunes being played on church bells - including "Chariots of Fire"; it was really enjoyable to listen to!
We had a guided tour of Bruges from Norman, starting with looking up at the tall belfry that features prominently in "In Bruges", the movie. We saw lots of other things - I wish we'd been given a better look at the fish market, which looks like a Roman forum - we also walked around an abbey where there were lots of nuns wandering around.
After this, we got a tour of the Zot Brewery, which was fascinating, but there were lots of steep staircases and low openings to get through. We did get a free glass of Zot when we got to the end!
We found it hard to find somewhere to get something small for lunch, but we got a croque monsieur in a small bar down a side street, and then had a look in the Church of Our Lady. There was some woman standing on a scaffold with a camera, who I think was paid to do it, but I got the idea into my head that maybe she was a tourist getting carried away.
We did go up the bellfry, but it was quite scary. When I was a kid I got freaked out by spiral staircases (leading to a few panic attacks), and the stairs in this place got narrower and steeper; I was having to pull myself up using the stairs above at the end, and coming down was even scarier. I was glad to have gone up but my legs still have not quite recovered.
We found a nice restaurant for dinner, where I watched people cleaning and feeding their horses and offering tourists cart rides. It was only later that realised I'd dropped the keycard for my room in the restaurant; it was lucky we had more than one.
Here is a picspam:
The belfry.
A horse and cart driver.
The canal.
Madonna and Child statue.
In the brewery.
In the evening, we heard various tunes being played on church bells - including "Chariots of Fire"; it was really enjoyable to listen to!