MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY
Belgium Trip
Day 3 - December 4 2017
We started the morning off with a perfectly European breakfast at Gust. The food was quite memorable and we had a laugh as I was nervous to walk down the stairs from the bathroom because the steps were so steep!
We decided to spend our first day trip in Bruges. I had such high hopes and expectations after the movie In Bruges and browsing pictures online. It felt wrong to go to Belgium and not visit Bruges.
While the old buildings and canals are incredibly beautiful, these gorgeous sights were jumbled alongside tourist shops selling t-shirts and keychains. Walking down the street, I did not feel like I could see anyone that looked even remotely like a local. It was Europe taken over by Disneyland, but not in a fun way.
The streets were crowded and unique stores/pubs were rare. We decided right away that while we were disappointed, we would make the best of the day as we had already made the train ride here. What is the way Mike and I like to pass a vacation day? Yes, you are correct. Find the nearest brewery/distillery. And we did find some gems in Bruges!
Our first beer stop was Bourgogne des Flandres Brewery. What a beautiful courtyard leading up to the brewery! Red brick buildings with red doors, plants and trees in the middle with a fountain and cobblestone path.
The beers were great, too! We had a flight ranging from light to dark beers and soon enough, we didn’t mind the crowds as much…as long as we were wandering to more food or drink, of course. And so we did, hitting the main tourist attractions on the way to the next brew spot.
The star of the day, though I wish we had known it at the time, was Huisbrouwerij de Halve Maan. A modern, wood and glass restaurant/brewery with super high ceilings and leather booths. The beers were fantastic and our neighboring table ordered the seasonal cheese, which was literally a huge wedge of local cheese with some bread and accompaniments. Our mouths were on the floor as it was paraded in front of us. Did we order one? No! Why, you ask? Because we are dumb dumb dumbies. We had another restaurant, De Garre, in mind that was popular with locals and hard to find down a narrow and unassuming alley. So, we saved our appetite (dumb dumb dumb) and finished a couple beers at this great gem and headed across town for dinner.
It did take us a couple tries to find the small alley that this restaurant was down, up the stairs without signage and through the wood door with a small name on it… until we saw another sign on the door. “Closed for a staff party, open tomorrow.”
Defeated and starving, we wandered toward the train station and settled on Bocca for dinner. It’s a chain of fast food pasta restaurants. I don’t know why we don’t have this in the States! Order the type of pasta you want, and a sauce. We ordered a Bolognese and pesto pasta and drinks. It was surprisingly good and helped dampen our disappointment and regret for not eating at the Half Man Brewery.
One last stop before getting back on the train- the Christmas Market, of course! We had missed the gluhwein since our Germany/Austria trip.
After later talks with our Airbnb host, we found out that US and Asian buyers began purchasing all the apartments in the city and essentially pushed all the locals out, which is why the city felt so fake. We had a great time and did not regret going, but would not recommend the city. Sights are in our opinion better in Ghent, with way less people and way more authentic.