Madonna and Child,
one of only a handful
of Michaelangelo's
sculptures outside of
Italy.
Street musician playing a kind of steel drum I'd never seen before. It could do harmonics too that sounded like "playing" chrystal stemware--an amazing sound.
Sorry for my blogging absence the last two weeks; I had midterm exams and such to do. Time to catch up on blogs now. Two weekends ago, we spent two days and a night in Brugges. I had heard so much about Brugges before going there . . . had even been told by some that “If you haven’t been to Brugges, you haven’t been to Belgium.” We went along on a trip with the Clemson students that included an extensive walking tour of the city, after which they breezed through a few museums (including the Frites museum—yes, as in French Fries—and a museum of Lamps. Glenn, Amelia and I
opted to check into our hotel instead. It was a rather run-down hotel, but it was as close as you could get to the square without being perched on the square, and the Saturday morning breakfast buffet somewhat made up for the hotel’s other weaknesses. Our hotel had a bike rental service as well, so we got 24- hour rentals of 2 bikes: a regular one for me and a “tagalong” to go on Glenn’s bike for Amelia (who hasn’t learned to ride a two-wheeler yet). They let us ride Friday, we put them back up Friday night and
Bikes outside the railway station.
check them back out again on Saturday. That was outstanding. On Saturday, we rode the bikes to the market, where I bought the cheapest Belgian chocolates I’ve found in Belgium so far, and we gawked at everything. This was a fantastic market. Brugges is a bit odd because the tourists flood the city (including those from the big cr
uise ships that dock in Oostende only 15 minutes away by train) during the day, but at about 6 p.m. they roll up the sidewalks in Brugges, and it’s even hard to find anything to eat unless you pay the big bucks at the touristy places on the square. We found a tucked away Italian place that had great food and loud Italian owners. During our overnighter in Brugges, we also took a boat ride around the canal—which used to be one of two motes around the city (there was an inner and an outer mote).
Once I learned that we were only a 15 minute train ride from the North Sea Coast, I had to go there. So we took the train to Oostende and spent a few hours at the beach. Amelia promised me (why she did this, I don’t know since she ought to know herself better than this) that she’d stay dry and wouldn’t even get her feet in the ocean. You will see the evolution of what went into the ocean from the pictures. We stationed ourselves on the sand and then a huge group of Scouts (both genders here) ranging from ages 6 or 7 up to high school or maybe college came bundling and, and to our amazement, they swam. The water was so cold that they all came out bright pink, but it looked like they had a great time.
Speaking of Scouts, Glenn’s birthday was October 3, and I bought him a neckerchief and leather monkey’s fist tie holder to wear with his Girl Scout Daisy uniform that Belgian Pioneer Scouts wear here. And back up from your computer before you see the photo of the mini birthday cakes I bought him for his birthday—the drool might ruin your keyboard. J I’ve been stalking this chocolate shop for weeks and just got the nerve to go in. OH MY GOODNESS. They are designer chocolates. Some even have gold shavings on them. Glenn has promised to get pictures of that chocolaterie/boulangerie (they have bread too!) place soon.
Brugges Market
Amelia at the Beach, Oostende
