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| Erin's Journal for 10-13-02 Sunday dawned bright and sunshine-filled, so we agreed to stay another night and go on the bike tour this afternoon. We ate breakfast, checked in on Mindy and Alex to confirm that we'd see them for the bike tour, and headed off to shop and take pictures of the town for a couple of hours before the tour. We looked at some gorgeous tablecloths of Belgian (and imitation Belgian) lace, but in the end decided our money would be better spent elsewhere. Authentic Belgian lace is extremely pricey! By the time we'd determined this and walked around a bit, it was time to grab lunch before meeting the bike tour group at quarter to 1. Mindy and Alex met up with us at the assigned spot, and we all signed on for the 4 hour tour. There was a group of about 15, and we all got suited up with bikes, rain jackets just in case, water bottles, and optional helmets. Then we rode off through town, jolting and bumping over the cobblestone streets. Finally we got to the outskirts, where we talked about those pathetic windmills we'd seen the day before, which actually stood at the former site of the port. There had been a great flood which brought the sea in as far as Bruge. This quickly made it a key trade center, and nobles and artists flocked there for about 150 years. Gradually the sea retreated, silting up the channels and killing the trade of the town. Simultaneously, the city fell out of favor with the ruling Holy Roman Empire, who ruined Bruge by centering all his favor on nearby Antwerp. The city was virtually abandoned, causing it to stay frozen in time architecturally and preserving its small town charm until recently, when this preservation became purposeful. This year, Bruge is the city chosen as the 'cultural center of Europe,' a huge boon for them in terms of tourism. Then we rode out of town, through cow fields and along long country lanes, stopping to point out German bunkers left over from WWI, architecture points of defensive design dating back a thousand years, etc. The 4 1/2 hour ride was pleasant, although our sunshine deserted us around 3pm. When we got back to town, we went with Mindy, Alex and some siblings from Australia, Louise and Ross, to a Belgian pub offering no less than 300 types of beers. Glenn and Mindy shared an aversion to beer, but tried some fruity flavored brews while the rest of us sampled two types each. It was a fun couple of hours, and took us right up to the dinner hour. We bid our Aussie friends farewell and had Mindy and Alex join us for one last dinner at the restaurant at our hotel, where Glenn and Alex, two BBQ snobs from the midwest, tried the famous ribs there and both ended up somewhat disappointed. This led to some wild dreams of introducing real BBQ to Europe, especially in the bland food regions of Britain and Ireland. After finally attracting the waiter for our bill, we went back to our rooms and shared information on train schedules etc. Then we wished Mindy & Alex a wonderful trip and went to bed. We planned to catch an early train to Amsterdam in the morning. |
| Ivy-covered tower in cathedral courtyard |