European Easter Part 1- Brugge

See here for more on our European Easter

After picking up the rental car, we had a bit of a bumpy start- first turn out of our street, we needed to turn left, so we just followed the car in front which was doing the same thing.  However it was a taxi so it went onto the tram tracks, and sped of.  Jeannie hesitated for a bit and then panicked when a tram started coming towards us- the tram thankfully stopped and waited as we did a 5 or so point turn to get off the tram tracks and back onto the road.  The next few hours were uneventful, and we were on the outskirts of Brugge when we went over an oddly shaped curb which tore a big hole in one tyre and put an egg in another.

Busted tyre

So we were going nowhere.  After thoroughly searching the car and me trying to read the manual with my limited Dutch, we came tothe conclusion that there was no spare tyre, and with no phone service we were unsure about what to do next.  Fortunately there was a farm house a few hundred metres up the road, and the lovel lady let us use her phone, only for us to find that the 24 hour Eurocar emergency help line DID NOT WORK! 

Cow watched us freeze as we waited for a mechanic

The lady called her mechanic for us, who came out and had a look.  He spoke no English, and we spoke no Dutch, so through hand gestures and mimes we figured that there was nothing he could do because there was no spare tyre, he was going to call a tyre replacement workshop to come ang help us.  At least we think that's what he was going to do.Eventually after about an hour and a half of waiting, a tow truck came.  He pulled the car onto the back of the truck (while we were all still in it!) and we drove 20 minutes to the service station.  We waited there while they replaced the tyres (fortunately they had a free coffee machine, so they cheered us up a little), and we were back on the road an hour later and 600 euros poorer.

If you look closely you can see us sitting in the car

We did eventually reach Brugge that afternoon, and whatever we went through to get there, it was worth it.  It is, as the gangster in the move In Brugge says, like it's out of some kind of fairytale.  As we walked through the narrow cobblestone streets it really felt like we had been transported back in time.  There was 2 main squares, Markt and Burg, both which are surrounded by impressive buildings such as the city hall, the bell tower, the basilica.  There were also many restaurants nearby to choose from for dinner.

Markt Square, Brugge

That night we found a bright, busy little beer cafe hidden down an alleyway called 't Brugs Beertje.  This place has a serious beer menu- around 10 pages of just different kinds of beer- and they have many different kinds of white beer for which Belgium is famous for.  It was a really relaxing and fun atmosphere,  and cheap too (at least compared to Australian pubs). This place has many good reviews on the internet as I found out later.

Typical Brugge street

The next day we went for a morning walk to the Begijnhof (Beguinage) which is an small community like a nunnery.  It is a courtyard surrounded by lovely old houses, and the grassy area was filled with bright yellow flowers. There are signs everyone asking for silence, and silent it was- it was very peaceful and very beautiful.  The 10-15 minute walk from the centre to there took us close to an hour because there were so many beautiful canals, old churches and little laneways to take photos of.

Begijnhof 

We spent the rest of the morning trying the local goodies (the chocolates, waffles, hot chocolate are all delicious), looking through the teapot shop and walking around trying to see as much of this little town as we could.  Then, it was back into the car for the next leg of our trip- Paris.