Brugge, Belgium. Sunday, 13th May 2018
Got out of bed after 07:00 after a sound sleep. In Europe, the sleep is always sound. Took our time getting ready. Went down to the restaurant adjacent to the reception. A cute, small
restaurant with just five long tables; breakfast neatly arranged in a corner. Thoroughly enjoyed the meal - the food, the ambience, the time taken, all were perfect! The best breakfast experience on this trip, so far. During the breakfast, the owner informed us that if one stands too close to the door of the lift, it gets stuck, that is, it stops at the position it is at. Obviously, the staff was quick in
informing the owner of our last evening's misadventure. Back to our room for the finishing touches. Left at 11:05, strolled in the direction of the diamond museum, under a cloudy sky and a very light drizzle, lighter than the amount of water thrown by a lawn sprinkler. Followed the city map and Google. This town is unbelievable - simply mind blowing! At every step we have constructions dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries, yet meticulously maintained. Though the roads are not spotlessly clean (thanks to the hordes
that descend on this town every summer), the general maintenance, sense of proportion, aesthetics and the harmony with nature, are to be seen to be believed. Hats off to these guys! The sudden appearance of a canal with its cruise boats only adds to the heavenly ambience. In general, shop windows are clean and tastefully decorated. We entered the diamond shop next to the museum but were not at all impressed. Urmila commented that the jewellers of Nashik had far better displays. Gave the museum a miss and strolled on till we reached a point called Katelinjpoort, where a broad canal ran, perpendicular to the road.
Beyond the canal, the town stretched farther. Along the length of the canal lay a lovely green stretch, with a paved path running through it. The best part was the bridge over the canal - it actually rotated to let a boat pass; once the boat had passed it was brought back into position to let vehicles cross the canal! The entire ambience was surreal! Strolled for a while on the green patch - very serene, very soothing, very peaceful. At that moment, nothing else mattered in the world! No duties, no cares, no worries, no tensions, no fears !!
The communion with nature was complete! Retraced our steps and stopped for lunch at a Thai restaurant. One of the peculiarities of Europe is that though you may have stepped out after a good, filling breakfast, you feel hungry after a couple of hours. Perhaps the climate has something to do with it. The restaurant was cosy and the food tasty. Walked back to our
room and rested, allowing the entire experience to sink in. This is undoubtedly the best town in Europe that I have visited. Towards evening the weather cleared and we set off at 20:00. It was bright, like it is back home at 17:30 on a summer evening! Walked towards the diamond museum, to check out a canal cruise, whose starting point lay a few metres before the museum. The cruise had shut for the day. Went back, past our hotel to Wallestraat, the place where we had alighted at yesterday afternoon. The road was almost deserted, everything was quiet and peaceful. We actually wanted to see the town lit at night, but there was enough daylight even at 21:00 for the street lights to come on!
Returned to the hotel as we did not want to stay out too late. Watched the last 20 minutes of a Sylvester Stallone movie on the telly, before sleeping. Earlier in the day, I had tried a tin of Belgian blond beer but had not much liked it. We also found Belgian made nutmeg and saffron, in addition to liquor chocolates.
