We got a head start on the morning and got on a train to Bruges around 10:30. The trip took around an hour, and the Belgian countryside is really beautiful. It's very green here and the rural towns are so different from those of the US. All the houses look really neat.
We got into Bruges and were surprised to find it was kind of cold and windy at the train station, but once we got into the town itself the wind pretty much got cut off due to all the houses being connected everywhere you go, and the streets are very narrow and winding like a large labyrinth. All that we knew about Bruges came from the Colin Farrel movie. It was totally different than in the movie (which isn't that surprising). There were a ton of people in the main square next to the famous clock tower, so we wandered pretty much everywhere else but there. We would take a random street and make random turns over and over but somehow would end up right back at the central square over and over.
While walking around we stumbled on a little shop called "Le Bier Tempel" that had hundreds upon hundreds of bottled Belgian beers as well as pint glasses, snifters, and other collectible items. While I was walking around the shop I realized that being in Belgium meant that I had the rare opportunity to find the #1 rated beer on the planet (by beeradvocate.com) which is Westvleteren 12. This beer is very rare because it is brewed by trappist monks and they make no effort to distribute it, so the only way you can buy it is by finding a bar or beer seller that makes the effort to get on a waiting list, then drive to the monastery to pick it up. The quantities are very limited, so it is considered somewhat the holy grail of beers. I was able to get two bottles, so I will drink one when I get home and save the other for a long time.
After walking around for a little while we stopped for some coffee and the much anticipated Belgian waffles at a cafe and people watched. Despite being really crowded everywhere we went, Bruge's crowds were much easier to be around than the crowds in Paris.
We wandered all around for a few hours and found a really cool flea market that had all kinds of old paintings, brass fixtures, swords, glassware. There were so many things that I wanted to buy but have absolutely no need for.
Another things I really wanted to see was the inside of a cathedral, but most of them either charged to go in or were locked up but we eventually stumbled on one and it was really beautiful. I thought it was interesting to see firsthand how churches still use holy relics in day to day prayer.
One of the many times we ended up running back into the center square we found a free art gallery showing photographs taken of bicycle races in Belgium. They were all very interesting.
Towards the end of the day we stumbled on a random "beer wall" that supposedly had every Belgian beer in it. I highly doubt that it had every Belgian beer in it, but it was very cool to see it all in a glass case.
On our way back to the train station we found a park that ran along one of the canals and followed it all the way back to the train station. The weather was really great so we took our time getting out of town.
When we got back to Brussels we realized that since it was Easter pretty much all the affordable restaurants were closed but we found a little grocery store that had microwave meals so we ate dinner in our hotel room and watched TV.
The day was very enjoyable and I really like Belgium a lot more than I thought I would.
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