dadizele & brugge!

I seriously love traveling in Belgium with people who are Belgian. Seems obvious, right? But it's just so much easier!! I went to Antwerp with Evelyn & to her hometown, and this past weekend I went with my close friend Alexander to his hometown, Dadizele, and to Brugge. Traveling with someone who really knows the area and everything just brings an entirely new perspective to everything.. Much better than me wandering around with a map, having no idea where I'm going. Alexander lives probably 40 minutes or so from Brugge, but he said he'd never traveled there as a "tourist." He had no idea what he was getting himself into.. I'm a tourist in every sense of the word. And I'm not sorry about it.

11.16.2012: Dadizele

We first went on Friday to Alexander's hometown, Dadizele, and he showed me around. It was so small! Think around.. 3 or 4,000 people. But even for such a small town, it boasted a GORGEOUS Basilica with some interesting history. The sun's starting to set so much earlier in the evening, so by the time we got to the Basilica it was already dark.. so I'm sorry the pictures are kinda poor quality & dim.

Interior of the Basilica of Our Lady

Pretty nice from the outside, too.. right?

My own personal Belgian tour guide!

We went back to Alexander's house for what he told me was a traditional evening meal in Belgium.. and it was pretty simple. Kind of a self-serve bread, meat, and cheese spread of food. Just grab what you want and go at it, pretty much. Worked for me!

11.17.2012: Brugge

Alexander lives close enough to Brugge that we didn't have to worry about taking a train in or anything - he just drove. It's been SO LONG since I've really been in a car or driven, that it seemed oddly exciting at first.. does that seem crazy? Maybe. But I really miss driving!!

Anyway.. we got into Brugge and let me tell you, it was beautiful! I was so excited to finally be in Brugge after hearing so much about it and wanting to go all semester. There were people everywhere and the buildings were all so old and nice-looking. It was great. 

Our first stop was the Brewery De Halve Maan (of the half moon). The tour described the intricate history, which dates back to the 1500s, and ended with a complimentary beer - yum!

so many stairs...

Old holding tanks for beer!

View from the top of the brewery

Complimentary "Brugse Zot" - Translates to the Fools of Brugge

We then went to the Church of Our Lady, though not the same as the one from Dadizele.. same name though!

Then we headed toward the center of the city, where there's a big square and that's also where the famous Belfry is! You better believe we climbed to the top of that Belfry.. 

The square in the center of the city, which is currently dominated by small huts that will soon house the vendors of the Brugge Christmas market! I was just a week too early for the Christmas market.. darn. 

Belfry!

The Belfry used to house all the super important documents of the city,
locked in this huge chest & sealed behind three different iron doors. Tough security, eh?

Toooooo many stairs...

But we're almost there!

Finally made it to the top!

All around the ledge at the top of the Belfry it had little markers pointing toward
cities all around Belgium.. I found Leuven!

Foggy, but beautiful!

Looking down at the main square

Descending.. almost more difficult than the trek upwards

Then we went to check out the Berg, where the town hall & other official buildings are located. 

We were going to go to the Chocolate Museum, but decided that the cost wasn't really worth it & that we'd rather wander around outdoors while it was still light outside! So we went and found some gorgeous canals...

And we went on a boat ride through the city! It was really similar to the one that I did in Gent.. huge tour-boat & a tour guide speaking the entire tour in three different languages (Dutch, French, and English). Perfect. 

There were so many swans! I really wanted a good picture.. but it was hard since we were always moving. Darn. 

By the time we finished the boat tour, it was starting to get dark.. but we wandered through the Minnewater Park and were able to catch some lovely views of the city at night!

Probably one of my favorite pictures from the day..

See the swans??

And that was that - a day in Brugge! But wait.. one more picture...

Don't these look absolutely amazing?! Chocolate shops were EVERYWHERE in Brugge!

We headed back to Alexander's home for a quick dinner, and then I was on a train back to Leuven!

It's so fun to be in a position to travel all around Europe, and I feel that I've done some pretty awesome trips.. but I've really traveled a lot within Belgium too! It's become my home since I've been here, and I've really loved getting to see all that it has to offer. Belgium, you've really outdone yourself with a city as wonderful as Brugge - Thanks for a wonderful weekend!

Thanksgiving's coming up this week.. that's so weird. We're going to do our best to celebrate it here in our less-than-accommodating kitchen, so we'll see how it goes! But to everyone at home - Happy Thanksgiving! I miss you!