Bruges
After three trains and a bus, we finally made it to our hostel in Bruges where we were able to check in and leave our bags before setting out to explore the city. Our first stop was a waffle shop that made delicious Belgian waffles that were perfectly fluffy and delicious in every way.
We walked a little farther and passed through the main square that is home to the Belfry tower where we took some pictures and admired the beautiful buildings before continuing to the canal. At the canal, we found a boat tour which we took to learn more about the city and see the view from the water. It wasn’t the best canal tour because the boat was overcrowded, but it was a good way to get an introduction to the city.
When we disembarked, we set off to explore the market which we soon realized was more of a flea market that didn’t have much to interest us. We wandered around a little longer before finding dinner and heading back to the hostel to eat and get organized for bed.
We’ve been told that our blog can be very focused on the food, so this is a warning that the next day was all about food. Our first stop was Chocostory, a museum all about chocolate. The museum is set up around an audio guide that talks you through the museum and shares information on the history, harvesting, manufacturing, and styles of chocolate. In addition to the audio, there were also stations set up with different games and challenges you could try as well as a photo booth. The museum ended with all you can eat chocolate dispensers in 4 different flavors: white, milk, dark, and caramel. We also took a quiz to learn which chocolate we were most suited for based on our palates, but, unfortunately, they were only selling it (no free samples).
Our next stop was to the frites museum where we learned all about potatoes and the production of fries. Following a display about insects and pests that can cause problems for potato plants, there was a multiplayer pellet gun game where you could shoot giant bugs off the potato plants. We played twice and each won one of the rounds. I think this was our favorite part of the entire museum. The runner up was an exhibit with a potato and fry singing a duet about how to eat fries and where they came from. When we finished the museum, we were disappointed to find that there weren’t any free fries, but we decided to buy a single serving of fries anyway because we knew that fries being sold in the Belgian frites museum had to be top quality Belgian fries. It ended up being the right choice because they were delicious and we finished them quickly before heading out to figure out lunch.
Next door to the frites museum, there was a poke bowl restaurant that looked amazing, so we decided to give it a try. It ended up being another good decision because the food was delicious and satisfied a craving neither of us even knew we were having.
To turn our food museum day into a trifecta, we rounded it out with a stop at the beer museum. We were handed iPads as audio guides where we could use the camera to scan almost anything in the exhibits and it would give the option of listening or reading the history of each piece. One of the major displays had gigantic barrels for each of the ingredients in beer that you could walk into. There were barrels for hops, wheat, barley, aromatics. The first three we were able to touch different types of the ingredient and, in the last barrel, we could smell the different flavors that are added to enhance the beer. There were also quiz questions placed throughout the museum to test your knowledge. Once we were done with the museum, our ticket included a tasting in the bar downstairs. We each were given three tokens to choose any beer on tap that we would like. We ended up picking really well and enjoyed all but one of them.
When we finished our beer tasting, we headed outside to find a band playing in the street. Next door was a waffle shop, so we ended up buying a waffle on a stick and listening to the band for awhile before continuing on our way. We were hoping to climb up Belfry tower, so we went there next, but the tickets were sold out, so we headed back to the hostel to do our last load of laundry on the trip and pack up our bags to go to our last new city.
