Magical 'Fuck*n' Bruges (7th September)

In preparation for our trip we watched the movie 'In Bruges'. It's a black comedy and more than once (in fact many many times) the term "fuck*n Bruges" is used. One character loves this medieval town and the other hates it, hence the term. Needless to say as we walk the cobbled streets we are reminded of the movie (which despite the term displayed the town in a very good light). Our first visit was to the belfry in the centre of town (and a feature in the film). Unfortunately the admission price has gone up to 6 euro so Mike couldn't attempt to pay with 4.90 euro as per the movie. Climbing the small narrow stairwell (in which traffic goes in both directions) we find ourselves on the top with a beautiful view over Bruges. The safety netting is a disappointment as it looks slapped up in a hurry, but the outlook is certainly worth the climb. Oh and the bell is really loud when it chimes / plays a musical tune. This morning we'd also download our emails and one came from Shona's Aunty Caryl. She says "Reading your blogs every Monday morning is VERY bad for my health!!! By the time I have worked my way through the tapas and the pasta and the pizza and the kebabs AND THE ANCHOVIES I am starving and stay ravenous all day!!! My mouth waters, my eyes glaze and my tongue hangs out - it is not a pretty sight! Could you eat more British food please -- especially mushy peas! Then I am glad to be me and not you!" Sorry Aunty Caryl, did we say Bruges/Belgium is the home of chocolate, beer and frites (fries), so unfortunately we are only going to keep making you ravenous. At the bottom of the belfry are two competing frites stores. The locals argue as to which one is better so we conducted our own experiment. Standing in the middle we separate and join the equally long queues to order a small frites with mayo. Mikes store (lefthand side) won by having better frites, much quicker service and providing a fork to eat with. It's worthy to note that Shona's store had better mayo and easier to understand menu options. Dessert was some Belgium pralines - S: caramel with white chocolate and milk chocolate amaretto, M: milk chocolate caramel and dark chocolate mint. Hmm, what should we do to wash this feast down? Perhaps the brewery tour might provide an answer. De halve man brewery brews three of the 700 types of beer in Belgium. Did you know: the reason beer is served with a head is for you to develop a relationship with your beer. You talk to it, get to know it, so that when you take your first sip it is a delight. Can you tell that our guide was passionate about beer? Each beer has it's own glass and Belgium beer is never served in a can. The drinking age here is 16 and they do not have a problem with drunk youths as it's just part of their culture (and many have had beer well before their 16th birthday). After our beer (well Mike had most of Shona's) we hopped into a boat and had a cruise around the canals. As Bruges was a major trading port in the old days, the Italians used to refer to Bruges as the Venice of the north. The cruise gave us a different perspective of the town and was a fun way to spend half an hour. We then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the town, checking out more chocolataires and pausing whenever we went past a "kissing spot" that was shown on the tourist map. It really IS a medieval wonderland and even the bus loads of tourists don't diminish the splendor of the place. We missed the 3euro spaghetti place by 5 minutes, but the steak and salmon we had back at the hostel restaurant was a much better option anyway. Fuck*n Bruges -we love you.