Atomium, Mini-Europe, and Bruges

Alarm at 8pm. Same breakfast (though there was a new guest), and we left just after 9am. Under James’s direction, we walked to a tram stop on the far side of the park, and got the number 23 to the Atomium. On the way, James pointed out some Chinese and Japanese temples in a large park that he wanted to go to. The weather was foul, but we got some photos of the Atomium, and James’s camera broke after the photo of us taken from the fountain. We went into BruPark and paid our €12.80 to go into Mini-Europe. There was absolutely no one around in such dire weather. We were accosted by an orange turtle just inside the entrance and had our photo taken with it.

We made our way around, taking some funny photos (James’s camera luckily fixed itself) and video, and avoiding some noisy kiddies, and by the time we left, the sun was out, as were many other people. We decided against lunch there, so I ate my muesli bars and apple, and we walked over a big road to a tram stop, getting a shiny number 4 to Lemonnier, where we got booted off due to a person on the tracks. So we walked to Gare du Midi, in more rain, alongside the disgustingly stinky station. The machine I tried to get tickets from inside the station told me that they were stupidly expensive, but we asked a nice lady at the info desk, and she sold us two tickets to Bruges for €13.80 each. We found the platform easily and got the 2.05. The trip was comfortable, if a little uninteresting.

At Bruges, we walked into the city, past many bikes and through a park (which James ran across at speed for some cool photos). We turned right and found a little shop selling yummy food – we got calzones (mine was a bolognaise and cheese wrapped in bready stuff), and walked with them to sit on the wall of a church. James spotted the chip shop immediately opposite, and got a massive plate of chips with mayonnaise as well. We walked quickly with them to the Grosse Markt, where we saw a bunch of people in green shirts making a human pyramid to the accompaniment of drums and what I think were bombards. We took some quick pictures, James posted his postcards, and we went into the belltower in time for the last entry. After a little bit of queueing, we walked up the 362 steps, which got increasingly narrow, and (seeing the cool bell keyboard on the way up) admired the view of Bruges from above.

Back at the bottom, we had a look in the courtyard and at the carillon concert poster, and I decided against paying 30c to use the toilet. We then walked around the streets looking for things of interest, finding the canals and some brave tourists going on boat tours. We walked past a market where a stall keeper was just packing away some interesting brass instruments. I realised I should have paid the 30c, and started looking for a toilet. We walked through a pretty park with a lovely bridge on our search. I thought that James should use the pissoir that we saw, but he didn’t realise what it was. Instead, we found a posh toilet inside a bar complex that cost 50c to use. Oh well.

We walked to the Burg square and looked at those buildings (James did another run-by), and then on to more streets, and a big green space beside a lake, and then into a Leonidas shop to get some chocolate. Then we went on to another square with good toy and chocolate shops and a lot of horse-drawn carts. The horses had poo catchers strapped to the back of them – ingenious! But smelly for the driver. We had a look at the swans beside the canal, and because I was cold, I wanted to sit somewhere and eat or drink something. I think James was a bit annoyed, but he went along.

We went into a crepe place that I’d noticed, and just started with drinks. I had my first framboise, which was extremely yummy. James became happier again, then we had a little argument over where we thought the waiter was from. I was sure that he was a native Brit, but James thought that his accent was so strong that he was a continental European who’d picked up English. I think James ended up relenting and deciding that he was West Country. I ordered a bacon and egg crepe, which was OK. Can’t remember what James had. He ordered the dark version of the Grimberger, and managed to raise the waiter’s eyebrow (apparently he expected everyone to order the light version). My second beer was that light version of the Grimberger. While we were there, James found the review of the restaurant in his guidebook, and it said that it was a bit of a romantic haunt. Wups!

We headed off, and James was keen to find a pub, though I wasn’t. We walked back to the Grosse Markt, led very definitely by James and his amazing sense of direction. The aim was to enjoy the pretty lights at night, but they were really quite disappointing. In the Grosse Markt, I spotted a cool toy shop with lots of bouncing stuffed toys, and James spotted a Tin Tin shop directly opposite. We decided to find an establishment that served dessert and beer and kick on for a little while longer (I’d found my second wind by now). We didn’t really find anything ideal, so went into a place straight off the market with reasonable prices. I ordered another framboise and some crepes with just sugar – James had chocolate and something else with his. The rain was pouring down while we were in there, but we were staying dry, so couldn’t complain.

We finally left, and walked back to the station, getting cash on the way. The train came on time (just after 10, I think) and we got back to Gare du Midi without fuss. I was nodding off for most of the trip. At the station we managed to get a little lost once again, and ended up standing on the metro platform rather than the tram platform. We fixed ourselves up, then did our 3/25 tram combination back to Bienfaiteurs. Walked back to the B&B, bed about midnight (though later in practice, due to the advent of daylight saving).