Bruges, Belgium

Bruges Marekt Square

May 24, 2011-Trip Angst

Some of you know that we're off on another globe trot. Here's my usual disclaimer: These emails are purely my take on this experience and only sometimes reflect the opinion of others. I tend to be blunt and sometimes cynical. I'm not always a good traveler and never enjoy the preparation for a trip. In fact, this time David was out of town as I gathered things for the suitcase. I was frustrated and didn't want him to miss out on my angst so I called him to share my plight and let him know how much I hated that part of travel.

This time we're taking a Grand Circle River Cruise on the Rhine & Moselle Rivers. We flew to London on British Airways and connected to a one hour flight to Brussels. The trip will take three weeks in all. We used Washington, DC as our gateway city and stayed overnight with our dear friend and sometimes travel companion, Judi Cope. Judi couldn't join us on this trip but opened her home to us and drove us to the airport yesterday.

We start the brief land portion in Bruges before transferring to the boat for a two week river cruise. Our boat is The Rhapsody, & I hope it is.

We took Ambien on the flight from DC to London with mixed results. We weren't hung over but I seemed to doze whenever I sat down. As we came in for a landing in Brussels I woke from a fitful sleep and thought we were in Indiana. The topography is flat and speckled with dairy cows and horses. "Aha!" my sleep numbed brain said, "This is the land of chocolate and Belgian horses."

The languages here are French & Flemish but on the plane they added German and English as well. I don't speak any language but English however it seemed that the messages differed in each language. I could have sworn they mentioned "30 minutes" to do something in French that wasn't in the English version.

We were met by a short-term "keeper" at the airport and joined up with those who had arrived on other flights as we duck-walked behind her to our bus. She settled us in for the 1 1/2 hour ride to Bruges and waved us good-bye. That was it for her. Maybe that's why she never introduced herself.

Dozing once again on the bus I opened my eyes at our change of speed. We'd left the four-lane super highway and got off in Disney World. I swear, Bruges is like a village in Epcot. Cobblestones, canals and bikes vie for attention with the wackiest rooflines I've ever seen. Each building is unique and the roofs compete for best-of-show. Some look like giant gapped teeth while others roll and sweep in asymmetry. They're tile and slate and stone with the reds, blues, grays, & tans running riot over the town.

Our bus driver wiggled his way through ancient alleys squeezing between semi's and strollers while avoiding kids on bikes toting musical instruments over their shoulders. We rounded a corner and came to the Grand Casselbergh Hotel, our home here. Dewi (pronounced Davey) met us there and introduced herself as our guide. She's young & perky & I was too tired to relate just yet.

I'll end here and send this out to reassure you all that we've arrived. We do have Wi-Fi at the hotel so we're in good shape for emails now.

Toby