Monday, July 28, -- Bruges in the Rain

We were surprised to find it raining in the morning.  And not just a drizzle.  It was pouring down pretty hard.  Now we were glad we hauled our light raincoats halfway around the world.  We packed our backpack, put on the raincoats and walked 10 minutes to the "Station Centrale" (note the name, it will become most important later in the story), and caught the train to Bruges.  We enjoyed the trip.....nice and smooth and on time as usual.  We had to walk through a Park and about .5 mile to the center of town.

Canal on the way to through the park

Old town in Bruges

1669--That's an old house!!

I saw a lovely church and we went inside to get away from the rain.

Part of the pipe organ and sculpture inside the door.

They were having a display of old paintings, sculptures and other ancient items from church history

While doing excavation for repairs, they uncovered tombs of long buried clergy.  The commoners were buried in the churchyard.

Meanwhile, Jeff had woken up with cold.  Maybe it was the change in the weather, but his nose was dripping about as fast as the rain was falling.  The walk to town was fine, and so was the church tour, but we were pretty wet by the time we got to the main square and both needed a rest.  Especially my companion, Sneezy! We sat down at the first restaurant we could find with room and a view of the square and ordered lunch. We wondered why the meal was so expensive until we found out they charged us 4.50 euro each for water........stupid tourists.....they really saw us comin'

The bill for water--Val natuur med--Nine Euros= about 13 Dollars.  OUCH!

The expensive water....we drank every drop.

Finally the rain let up a little bit.  After lunch we walked around and enjoyed the old town square which is immortalized in the movie "In Bruges".

The Belfrey--on the bottom on either side are art exhibitions.  There was a Dali exhibit in the left side.

Some of the houses lining the square

Bigger buildings on the square

Mobs of tourists with umbrellas

We walked through the belfry and could see where you could go up 375 stairs to get to the top.  We both decided to skip the hike, but the belfry was really cool.

Belfry from the back....where the stairs start.

We walked the back streets on the way to the station. 

A bit of home in Bruges

Jeff was feeling worse and worse.  His sneezing, blowing and coughing were increasing in intensity and frequency.  I was feeding him Zicam and tissues and finally realized we better head for Brussels.  The walk back to the train seemed endless and the rain started up again.  But we made it to the station, got on the train and relaxed for the one hour journey.   Soon the announcer, who we couldn't understand even though she was speaking English, kinda, said something about Brussels Midi station.  I said, great, were here, let's get off.  It wasn't until we were off the train and in the station that we realized we were in a totally different place.  We finally found the exit and sure enough.....lost!  We had no clue where we were.  Then I spotted a ferris wheel in the distance.  I remembered seeing it on the way down to Bruges.  We had gotten off at the wrong station.  We found a taxi, and soon were back at our hotel, where Anna, the helpful desk clerk said "sure....Midi means south"  Turns out there are three Brussels stations. 

Well at least we were home.  Jeff found decongestants in his suitcase and took a nap and we enjoyed a peaceful evening.