Well, I am typing in the Ullensvang Hotel lobby on a Norwegian keyboard, so I'll do the best I can. (More on Norway once I get caught up.)
OK, let's see, where were we . . . Mon. Puppy's parents left . . . Tues. was the Great Poo Incident . . . Ah, OK, Wed. So, I had been told by Puppy's neighbors that the one place I should go while in Germany was Bruges (not actually in Germany, oddly enough). We hadn't gone yet, and it was only 2 1/2 hours away, so we decided that we'd go for a day trip on Wed. Then on Thurs., since I was scheduled to fly out of Cologne to Norway anyway, we'd spend the day there and search for the original cologne factory. Unfortunately, Puppy was voluntold to go to a work luncheon on Wed. Being ever-flexible and ingenious, Puppy and Nancy D suggested that we go up Wed., stay the night, play in Bruges Thurs. and head to the airport from there. Then we'd hunt for cologne in Cologne when they came to pick me up in 10 days. Puppy should be home by 3pm, we'd have plenty of time.
Puppy got home at 5pm, so we weren't on the road till 6pm. I was starting to worry that there wouldn't be enough time to make the trip worth the long drive for Puppy and Nancy D, who had already been entertaining people (running people hither and yon) for the better part of a month. However, I needn't have worried.
Monschau is, so far, my favorite German town, but that is because Bruges is in Belgium. We arrived at the Hotel Bethune, which was inexpensive (85 euros/night for a triple), clean, and less than 10 minutes walk from the main square. Plus we were able to park on the street in a nearby park for free. The gentleman who checked us in spoke English and recommended that we eat at Bierbrasserie Cambrinus. So we dragged our luggage up the tiny, narrow, spiral staircase (what did I tell you about Europe and elevators?), noted that instead of the usual boring fire escape, our window had a spiral staircase outside it which would need to be explored later, and headed to dinner. It was about 9pm, so here in Europe the sun was just setting. We found the restaurant with ease.
Cambrinus (the restaurant, not the King of Beer) was very busy, but not ridiculously packed, always a good sign. This particular restaurant boasted having over 400 different beers, and, as we soon discovered, the specific matching glass to go with them. We all decided to experiment and I had a delicious blonde house beer while Puppy and Nancy D both tried out a cherry beer (which was bright red). Then we ordered a pot of mussels steamed in beer sauce (you can get mussels in white wine sauce anywhere) and each ordered an entree. We needn't have bothered with the entree. The pot of mussels was massive AND came with Belgian fries (I'm not sure what makes them Belgian except that they come with a mayonaise sauce to dip them in instead of ketchup). OH the deliciousness! It was a good way to start our stay.
I have to note, because it will never happen again, that on the way back to our hotel, I knew the correct way back. Those who know me know of my sense of direction, which is so phenomenally awful that if I feel like I should go left, I automatically go right. However, tonight Puppy and Nancy D had wanted to turn right, but I knew it was straight ahead. Granted this was not due to an innate sense of direction, but because of coping mechanisms that one develops when they have this type of disability (I recognized the store on the corner) and the fact that they were tipsy. Regardless, I got us back.
When we got back to the room, Puppy headed for the window and I said, "Give me a second to get my flashlight." "What do you need a flashlight for?" asked Nancy D quizzically. "So that when we're climbing the wet spiral fire-escape in the dark we don't slip and die," I replied calmly as Puppy popped the screen out of the window. Nancy D had clearly forgotten our mission.
Drunken shenanigans aside, we slept very well in the Hotel Bethune. The next morning we all showered and looked at the map of Bruges. On the side there were tiny pictures of touristy things you might want to see. They were all boring, except one that claimed to be the MOST picturesque spot in all of Bruges. I wanted to go there and see what was so picturesquey about it. I also wanted to see the gift shop of the Chocolate Museum. Nancy D had been to Bruges before on a tour and said we should see the sculpture by Michaelangelo. She also wanted to take the Half Moon (De Halve Maan) brewery tour. We also had to get Belgian chocolates, try Belgian waffles, and look at Belgian tapestries. We had 4 hours. As we debated about what time we thought the Chocolate Museum would open, the sky opened up and dumped on Bruges. Our timing was like that all day. It was crazy rainy, but only when we were indoors. It was awesome.
When the rain eased up, we took off out of the hotel and found the Chocolate Museum (hurray for Nancy D's map-reading skills), which had just opened by the look of the line of people. We came, we looked, we bought stuff, we took off for the next spot. Nancy D had our route marked off on our map. Unfortunately, we kept getting distracted by chocolate shops and picturesque buildings and street markets. Bruges is absolutely beautiful, with it's ancient architecture and clean canals and ducklings everywhere.
We made it to the most picturesque spot, and it was, though I didn't find it any more or less picturesque than all the other spots in Bruges. We took a pictures. We went to Choco Loco. We took off for the church that houses Madonna and Child. We arrived and slowed our step. We looked. Nancy D said, "Now you have seen one of the only Michaelangelo sculptures outside of Italy." Puppy and I nodded solemnly. Then we took off for the brewery.
We were doing amazingly, until we hit the brewery. Unfortunately, we got there at 12:30pm and the tours were on the hour. We had to be at the car at 2pm and just didn't have time to wait. However, Puppy and I realized that Half Moon made the Zot beer that we'd split last night and hadn't loved, so we felt consoled. (I'm also from Oregon where there are billions of breweries, my family down south even has a brewery, so I felt I'd probably already seen the tour.)
Since we'd intended on having lunch at the Halve Maan, we were now on a mission to find Belgian food, ie. more mussles and beer. We stopped a few places that bombed out (didn't serve food, smelled weird, the usual). Nancy D was doing a wonderful job of being a good traveler and trying to find someplace new, but was unfortunately hampered by myself and Puppy bounding around her saying, "We know a place that has mussels and beer! We know a good place!" Finally she gave in and BACK to Cambrinus we went!
It was better the second time because it was less busy and this time we got TWO pots of mussels, one in beer sauce and one in provincial sauce (which, turns out, is tomatoey). It was really hard to choose a beer this time since I'd already had the house beer (the easy choice) and the specials hadn't changed since the previous night. Looking at the promotional signs that decorated the bar, I spotted a pink elephant. Remembering Dumbo and noting that he seemed to have achieved a pretty solid buzz from his pink elephant episode, I ordered that. I now have the t-shirt.
In the end, we got to everything that we had wanted and were still back at the car by 2:15pm, except for having Belgian waffles. However, as Puppy pointed out, you have to have something to come back for. On my next trip to visit Puppy (of course I'm already planning my next visit, don't be ridiculous) I will make a point to come back to Bruges, but to stay for longer as there is much yet to be explored in various stages of inebriation. I absolutely recommend it to anyone in the general area. And if you don't like beer, you should still go as you are probably the type that would love the Belgian lace. And I am judging you.
