Venice of the North - Brugge/Bruges

I got off the train and was happy that I made it. At first I contemplated if I were to hail a cab, but I ended up asking the info lady if there was a bus to the Hostel. Good thing there was one. It was either 20 or 2 for 1.60 Euros. Not bad. I got on the bus and asked the driver to drop me off the closest stop. He gladly said yes and yelled out to me once we got there.

The Hostel International of Brugge was located outside the main town center of Brugge (Baron Ruzettelaan 143). It was just a 20-minute walk which I found was okay. That was a good exercise for me anyway. I felt like I haven’t been walking as much for the past days. I honestly did miss the crazy walks/ hikes I did back in Canada.

I found my way to the hostel and had second thoughts If I was in the right place. The hostel had a big area in front of the main building. A parking site, volleyball/badminton and table tennis area were all setup outside. The whole building (1 floor) looked like a school/hospital converted into a hostel.

I walked inside and asked if I was in the right place. The guy laughed and said I was. It looked a little bit fancy for a hostel. I did miss the hostels in Canada. Now, this is what I find myself doing. I’ve been comparing everything with Canada. Maybe I should stop doing that.

I found out that there were no kitchen utilities. Breakfast was included in the price though. There was a microwave available for use, but it was located at the bar section. I knew it was embarrassing to use it, but I didn’t care anymore. I cooked my 1-minute noodles and just had to have something for lunch. Also, there were no laundry utilities at all. Which was rather disappointing since I’ve accumulated more than a week’s worth of dirty clothes. Eek!

I found my room, 6-bed female dorm. It had 2 sinks in the room, a little bit spacious I’d say. I found though that shared showers outside were for both male and female. But the toilets were separate for M and F. Don’t ask me why. Oh and I forgot to describe the corridor, it felt and looked eerie. It was a long one, with doors for the dorms. It smelled musty and air circulation was really bad.

I was just too weak to do anything after my hot shower. So I decided to sleep in for a while till around 7 pm. Feeling dizzy already and weak, I told myself not to push my body.

Around 7, I was a little bit powered up with 3 hours of sleep and decided to head out and explore Brugge. I picked up a map at the front desk which is known to be USE-IT Maps. It’s been very helpful and funded by the public and in some ways too. The concept’s really awesome, most especially for small towns.

I passed by the nearest launderette just to check how much it was. I realized it was 4Euros per wash and 60pence for drying. Geez, I was feeling the expensive lifestyle in Europe by then. I decided to wait till Brussels and do the washing there, with the hope that it was much cheaper.

Then, I was on my way to the centre. I marked a few places I wanted to check on the map, just so I could cover them whilst there.

I crossed the bridge and slowly walked on the cobbled stone streets of Brugge. It was quaint and pretty. The town itself was surrounded by a canal and had a charming vibe. I liked the bricked houses beside the canals, ordained with budding flower boxes beside the window panes. I passed by a souvenir shop and decided to buy a patch of Belgium then went along the streets again.

Bruges is one of the places tagged as the Venice of the North, a term that refers to all of the Northern European cities that is has canals as part of the town, which in some way is compared with Venice and Italy. Apparently, it has been declared as one of the World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Looking at the architecture would immediately justify one's inclusion in such prestigious list. It seems that the name has originated from a Dutch word "Brug" which mean bridge. I'm not really sure why it was called that though. Although I would think it might have been because of its significance in history because of its port, bridging different commercial opportunities, thus once known to be the chief commercial city of the world.

The canals were definitely pretty to set the camera on. Heaps of tourists scattered along the streets, which made it a little bit difficult to take clear shots. I just couldn’t be bothered to linger too long, so decided to take whatever shots I could from an angle.

By around 10 I decided to head back to the hostel. I was feeling tired again and knew my body was telling me to get some more sleep.

3 girls were in the room when I got bak. Missen from Taiwan,2 girls from Mexico now living in Calgary Canada and another girl who arrived was Maria from Mexico too. I wasn’t able to get the name of the other girl from Chile. I had a chat with the girls from Mexico and around 12 pm, decided to turn off the lights.