We took a bus to the airport
in Haarlem (no car rental places are open in Haarlem on a Sunday) and
we rented a Citroen and took off for Brugge at 11.30 am. We decided to
start the sat nav, but no matter how many buttons we pushed, the sat nav did
not appear on the screen. A quick phone call back to the Avis depot,
"Didn't they give you the portable sat nav? I told them to",
stated the service person. So back to the airport we went. Have you
ever tried to navigate a U-turn on a motorway? We exited to the right, and
then went around and around and around ... we even went through a service
station ... all in an effort to get back onto the ramp to take us back along
the A4 in the opposite direction. Hmmmmmm!
So, one and a half hours
later ... the roads were chock-a-block.
After being told by the lovely woman inside our sat nav that there were
major road works ahead and we could cut 45 minutes off our trip, we decided to
take her advice and detour. “Keep right ... keep right ... keep right ...
keep right ...” she said, and then suddenly, “turn hard left!” Who would tell
you to do that?! She’s the same bitch who’s in my car at home! So
John turned hard left, into what would have been oncoming traffic (thankfully
there wasn't any) – and John’s a seasoned “drive on the wrong side of the road”
person. As if it isn’t hard enough to drive on the wrong side of the
road, we had a manual car, squillions of bicycle riders to contend with ...
then there was “the bitch”. The stress levels were increasing ... who did
John listen to? The bitch inside the sat
nav, or the one who occasionally occupies the passenger seat?!!!
We finally made our way into
Brugge to find another quaint, beautiful, old city – that was celebrating some
sort of, "once a year the city is closed to vehicles" festival.
So after checking with a copper that we wouldn’t be clamped or towed away
(it’s impossible to read the road signs and traffic signs when they’re in the
local language – but totally expected), we parked the car and trudged
through the rain – and cyclists (did I mention the cyclists? And that
they’ve got total right of way – even when they’re facing red lights?!)
Anyway, we found a B&B part way along a narrow paved street overlooking a
beautiful, green, lush, parkland that looked more like a forest, and for
one hundred euro we got a room, “with wi-fi, a (very small) television, and a
private bathroom”.
We got ready for dinner and went
out to explore this beautiful city, umbrellas at the ready. Martha, our
new landlady, recommended a restaurant and we swear it was the, "Pork
Belly Restaurant". But try as hard as could, we couldn't find
it. No doubt it was nothing like pork or belly. We had the
misfortune to choose the 'T Putje Restaurant. Apart from every plate and bowl
having a huge crack and chip in it, and two bowls including a fly
(each!) I also got the addition of a hair. "Manuel" was unimpressed
that I complained. "No problem" he said, and he whisked my
plate away - only to return it about six seconds later, without the hair.
No doubt he'd stuck his stubby finger into my food to remove the hair. I
hardly felt like eating! And we paid the princely sum of 60 Euros for the
"pleasure" of dining here. (I feel a TripAdvisor review coming
on!)
 |
Market Square
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A wander into town revealed the most gorgeous of shops and buildings. Horse drawn carriages are plentiful here in the town square. We stopped off at the Post Office to send a small package to Josh for his 15th birthday - which will be the day we arrive home on the 29th September.
The mood took us and we decided when in Belgium ... so we had a hot chocolate at a café overlooking the square. The sun was shining and all was good in the world. The hot chocolate was appalling - and at ten Euros, we nearly choked!
We deliberated as to whether to
stay another night or head off and maybe stay a couple of nights in Ypres or
Villers Bretonneux. (Unfortunately we have to wing it a bit as all of
Louise and Robert’s info and tips are still in one of the boxes at home – beautifully
cleaned and ozoned though!)
So we visited a tourist information bureau to do
some planning and decided to continue on to Ypres.
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