A Day in Brugge

Brugge was the first major European city we visited. Like Roeselare, it is part of the Dutch-speaking region of West Flanders, Belgium. It is most known for its historic city center -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Brugge is an hour from Bee's home by bus, and it can also be reached by train if you're coming from other Belgian cities like Antwerp, Brussels or Ghent. 

Hmm.. where to start? 

Like I said, what draws tourists (like us) to Brugge is its very well-preserved medieval city center. I think it was here, that moment when I stepped onto the vast Market Square, when it sank in, "Wow, I'm really, really, really in Europe."

Even Bee, who's been to Brugge seven times, excitedly took pictures. 

We did not have an itinerary when we were there, so we basically just let our feet take us where ever. 

Welcome to Stad Brugge. 



The streets -- open to pedestrians, cars, bikes, and the occasional horse carriage. 

Some are busy.
  

Some are quiet. 

A few landmarks:

The Provincial House

The Belfry Tower

In Europe, al fresco is the best way to dine. We ate at a restaurant called Friterie 1900.

Belgain fries, when there's no rice. 

Burgers, fries and nugget-y things. 

After lunch, we were in the mood for dessert. We shared one chocolate-coated Belgain waffle, with bananas and strawberries and cream on top. 

Speaking of chocolates...

There was a chocolate shop in every corner of Bruges, each one with a delectable display... in every shape, size and form you can imagine.  

Assorted.

The truffle-kind.

Blocks and blocks of chocolates.

Hours of walking, in and out of these sweet shops, we didn't know where to go to next. 

Nasan na ba tayo?

But there was an upside to getting lost. We stumbled upon this quiet, quaint spot. 

We spent a bit of time here. We sat on a bench and took lots of pictures. Like Amsterdam, Brugge is a canal-city, and is dubbed as "Venice of the North".

These trellises and flowers, so romantic! 

  
A labrador, sleeping by the window (he even has a pillow), undisturbed. No noise...

...save for the oohhs and aahhs of tourists on a canal boat ride.

Quiet time always ends with Bee being silly. He didn't fall off, thank goodness.

After our own little tour of Brugge, we went to visit one of Bee's grandmothers. She lives a few minutes away from the historical area. Bee calls her Tantaje, which means 'Little Aunt' in Dutch. Indeed, what a sweet, little lady. She offered us coffee and pastries and chocolates and lots of incredible stories about her family. 

We were beat, but it had been a truly, truly awesome day. 

Now, all that's left to do was wait for the bus to take us back to Roeselare.

Until our next destination (hint hint: city of lights), 

Binky

~~all photos by star, bernard and binky

Charming Roeselare, Part 4

"There's a beautiful forest across our house in Belgium," Bernard would always say. He talked about how he always walked there alone, and how he could not wait to bring us there.  

I couldn't imagine it. Bernard said they lived in the city. There really was a forest in the city? 

Bernard is a very good friend, but many times, it's hard for me to believe him. 

He's not a very convincing storyteller. He's not good at describing things because he never really pays attention. He has the attention span of a three-year old. Hehehe. 

Perhaps, his"forest" was just shrubbery. Or a clump of trees in front of their house. 

And I suppose I'm one of those people who needed to see to believe. Because when we finally arrived at Bernard's house that beautiful spring afternoon, right in front of me was, indeed, a forest. He explained that it was called Sterrebos. 

I guess that's what I get for ridiculing Bernard. Serves me right for bashing the person who had been key to this awesome European adventure. Hehe! Oo na, I should have never underestimated you.

Here are some photos: 

View from across the street. Pretty much what we saw every waking moment. Lucky!

Main jogging path, which leads to the Kasteel van Rumbeke. 

Finally, Kasteel Van Rumbeke. Very quiet and picturesque. It's said to be one of the oldest Renaissance castles in Belgium (thanks wikipedia!). Bernard explained that these days, it's being used as a venue for events and such. I also imagine it being used during town meetings? How very old time-y! I love it!

Back side of the Kasteel. It's perfect. (I felt like I was in the set of Ever After!). 

Obligatory jump shot, of course. You can tell Bernard was smug about this whole forest thing. Ahahaha! 

We thoroughly enjoyed Sterrebos. It was as beautiful as you described, Bernard. And, like you said, it was such a nice thing to create new memories there that didn't involve just you -- wandering alone in the morning (or was it night?), getting caught by policemen for suspicious behavior (a true story, by the way, one of his that I easily believed).

Thank you, too, to Bee's Pops Jurgen (aka Edward Norton), Muks, Andrew, Lelet, the Kiddies, the Lolas and the whole Decloedt clan, for warmly welcoming us to your home. Just being there in Roeselare, being surrounded by its simple charm, was already in itself, an experience-- one that I would always remember, and would wish to go back to. In a few years, perhaps? 

Mabuhay ang Roeselare!

Byebye for now,

Binky

Charming Roeselare, Part 3

My Ate Star and I are always on the look out for cool street art. 

Here are some of our discoveries in Roeselare. 

Pretty clever gate art. We found this while walking to the supermarket. Finding things like these made getting lost in and around the residential area of Roeselare super fuuuun!

Statement street art. Indeed, what happens when we run out of power? 

I think we also found this around Bernard's neighborhood, whilst walking to the Zentrum (we did not know where the nearest bus stop was). 

Kiddie art. This is inside Roeselare's train station. See that Homer Simpson bit? I find that real kooky. :)

Gritty street art in the otherwise very, very wholesome streets of Roeselare. 

Probably these do not qualify as street art, but how cute are these store signages?!

Cafe Moustache (Zentrum). We never ate here.. establishments usually open around 11AM, and close at 6PM. 

Kids' clothing store, Otto and Lili. Red and polkadots. What a cutiepie!

Til next time, 

Binky

Charming Roeselare, Part 2

Hello! 

I know I haven't posted for a while. I have no excuse, but the rainy weather has made me even lazier than usual. Haha! 

I've been feeling a lot nostalgic about our trip to Belgium lately (again, because of the weather!), and what better way to rekindle those memories, but with a blog post, right? :) 

Anywaysss, back to Roeselare! I also loved...

Market Day

Tuesday is Market Day for Roeselare. It’s the equivalent of our Weekend Markets here in Manila, only, it happens every Tuesday mornings! Hehe!

About 15 stalls are set up in the square near the city hall (also in the Zentrum), and the majority of the things you’ll find here --- food, food, food!

Here's the photo of our hotdog (our first in Europe!), sold by an elderly couple on their food truck. Really good!! The bread was a bit tough to eat, but it seems that it's really how it's made. 

We also tried some of the famous Bicky Burger. It wasn't McDonald's, but the meat tasted pretty interesting. I even read somewhere that the patty also has horse meat. Gasp! But it was okay, I didn't know this when I was eating it. Hehe! 

I don't have a picture of the Bicky Burger, but I found an infographic about it from youtube! :) :)

Here's some more of the food stalls: 

Pancakes!!

Everyone loves candy! :)

Some extra-special Belgian cheese for 10 euros. The lady was very kind to give us a few bits to taste for free. I wanted to buy, but I couldn't shell out that much money just for cheese. That's right, I was really a cheap-o in Europe! :)

I really, really miss this place. 

Til next time, 

Binky

Charming Roeselare, Part 1

So last May when my Ate Star, Bernard and I flew to Europe, we stayed for a total of nine days at Bernard's home in Roeselare, Belgium. 

Roeselare is a city in the Dutch-speaking province of West Flanders in Belgium. It's small, quiet, and quaint -- almost sleepy, but still very, very charming. It's located somewhere between the more-famous (and definitely busier) Belgian cities of Antwerp and Brussels (which we also visited, but more on them later!). 

Though I've lived in bustling Manila for all of my life, I'm used to quieter neighborhoods, and I found that beautiful, laid-back Roeselare really became my home-away-from-home while in Europe. 

Here's part one of why I loved it there so much... 

The City Centre (Zentrum)

I observed that in most European cities, people's activities are concentrated in the Zentrum or Centre, where the city hall, church, shops, restaurants, and train/bus stations are located or are nearby. And because Roeselare is quiet small, its Zentrum is much more compact, and walking in and through it was pretty easy.  

Historical buildings were turned into shops, boutiques and restaurants.

That's Bernard posing in front of a Zara store. Just across is a very well-stocked H&M. We were here on a weekday so stores were practically empty. No lines at the dressing rooms. Yey!

Though not popular among travelers (at that time, we were probably the only non-Dutch there!), Roeselare still has its tourist office, of course! :)

Roeselare is bicycle and biker-friendly, too! :) 

It was also in Roeselare where I tasted my first-ever authentic Belgian waffle. This one was smothered in very, very rich Belgian chocolate, I almost couldn't finish it! We bought this in Panos, which is a very popular bread shop in Belgium. It's everywhere!

Nakaka-miss! :)

Until my next post about Roeselare, 

Binky