I'm in Bruges, Belgium! hahaha - what a trip so far...
Crossing the pond was a bit trickier than it should have been. Delta called me around 4 hours before my flight to let me know that my Madison flight was delayed so much I was going to miss my Amsterdam flight out of Detroit. They re-booked me to Minneapolis on a flight 30 minutes later, arriving in Amsterdam 30 minutes after the Detriot one. However, when I was selecting my seats online I somehow "lost" the Madison flight and was only flying from Minneapolis. yeah...That was a quick scramble to get a seat back on the Madison to Minneapolis flight...
I sat next to a lady from Minneapolis on the flight to Amsterdam that is a marriage and family psychologist. Her husband is the president of the European branch for some company, so she flies with him everywhere and has offices set up in all his major cities. "It's really easy to open up an office overseas. Just hire an interpreter for the paperwork." She has offices in at least 3 cities (I lost track) and has sessions over video conference, too. Can you imagine how organized you'd have to be to do this? I mean...I'm a list maker to the extreme, but wow... :)
Once I got to Amsterdam I boarded a train to get to Bruges. I can see why people get stressed about the trains. Thankfully I'm a very "go with the flow" kind of laid back person, so I just sat back with a smile on my face and a chuckle and let it all unfold. There were enough interesting bits along the way that I can confidently say...I am NOT a savvy train traveler in any sense. hahaha - Here's to hoping I get better as the trip goes! There were more than a few questions swirling in my head as I went on this ride. First of all, my "direct" train to Antwerp required me to switch physical trains in Rosendaal. I didn't fully understand that until the train stopped, the lights dimmed, and everybody got off. Thought it would be good to follow. :) Then once I got to Antwerp, I missed the next train, so I'm standing in the train station staring at the board trying to find a train with Brugge listed. I was looking at the weekend schedule first and then had to go back to the weekday schedule. I went back and forth between platforms and the train schedule board enough times to get my myself noticed I'm sure. haha
Oh, and speaking of getting noticed, I carried all my luggage on to the plane, which means I have a big backpack for my back and a smaller one to carry in the front with stuff for the day. When I have them both on, I can totally empathize with pregnant women. I can't see my feet! Walking up stairs is very tricky...but it does make a handy hand rest! I have to say that regardless of how ridiculous I look, I LOVE having 2 free hands. :)
Okay...back to the train. I was on my way to Antwerp and a business man across from me leans forward and says something in a non-English language. Here's what happened:
Man: "something in a foreign language"
Me (out loud): polite smile "I'm sorry, but I only speak English." shoulder shrug
Man: "Oh, I was just asking if Antwerpen Centraal is the last stop on this train."
Me (out loud): hahaha "I was just asking myself that same question. I haven't a clue, but I figured I would know if we passed Antwerp."
Man: hahahaha "Okay"
Me (internally): Awesome! Not only does he think I speak a foreign language, but he thinks I have a clue about this train! hahaha - it was a good ego boost.
So I made it to Brugge 5 hours after I boarded the train in Amsterdam, which was about 2 hours after I landed there. That makes the total travel time about 20 hours from the time I left my front door. A quick bus ride to the market in the center of town, a little extra (unplanned) sightseeing on the way to the hostel, a stop in a restaurant for directions and Voila! I'm at my destination, Snuffle backpacker hostel. http://www.snuffel.be/
This place is hilarious. I read a bunch of reviews online, but it still makes me chuckle. There's a bar on the first floor and then a very steep spiral staircase up to the rooms. The showers are actually downstairs through the bar in a separate building out back and they're camper style showers, which means you have to hold the chain down to get water. I'm used to that, but I know some others found that to a bit difficult. Just imagine if you didn't know that before you got here...hahah - The rooms here are all painted by locals, and I'm staying in a female only room with 6 beds (3 bunk beds). I've met 4 people from Toronto, 2 from Boulder, and 2 from Boston so far. We spent last night playing Trivial Pursuit. It had to have been from the early 90's, and if I didn't stink at the up-to-date version I definitely stink at the older version. We all did, though, so it was a blast!
It's almost 7pm here, and I'm meeting people for dinner. I spent the day wandering around town, saw a Michelangelo sculpture of Madonna and child, sat and prayed in a few different churches, took a boat tour on the canals through town, had a real Belgium waffle (yum!), had a lunch picnic in a park consisting of a salad and peach (I decided that I need to have more picnics back home), and walked, walked, walked...my feet are so sore. :) I'm now meeting the Boulder couple for dinner, so I'll try to update again in a few days.
Love you all!
Crossing the pond was a bit trickier than it should have been. Delta called me around 4 hours before my flight to let me know that my Madison flight was delayed so much I was going to miss my Amsterdam flight out of Detroit. They re-booked me to Minneapolis on a flight 30 minutes later, arriving in Amsterdam 30 minutes after the Detriot one. However, when I was selecting my seats online I somehow "lost" the Madison flight and was only flying from Minneapolis. yeah...That was a quick scramble to get a seat back on the Madison to Minneapolis flight...
I sat next to a lady from Minneapolis on the flight to Amsterdam that is a marriage and family psychologist. Her husband is the president of the European branch for some company, so she flies with him everywhere and has offices set up in all his major cities. "It's really easy to open up an office overseas. Just hire an interpreter for the paperwork." She has offices in at least 3 cities (I lost track) and has sessions over video conference, too. Can you imagine how organized you'd have to be to do this? I mean...I'm a list maker to the extreme, but wow... :)
Once I got to Amsterdam I boarded a train to get to Bruges. I can see why people get stressed about the trains. Thankfully I'm a very "go with the flow" kind of laid back person, so I just sat back with a smile on my face and a chuckle and let it all unfold. There were enough interesting bits along the way that I can confidently say...I am NOT a savvy train traveler in any sense. hahaha - Here's to hoping I get better as the trip goes! There were more than a few questions swirling in my head as I went on this ride. First of all, my "direct" train to Antwerp required me to switch physical trains in Rosendaal. I didn't fully understand that until the train stopped, the lights dimmed, and everybody got off. Thought it would be good to follow. :) Then once I got to Antwerp, I missed the next train, so I'm standing in the train station staring at the board trying to find a train with Brugge listed. I was looking at the weekend schedule first and then had to go back to the weekday schedule. I went back and forth between platforms and the train schedule board enough times to get my myself noticed I'm sure. haha
Oh, and speaking of getting noticed, I carried all my luggage on to the plane, which means I have a big backpack for my back and a smaller one to carry in the front with stuff for the day. When I have them both on, I can totally empathize with pregnant women. I can't see my feet! Walking up stairs is very tricky...but it does make a handy hand rest! I have to say that regardless of how ridiculous I look, I LOVE having 2 free hands. :)
Okay...back to the train. I was on my way to Antwerp and a business man across from me leans forward and says something in a non-English language. Here's what happened:
Man: "something in a foreign language"
Me (out loud): polite smile "I'm sorry, but I only speak English." shoulder shrug
Man: "Oh, I was just asking if Antwerpen Centraal is the last stop on this train."
Me (out loud): hahaha "I was just asking myself that same question. I haven't a clue, but I figured I would know if we passed Antwerp."
Man: hahahaha "Okay"
Me (internally): Awesome! Not only does he think I speak a foreign language, but he thinks I have a clue about this train! hahaha - it was a good ego boost.
So I made it to Brugge 5 hours after I boarded the train in Amsterdam, which was about 2 hours after I landed there. That makes the total travel time about 20 hours from the time I left my front door. A quick bus ride to the market in the center of town, a little extra (unplanned) sightseeing on the way to the hostel, a stop in a restaurant for directions and Voila! I'm at my destination, Snuffle backpacker hostel. http://www.snuffel.be/
This place is hilarious. I read a bunch of reviews online, but it still makes me chuckle. There's a bar on the first floor and then a very steep spiral staircase up to the rooms. The showers are actually downstairs through the bar in a separate building out back and they're camper style showers, which means you have to hold the chain down to get water. I'm used to that, but I know some others found that to a bit difficult. Just imagine if you didn't know that before you got here...hahah - The rooms here are all painted by locals, and I'm staying in a female only room with 6 beds (3 bunk beds). I've met 4 people from Toronto, 2 from Boulder, and 2 from Boston so far. We spent last night playing Trivial Pursuit. It had to have been from the early 90's, and if I didn't stink at the up-to-date version I definitely stink at the older version. We all did, though, so it was a blast!
It's almost 7pm here, and I'm meeting people for dinner. I spent the day wandering around town, saw a Michelangelo sculpture of Madonna and child, sat and prayed in a few different churches, took a boat tour on the canals through town, had a real Belgium waffle (yum!), had a lunch picnic in a park consisting of a salad and peach (I decided that I need to have more picnics back home), and walked, walked, walked...my feet are so sore. :) I'm now meeting the Boulder couple for dinner, so I'll try to update again in a few days.
Love you all!
Ahh so glad you made it and got to the hostel safely. Good call on switching trains when it stopped and the lights went out :) Can't wait to read more!
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