Brugge Part II

Yeah...It took me a little bit to get to part II, but here it is:

Brugge is BEAUTIFUL!! I loved it!! What a great place to spend a relaxing day away. The city was all lit for Christmas and there is an Ice Rink in the middle of the center with Christmas music and children laughing....yep, sounds just like a Christmas story; doesn't it!?

After a restful nights sleep at Charlie Rockets we started the day at another hostel, called Bauhaus. It's full of charm and has a very relaxing and cozy feel. "crammed full with impressive mirrors, old lamps from the Paris subway, neogothic arches, easy couches...." and an old clock above the bar that runs backwards! If I had known of this place; we would have stayed here (not that our place was bad).

Arron and I mapped out a walking tour for ourselves in an effort to minimize the time exposed to the elements. It was wicked COLD! Our next stop was at Pas Partout for some traditional Flemish cuisine for lunch. The atmosphere was bland but where it lacked, the food made up for it. Aaron and I both chose the stoverij (beef stewed in beer) with frites (fries) for a mere 10Euro.

Next off to the Belfry....

For those of you that don't want to click on the link and are wondering what the Belfry is; it's a beautiful bell tower in the center of Brugge. Aaron braved the 366 steps to the top to take in the view (I stayed below and chatted with a gentleman from Ohio!)

The rest of the day was spent wandering around trying to find other obscure points of interest without much luck. I was freezing and got a little bitchy (yes, really! Me! Bitchy!?).

We ended the day with a wonderful Belgian Waffle from a street stand....OMG!! I want to go back just for the Waffle!!!! It was perhaps the best thing that I have ever tasted. Beat the one we had in Brussels hands-down! Hot....sweet.....moist in the middle...crispy on the outside...... I'm drooling just thinking about it!

Aaron was attempting to pay for our parking and ended up breaking the machine. Here he is trying to get it all figured out....

The drive back was long...about 5 hours. Aaron was flying out Monday morning so we were late getting in and early rising to make it to the train in time to get him to the airport for the flight....

Aaron always finds a way to make things interesting. He took the train at 0512 and arrived in Frankfurt to the airport around 0700....flights were being canceled all over the board when he arrived. The flight that he had hoped to take was full and he wasn't able to make the flight. Food and water were being handed out to stranded passengers. People were camped out everywhere.....

He tried all day to get on another flight, without success. Around 10pm he called and told me that he was going to take the train back to Landstuhl. After he hung up, I looked up the train and it had a warning that the connection might not connect due to his train being late. I frantically tried to notify him (he didn't have a phone). Aaron ended up getting on the train with fingers crossed. Somehow, the train split and he ended up in Germersheim instead of Landstuhl (about an hour and half away from me) around midnight! I looked at the train schedules to see where we could get him so he could have a warm place to sleep and there were NO trains until 0430! I'm not certain of all the details but I think he slept a while in a phone booth and pretended to be a vagrant for the evening at the train station....

He finally arrived back in Landstuhl around 0600! What a nightmare!!

He is safe here with me for now and we will probably be having Christmas together....