Biking. Beer. Bruges.

​July 22

We all slept in this morning and then walked through a farmer’s market in the main square to get to a restaurant for breakfast. Alastair and I purchased a bottle of chocolate milk each. The restaurant lured us in with a meal deal: Belgian waffles and coffee for 6€. It was okay but the vibe of the place was a little strange.

We walked back towards our hostel to investigate bike rentals but they only had 3 available. Alastair and I ended up renting two of them while the girls went 15 minutes downtown to find a tandem bike. We spent a while cruising around town and then Alastair took us to Sint-Salvatorskathedraal which we popped inside. We kept biking around town, through crowds, and I couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face because we were having so much fun.

Our next stop was O.L.V.-kerk Museum where we hoped to see Michelangelo‘s Madonna and child. However, they charged you to enter that part of the church which was irritating and we skipped it.

We ended up at De Halve Maan for local beers and some snacks for lunch. They pump their beer directly from the brewery, underground through the city, straight to the restaurant. We got to play more cards too.

Once we were back on our bikes, we rode all around town. At one point, we were waiting at a stop sign behind a delivery truck and he started backing up into the bikes and we had to scream at him. Alastair took us to ride around some windmills. He and I took a turn on the tandem bike too, which was really funny.

Once we all returned our bikes, we had some more beers and ciders at our hostel bar before we headed out for dinner. We ended up at a Shawarma restaurant and we all had a big plate of veggies and pita and meat. Alastair and I got Chez Albert waffles for dessert. We all decided to skip the dance party taking place downtown tonight in favor of downtime and karaoke night at our hostel bar.

After a shower and some FOB, I’m at Dagny and Alastair down at the bar to watch fellow travelers sing really poorly. Dagny accidentally ordered a 7€ beer because she thought the number was a two. We almost made a deal where she would sing a karaoke song in exchange for me buying her beer, but the waitlist for songs was so long.

Magnolia came down eventually and the three of us girls met a local Belgian man and chatted with him for a while before going to bed.

Quote of the day:

Do you guys think this is the most time we’ll spend together for the rest of our lives?

Adelaide