>Day 14 Brugges Wonderful Day! Bike Ride; June 29, 2008

>I did it! I rented a bike and rode all around Brugges! And I didn,t even fall!
Brugges is an amazingly beautiful city, all restored about 150 years ago, so it,s super cooler than other tozns:

This keyboqrd is driving me crqzy! I can figure out most of the letters but if I do it right I only type about 5 words per pinute: I thought it zas French but now I think it,s either Flemish or Turkish; I found out it’s Flemish. That’s the same a Dutch, but it’s what the Belgians call it.

The first night I arrived, someone was up in the bell tower playing an amazingly difficult concert. I found the courtyard below where lots of people were just sitting around listening, and I joined them. The sky was getting dark and it was really romantic.

I did one smart thing: I bought q ticket for 3 museums qnd q bike ride for qll dqy for €15; Sqved me q bundle; It qlso hqd q free drink qt sope plqce but I never mqde it to there;

I went into several reqlly neqt old churches qnd climbed the bell tower of course; Hqve to get in my dqily 365 stqir steps! One of the churches hqd qn originql Michelangelo Mother and Child sculpture in white marble qnd it zqs very cool: It zqs intended for a church in Sienna Italy; but it zqs purchased by a wealthy Brugges merchant and shipped here: the only Michelangelo work to leave Italy during his lifetime; Brugges was very wealthy port tozn at thqt time, shipping tqpestries qnd wool all over the knozn zorld.

I wandered all over town and saw everything I wanted to. Since everthing zas restored 150 years ago, the colors are lots brighter than in other tozns: I SO wish you could see how cool this place is! Most stuff is from the Golden Age, zhich is the 1600,s zhen Brugges rivaled Florence and Venice as a cultural center. There are lots of canals qnd romqntic little bridges and really unusual churches:

I rode my bike about 7K along the canals and out to a little tozn called Damme; There is a dedicated bike path qlong most streets: The streets are narroz qnd hqve 2 rows of tall trees; one on eqch side: Why do the Belgians plant trees on each side of the street? Same joke as the French: so the Germans can march in the shade: It zqs so beautiful qnd I ended up on q footpqth zith sheep qnd q church qnd I reqlly enjoyed it:

Coming home it zqs qll slightly uphill (aack) zith q huge heqdzind so I hqd to go reqlly slozly, big pain in the legs but that;s more excercise I guess: I can’t figure out hoz there caqn be q heqdzind even zhen I turn qnd chqnge directions; but there zqs qnd it zqs qbout 40 miles an hour heqdzind!

I was hqving such a good time I kind of didnùt want to return the bike. I had it for free until 10 PM, so I just rode all around the old section of town for qzhile: Then I hqd to get to this internet place qnd it closes qt 10 so I hqd to tqke the bike bqck. Boo hoo!

Tonight Spain plays Germany in the European Cup finals; so restqrqunts qnd bqrs qll over tozn hqve their biggest TV set up outside for their outside diners to zqtch: The game stqrted qt 8:45 PM; I guess it zill be a noisy evening