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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Belgium - Day 2


As I mentioned, our hotel host, caters to a lot of cyclists, and Team Farnese Vini was there.




Jergeun also has several cyclist's jerseys framed and displayed throughout the premises and in the rooms. The hotel used to be a monastery, and he has renovated it and added another set of rooms.





He suggested a running route for Kami and I, and we went out for our first post-flight jaunt. We both felt a bit rusty, but eventually warmed up.

Dinner at the hotel was excellent, and we had fun looking at the menu, guessing what we might end up with. Typical of Europeans, we were in the dining room for a good two hours. Next morning's breakfast included perhaps the best croissant I have ever eaten. The yogurt was great. I love European food!


After breakfast, we hit the road towards Brugge. Jurgeun had suggested we stop in the town of Damme near there. It is an artist's community, very small, and nice to run around. We did as suggested, following the "Nature Path" which wound us through and around the town.





After the run, we had lunch at a place that specializes in pancakes. I continued my uncharacteristic consumption of meats, vowing to start thinking of pre-race food sometime tomorrow. We continued on to Brugge, checked into our hotel, and crashed into nap land for a good 2 hours.

Around 7:00 we headed out to explore Brugge and find some dinner. We walked throughout the town center, reading menu after menu, many of them offering similar fare.





We finally decided on one, and each decided to have something Flemish. For me it was a beer, served in a funny glass with a wooden handle - kind of spill proof.



Just one sip and already everything is fuzzy!


For a starter I went with the mussels, only because it is a Belgian specialty. Fortunately, they were in a cream sauce and covered with cheese. Pretty hard to go wrong! They were pretty good, but still a bit on the chewy fishy side.



My entre' was "Rabbit in the Flemish Way". Still makes me giggle - many things were on the menu as "in the Flemish Way".



Dessert was a very reasonably sized portion of very good ice cream.


Day 2 is in the books!

3 comments:

  1. What did you do with Brewhaha? Leave him at the airport?

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  2. Oh yeah! Todd left the airport right away - took a train to Brugge, and then to Torhout. He is here, getting nervous, but I think he'll do well.

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  3. Anonymous5:58 PM

    Meghan,

    Knowing how well you like French Fries, make sure you stop at someplace that specializes in them. The Belgians make them better than the French for some reason. There are a few places in Brussels that only serve pomme frites.

    Glad to see you had some Flemish beer. lowercase would be proud.

    SLF

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