So where was I ?...on the Eurostar sipping champagne, they gave us a wonderful menu with two choices hot or cold, we all chose hot, of course they only had one hot left and the cold was basically veal, ham & egg pie, but Moyna won paper, rock, scissors and got the hot one, as it happened the cold pie was very nice, and the hot pie wasn't, but we had more champagne so no-one really cared. It was a lovely journey and we arrived in Brussels on time, and finding the train to Bruges was really easy, we got a taxi to our hotel (Martin's great hotel right next to the Belfry) and it was happy hour when we arrived bliss.
I had watched Great Food Live (oh the good old days) when the Hairy Bikers mentioned a restaurant called Den Dyvers, so I had booked a table for us on the Saturday night, we dumped our stuff had a quick freshen up and met downstairs (where else but the bar) we sampled our first taste of Belgian Beer, the lovely man behind the bar gave us three to try one of which was a cherry beer which was lovely. We walked to Den Dyvers and if ever I see the Hairy Bikers I am going to kiss them, it was amazing, it wasn't a meal it was an eating experience. We were given a taster plate with a tiny bowl of asparagus soup, a little bit of sushi, some lovely feta salad, and some olive tapenade, and we were also given a beer to "match". Then we were given the menu's there was a "special" on to celebrate the asparagus season. The food was outstanding, each course arrived with a different beer to match the food and we were told which part of Belgium it was from, nothing was rushed, although as much as I love asparagus, when dessert came and it was asparagus panacotta with rhubarb puree it was a little strange for me. We were there for almost three hours and had a wonderful time.
We only had one full day in Bruges so had to make the most of it, we got up early, had a lovely breakfast at the hotel, and set off. Moyna is our international traveller, she is always in some European City or another with her job, however Moyna didn't have any Euros.....us normal travellers of course had been excited and queued at the post office for our "foreign money" so we looked for a cashpoint for her and found one, of course it had a queue longer than anything I had seen at Disney!!! CJ even had enough time to go back to the hotel and get her jacket! Eventually we started with a canal trip, "lets sit at the back of the boat" came the cry, which took me back to school trips on a coach! While the sights were lovely the smell of diesel wasn't, that coupled with the boat wobbling made for some queasy passengers! The narration by the Captain was in three languages but we couldn't understand a word of the English bits as the noise of the engine drowned it out, although as Moyna pointed out his voice did rise to an extremely audible level when he mentioned us all leaving him a tip at the end! I left him a tip alright....never eat yellow snow!!!
We got off the boat and had a wander through all the shops, mostly lace, chocolate and beer glasses, which was expected, although my Sister-in-Law did take me into a sex shop (now I usually wait outside if any of my friends go into Anne Summers!!) and that was an eye opener especially as the shop was joined on (separated by a small net curtain thing) to a children's toy shop which is where I was originally buying something for my Niece!
I had watched Great Food Live (oh the good old days) when the Hairy Bikers mentioned a restaurant called Den Dyvers, so I had booked a table for us on the Saturday night, we dumped our stuff had a quick freshen up and met downstairs (where else but the bar) we sampled our first taste of Belgian Beer, the lovely man behind the bar gave us three to try one of which was a cherry beer which was lovely. We walked to Den Dyvers and if ever I see the Hairy Bikers I am going to kiss them, it was amazing, it wasn't a meal it was an eating experience. We were given a taster plate with a tiny bowl of asparagus soup, a little bit of sushi, some lovely feta salad, and some olive tapenade, and we were also given a beer to "match". Then we were given the menu's there was a "special" on to celebrate the asparagus season. The food was outstanding, each course arrived with a different beer to match the food and we were told which part of Belgium it was from, nothing was rushed, although as much as I love asparagus, when dessert came and it was asparagus panacotta with rhubarb puree it was a little strange for me. We were there for almost three hours and had a wonderful time.
We only had one full day in Bruges so had to make the most of it, we got up early, had a lovely breakfast at the hotel, and set off. Moyna is our international traveller, she is always in some European City or another with her job, however Moyna didn't have any Euros.....us normal travellers of course had been excited and queued at the post office for our "foreign money" so we looked for a cashpoint for her and found one, of course it had a queue longer than anything I had seen at Disney!!! CJ even had enough time to go back to the hotel and get her jacket! Eventually we started with a canal trip, "lets sit at the back of the boat" came the cry, which took me back to school trips on a coach! While the sights were lovely the smell of diesel wasn't, that coupled with the boat wobbling made for some queasy passengers! The narration by the Captain was in three languages but we couldn't understand a word of the English bits as the noise of the engine drowned it out, although as Moyna pointed out his voice did rise to an extremely audible level when he mentioned us all leaving him a tip at the end! I left him a tip alright....never eat yellow snow!!!
We got off the boat and had a wander through all the shops, mostly lace, chocolate and beer glasses, which was expected, although my Sister-in-Law did take me into a sex shop (now I usually wait outside if any of my friends go into Anne Summers!!) and that was an eye opener especially as the shop was joined on (separated by a small net curtain thing) to a children's toy shop which is where I was originally buying something for my Niece!
Now and again we had a text from my Brother (he was left holding the baby) saying things like "I've dyed all the washing pink" or Cara tripped in the park and now looks like Joe Bugner, all taken in my Sister-in-Law's stride, she reckoned he was doing it on purpose so she would never go away without him again.......he has just returned from a 5 day golf trip with the lads so it was only fair she come with us.
Next we had a nice lunch, I tested the frites and mayonnaise, while the other three had waffles, cream and strawberries, and of course more beer (there's a pattern emerging here methinks!).
Then we decided to go on one of the horse drawn carriage rides around the town, well there was a bit of a queue but we joined. We had waited about 20 minutes and were almost at the front when a horse pulled up and 2 people who had not been in the queue walked over and tried to get in the carriage, bit of a mistake as my Sister-in-Law marched over and told them in typical English man abroad .......shouting and arm waving....that there was a queue thank you very much which they eventually joined. The carriage ride was fun, and we went back to the Hotel to the bar and the beer.
Several raspberry,cherry, and wheat beers later a very nice courier told us where to go for dinner (both of which were full) so we used our judgement, now after all that beer our judgement probably wasn't very good, sort of like the place we chose. The food was average, the service terrible, and my Sister-in-Law spent the entire night expelling the meatballs she ate.
We had a very early start, but the thing about European trains is that they are on time, so our train from Bruges was on time, the Eurostar was on time, and then we got to Paddington and to wait two hours for a train back to Hanborough.........ah good old Blighty.
All in all we had a brilliant time, it was a lot of travelling for one full day in Bruges, but it was nice to spend time with friends, although honestly any bar/restaurant with good drink and a nice menu would do for us.
Next we had a nice lunch, I tested the frites and mayonnaise, while the other three had waffles, cream and strawberries, and of course more beer (there's a pattern emerging here methinks!).
Then we decided to go on one of the horse drawn carriage rides around the town, well there was a bit of a queue but we joined. We had waited about 20 minutes and were almost at the front when a horse pulled up and 2 people who had not been in the queue walked over and tried to get in the carriage, bit of a mistake as my Sister-in-Law marched over and told them in typical English man abroad .......shouting and arm waving....that there was a queue thank you very much which they eventually joined. The carriage ride was fun, and we went back to the Hotel to the bar and the beer.
Several raspberry,cherry, and wheat beers later a very nice courier told us where to go for dinner (both of which were full) so we used our judgement, now after all that beer our judgement probably wasn't very good, sort of like the place we chose. The food was average, the service terrible, and my Sister-in-Law spent the entire night expelling the meatballs she ate.
We had a very early start, but the thing about European trains is that they are on time, so our train from Bruges was on time, the Eurostar was on time, and then we got to Paddington and to wait two hours for a train back to Hanborough.........ah good old Blighty.
All in all we had a brilliant time, it was a lot of travelling for one full day in Bruges, but it was nice to spend time with friends, although honestly any bar/restaurant with good drink and a nice menu would do for us.
Of course I can't mention everything, there are certain things that come under the "what happens on tour, stays on tour " category, but at least I have given you a taste of the trip.
Got home and NONE of the self assembly was done, he didn't have time!!!
Oh well back to reality and the washing and unpacking.......
Oooo by the way we did get through to the One Act Drama Welsh Finals ........
and Ruby's stitches came out without a problem, the hiding thing is normal apparently......
Keep Smiling
Marmite Girl xx
p.s. to my Friends and Sister-in-Law thanks for a brilliant weekend......and Eurostar called they want their champagne glasses back!!!!
Oh well back to reality and the washing and unpacking.......
Oooo by the way we did get through to the One Act Drama Welsh Finals ........
and Ruby's stitches came out without a problem, the hiding thing is normal apparently......
Keep Smiling
Marmite Girl xx
p.s. to my Friends and Sister-in-Law thanks for a brilliant weekend......and Eurostar called they want their champagne glasses back!!!!
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