I arrived at Koen and Annemie Dieltien's Bed & Breakfast. I rang the bell, Annemie answered, and I inquired about a room. Lucky for me, there had been one cancellation and the couple she promised it to had exceeded their 30-minute holding period.
We sat together in the dining room, filled out some paperwork, and she instructed me where to go to get a good dinner that did not involve a lot of tourists.
The house was homey and lovely with great artwork, wood floors, and steep spiral staircases. It being on a quiet street, with a handful of visitors, this was the best night of sleep I've gotten since arriving in Europe. I probably could have slept through the entire next day, had it not been for breakfast being served at 8:30 and checkout being at 10:30.
As it got dark out, I wandered around town, which was very quiet. I found a restaurant along the canal for dinner, and I tried my first local Belgian beer, the Brugse Zot.
Picking my way back along the canal, I found 2 swans swimming, like brilliant white beacons against the black water. So beautiful!
It being long past everyone's bedtime at the late hour of 9 pm, I wandered around Brugge practically alone, and did some window shopping. Amongst the lace, chocolate, souvenir, and year-round Christmas shops, there are actually a lot of great clothing and accessory stores. Two H&M stores on a single street. I hardly think that's necessary, but then maybe I misjudged Brugge. Perhaps this is the mecca where everyone in Belgium comes to clothes shop.
Since coming to Europe, it feels as if I've been going at a steady pace of 100 miles per hour. Being in Brugge put on the brakes, and kicked me back to a slow 5 miles per hour. It's lovely here -- a beautiful old, cobble-stoned city with fantastic window shopping and canal gazing that you can shuffle along and enjoy.
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