IN BRUGES Dream Destination -Day 2

Well, sleep did not arrive for me until the early morning hours. I believe this is jet lag. I set the alarm and got up for breakfast and was disappointed there were no waffles. Just as I was finishing my meal, a lot of Americans walked in. And what do you know, there was a couple from Denver! We chatted for a bit and I Found it interesting that they were going to be here for 3 days until they left for their river cruise. The rather interesting thing is that I asked what river that was and neither had any idea what river they were going to be on. They are going to see the tulips. I just wouldn't imagine that people would fly halfway around the world and not even know what river they would be sailing on. One never knows.

I was planning to get out for pictures but fell asleep and had a faint recognition of the bells and nothing else for hours. Shortly after 1 the front desk called to ask if I was going to get up so they could clean up. About 2 I finally was up. After a shower I felt better and headed out for another adventure. I stopped by the store to tell my new friend Tanja I would meet her at 3:30 when she got off work. I wandered and had some frites with my new favorite sauces and tried to find the frite and chocolate museums. Apparently I went the wrong way but enjoyed wandering, knowing I was not on a time schedule to get back to the ship. I met Tanja and she was hungry and got her fries at the different stand than I have ever gone to and she let me taste them, delicious! She had a beef and gravy topping and mayonnaise and I can't wait for lunch today...it's 7 hours later here in Belgium with the time change to come tonight. Then she said she would like me to meet her mother who can't walk well because of her two new knees. So i said we didn't have to walk and she called her mother to meet us. While waiting she took me to, in her opinion, the best chocolate shop in town, Dumond. She used to work there and was greeted warmly and the mother of the family who owns the shop proudly showed me pictures of the family with Rick Steves. There were articles up about them. When we left she handed me a box of chocolates that she had bought as a gift for me! so, so sweet. And she had another little bag with a candy for us to eat then. We visited over a glass of iced tea as she told me about meeting her wonderful boyfriend. When her mother arrived we walked to the haagen ads store for a waffle and although good, it was not a Lily's waffle...later today I will go there. After that and listening to their conversation in Flemish they invited me to join them for dinner! I was so touched and they insisted so I decided it would be a pleasant way to spend the evening. She warned me that her father did not speak English but they had called him and he also welcomed me to their home. Then she told me that she wanted me to know that when she showed me pictures of her family I would see that her brother was married to a man and her sister to a woman. Yes, I was in for an interesting evening!

A delightful evening in a traditional Belgian home! However, we did not have Belgian food, we had the most delicious Holland pasta. We took a bus to the neighborhood and I was even more charmed by this city. They live in a house that is very narrow, like the rest of the architecture of the area. Their home was built around the 50's because the area had been bombed in the war. Across the street are homes that have been there 300 years! Tanja's boyfriend was already there, he drives from holland every night when he finishes his job an hour and a half from here to be with her. What a wonderful young man he was. She always helps her mother with dinner but her father told her he would help so we could take their dog, boomer, out for a walk. So Boomer, Yaap (her boyfriend)and she and I went to a little park behind the house and then walked a couple of blocks. Yaap is a contractor so he was telling me about the homes and how they construct them and redo them. We returned and looked at some things on the Internet and did the usual adding of friends so we can Skype and stay in touch. Tanja showed me the house she and Yaap have bought in Holland and it is lovely. They are so excited about their home and have been saving stamps from shopping at a store so they can buy their pots and pans for half price, which means only 250 euros for them! They were both so cute about finally getting to buy them this weekend.

Finally we had dinner and the sauce for the pasta was a Dutch recipe and absolutely delicious! I can't even describe it but it was a beef with vegetables in it. I had to have a tiny second helping and was wishing I were hungrier, it was so different and delicious! After we talked a while I said I was tired and so Yaap and Tanja drove me home in his car. Lots of cheek kissing and warm goodbyes and some new Belgian friends! Actually I commented that if I bought a little flat in Bruges I could leave some things here and wouldn't need to take luggage back and forth. Tanja was immediately on the Internet looking for places. A small home in their area would be about 150,000 euros and a remodeled lovely flat near the center of town would be 99,000 euros. Darn, no weekend home in bruges for me!

And so day 2 in Bruges, my day with a Belgian family, is over and I think that this trip is going to end way too soon!

They dropped me off and I walked to a supermarket a block from the hotel for a large bottle of water and then came in and went right to sleep! And here I am, awake in the middle of the night.