A New Adventure

I have been back from China for three days now, and even managed 2 days at work, but it is time for Iain and I to jet off to Belgium for some R&R. Unfortunately, I seem to have developed a cold but I am determined to drink and eat my way through it.

Our flight left Edinburgh at 6.05am, so it was an early start for us. I was unable to check-in online as I changed my name on the booking but the Brussels Airline staff fixed the issue very quickly (though the people behind us in the queue probably disagree!). Thankfully, a quick beer in Brewdog and a “roll and sausage” also helped to tide us over until our flight departed. 



The flight was only an hour so I decided to catch up on some missed sleep. We arrived at Brussels International Airport to rain so I don’t feel like I have left Scotland yet. Fingers crossed it gets better in the next few days.

Our first stop is actually Bruges, so we jump on a train towards Brussels Central before making the connection to Bruges. The whole process of buying tickets and finding the train is so easy and stress free in Europe, or maybe it is because of my experiences in China, Russia, etc.

Its still raining when we arrive at Bruges station but we decide to walk to the hotel, only a 15 minute walk away. As its only 11am, we can’t check in but we dump our bags and head out. The hotel is about a 2 minute walk to the market square so we decide to have a coffee and plan the afternoon. Well, I had a coffee, Iain had a beer!



Our first stop is the Choco-Story Museum which tells the story of chocolate from its spicy beginnings as a drink in the Mayan and Aztec civilisations to its place as a sweet treat in society today. Tripadvisor said this was a tourist trap but I thought it was great; albeit, I felt a bit sick from the free chocolate available on each floor! (Iain: Free Chocolate!!!) We also got a demo which showed how to make pralines along with the obligatory tasting. It only took an hour or so but it was well worth it.






After the chocolate museum, we headed back to the market square to Historium Bruges, a very strange attraction using fictional characters to explain the significance of medieval Bruges. We bought the package which included the VR headset, an 8 minute look at medieval Bruges, a fictional audio tour and a free drink at Duvelorium Grand Beer Cafe. It was quite a bizarre place, but we both really enjoyed it.











By this time, it was 4pm so we decided to head to our hotel and check in. The Hotel Acacia is conveniently located and reasonably priced; I thoroughly recommend. We decided to freshen up then head for dinner. I was determined to try moule frites (Mussels and Chips) so I researched and found Poules Moules, a restaurant highly recommended and about a 5 minute walk from the hotel. The food and beer was excellent, but I think I am done with mussels for a while.






As we were up at 3am today, we were both shattered so we wandered back to the hotel, via a supermarket, in the rain. We decided to have a couple of drinks in the hotel and have an early night. Earlier in the day, we chose to “go green”. Not a phrase I would normally associate with myself due to my football tendencies, but we chose not to have our room cleaned. Apparently, this means we get a round of free drinks in the hotel....there are definitely benefits to “going green”....

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