Vaarwal Bruges: Dank U

I'm so glad no one took a video of me attempting to wash my hair in the gigantic bathtub--it would not get too many hits on Youtube. First of all, they should provide a ladder to get into the tub; it has to be four feet high. I cannot wash my hair holding one of those shower wands, so I filled the tub and used that wand to rinse my hair and also soak the entire bathroom.  It was like an episode of I Love Lucy.

I took Lola's advice and went for the traditional Belgian waffle with banana and chocolate sauce for my second breakfast.  I visited the buildings on the main squares and I believe that picture of the cathedral is now in City Hall--anyway, it was stunning. It's hard to know where you are because the names on the buildings don't match the names on the map.

Then for lunch, I ate the traditional Belgian burger and fries--this burger also had two patties, like in Paris, but the meat was cooked. The double deep fried fries are very good and I prefer mayonnaise over ketchup as a general rule.  For dinner, Johnny finally came through with a suggestion--Portoromano, the traditional Portugal/Belgium restaurant that plays all-the-time Elvis Presley where I had their traditional moules/frites.

I hadn't tried the traditional appletaarte and after I ate dinner, I had an idea--go to the square and have dessert there. I decided it's an idea to live by--never eat dessert where you ate dinner.  That's why the Europeans are thin--they walk 3 miles to dinner; then walk another 3 miles for dessert. So, I ate the traditional apple tart with ice cream and whipped cream and...hot chocolate. Another brilliant idea--I didn't want coffee so late at night so why not the traditional hot chocolade?  It was delicious.

It is easy to find restaurants, lace,beer, and chocolate in Bruges. What is difficult to find is a pharmacy. Apparently, taking drugs is not very traditional here.  I needed aspirin and have been looking for a pharmacy as I walked around each day but never saw one.  Finally, I had to be proactive and actually look them up. There are 2 listed in my B&B book, one of which is now a burger place. I finally found one. You have to ask the pharmacist for what you want--she had two types of aspirin; one to dissolve in water and then the tablet variety. I kept telling her I wanted tablets but she took out the dissolvable ones to show me and explain again how they work.  I ultimately decided on the tablets.

Finally, I partook of the traditional Belgian pastime of letting cat in the window.  It might not be traditional for all people, but it certainly is for this cat.