Day 5 (June 9th): Belgium

We got ready and packed up for our weekend trip to Belgium. We walked over to Avis and got our car. It wasn't the Mercedes but instead a BMW X3 (2007) automatic with navigation system. I drove back to the apratment to get our bags and then hit the road. Driving was definitely strange. The signs and streets were difficult to manuever through. Thank G-d for the Nav system. We listed to the German CD during our ride to Brugge which took about 2 hr 45 mins. We made it there by 11:30 AM. Parking on the street was a pain so we had to put it in the private garage for the hotel. We stayed at the Pand Hotel and got upgraded to a bigger room (the room was not that big but it had a nice jacuzzi bathtub). It was too early to check in so we dropped our bags off and started to walk the streets. The location of the hotel was great and close to everything. We got some recommendations for lunch and walked around until we found one we liked. The restaurant we ate at was called Carpe Diem. I had a seafood crepe (very good) with a white Belgian beer. Al had a "vegetarian" lasagne that ended up having ham (schwein breath) in it. After lunch we walked around to a nice park with a lake and then went to the half moon brewery. This is the only local beer (Bruge Zut). The tour was interesting and the guide told us that tourism is the main source of income for the city. Hundreds of years ago (1400's - 1500's) the wealthy lived in Brugge but then ended up leaving and the city hasn't changed much since then and now it is their claim to fame. After the one hour tour we had a couple of beers (or at least I did). We spent the next few hours walking around the city and marveling at the beautiful old architecture. We saw some windmills along the canal and a number of churches and museums. We headed back to the main market area and had dinner at one of the local restaurants. I had a pot of mussels with a big beer (liter). Al had my cheese croquette and a steak. For dessert we had a chocolate mousse. On the way back to the hotel after dinner we found a nice bar with a bunch of beers on tap. I started talkinig to the waiter and owner about the beers while Al went to the restroom. I tried a cherry beer that was very sour and ended up having a Duivel beer which was very nice. After that we headed back to the room and I took a relaxing jacuzzi bath. Al was excited that they had Law and Order on TV in English.