Bruges in the Rain

On Sunday morning, I had nothing pressing me to get up too early. I thanked Wouter once again for a fun day in Ghent and walked back to the train station to go to Bruges. It is a city much like Ghent with canals, a long history and many old buildings. I stepped out of the train station into the rain - my luck had run out. I came prepared with an umbrella (that I found in the train station a few weeks ago) and immediately put it to use.

I took a bus to the city center, which was a lot like Ghent and Brussels. The only difference was that the wind was whipping the rain in 30+ mph gusts. I tried to snap a few pictures with my backpack holding me down, umbrella in one hand and camera in the other. The wind kept pulling my umbrella back and I got some drops on the camera that obstructed the shot. It was beyond frustrating.

I used my Lonely Planet guide for a walking tour of the city. About 20 minutes into the walk I was already over it. I wanted to be back in Brussels. My umbrella had turned inside out 5 or 6 times, my guidebook was wet and I hadn't really seen that much. Around every corner and intersection, I never knew which way the wind was going to gust. I veered off the path a few times and ended up getting lost for a bit. I wasn't too worried since I had a map, but after my umbrella's 10th turn inside out I threw it in the trash. Let me rephrase that... I emphatically slammed my umbrella into the trash and trudged off through the rain. There were a few churches and sights recommended by the book, but I skipped them and went for an indoor attraction - the chocolate museum.

Choco Story chocolate museum was located on an unassuming street north of the center. Mostly I was just happy to get out of the rain. I was happily surprised by the artifacts that went all the way back to the Aztecs and continued through the cocoa trade to Europe, how production changed during the industrial revolution, up to today's techniques. There was a demonstration at the end and a free sample. This is a picture of me with Barack Choc-Obama (my title, not theirs - I'm so clever). As a side note, people in Europe love the fact that Obama was elected in the US, but everyone I've talked to about it says they are quickly getting tired of the politics as usual, because what has really changed? Anyway, I'm not the biggest fan of chocolate because I'm (mildly) allergic to it, but I still like to eat it every now and then. It's only the pure stuff that really makes me kind of queasy, but even with that I can take it in small doses.

I quickly walked back to the city center and was tempted by the Salvador Dali exhibit in one of the buildings. It cost 15 Euros and took about an hour to complete, but it only had etchings (no paintings). I REALLY like Dali's work and I've never seen one of his collections, but I was wet, tired, and it didn't look like that great of an exhibit. I caught a bus and took the train back to Brussels to get ready for another week.