Taylor and I survived our first night in Brussels!

On Friday morning, Carine left her house for work, but she let Taylor and me stay there, shower, and eat breakfast even though she was not home. She was so kind to us, and I will never forget what she has done.

We then left to go take the metro to the Midi/Zuid station, where our train was leaving for Bruges. A very kind lady took Taylor and me all of the way to the station and wanted to help us as much as she could! Everyone was showing us such kindness! I slept for a little bit on the train and was amazed by how flooded the farm fields were! It made me really feel bad for the farmers who need to use them this Spring.

We got off the train, and instantly I fell in love with Bruges. It is so quaint and beautiful. It made me happy the second we set foot in the town!

The first thing Taylor and I did was purchase some Belgian chocolate. I think I have been spoiled here because I am not sure I will ever like American chocolate again. After we put our bags away at the hostel, we went to De Halve Maan Brewery and took a tour of it. During the tour, they take you to the roof, and we were able to see such a good view of Bruges! I loved it!

We also had our first Belgian fries on Friday, the 4th of March. We ate them with half ketchup and half mayonnaise. I am not a giant fan of the mayonnaise, but it was worth trying!

We decided to go out that night and see what the bars were like. We started on the river, and I drank hot wine, and Tay had some beer. We sat in these red cushioned love seats! It was so funny! Bruges was beautiful at night and during the day! I was so happy!

We went out to the Theater bar afterwards and we randomly stumbled upon it and decided to go in. It was weird at first, and we were not sure how to act since it was different from Prague life, but luckily, Bram (our new friend) came up and introduced himself to us! Bram, Bjorn, and two other guys from the Netherlands instantly became our friends, and we were so happy with them! We all had such a great night and decided that we were for sure going to meet up again on Saturday night.

We went to bed around 2:30 am and woke up at 8:30 am to go eat breakfast (which I tried the yogurt and it was so sour I actually almost vomited everywhere) and start the day! We went on a boat tour after breakfast, and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. The canals are stunning, and the swans make the town shine even more than it already does! I wish I could explain the beauty of Bruges!

After the boat tour, Tay and I walked around all of Bruges and explored the town. We ended up going into a tiny bar that was a hole-in-the-wall type of place and had the best time ever. We met a 72-year-old man named Paul, who ended up being one of the kindest people we have ever met. He bought us each 4 drinks at the bar and told us about his life. He even wanted advice from us.

Paul: he opened my eyes so much. Although we only spent about four hours getting to know him, he showed me that life is not about the money you have, but rather who you spend your time with. He was willing to spend an entire day showing Taylor and I around Bruge and telling us about life. He also showed me that even when I am 72, it is okay to not have everything in my life figured out. He also offered us one of his houses if we ever come back to Bruges, and that he will just leave the key somewhere and never bother us when we come (even though we would want to see him, obviously). He made it very clear that he is just looking to make more friends and that he was not talking to us for a creepy reason.

Paul asked if he wanted him to drive us to a part of town that was further away, and although I know it was stupid of us to get into the car, we did it anyway. BEST AFTERNOON OF MY LIFE. Paul showed us around the city and bought us dinner too. Then he went on a date with Rita (whom he loves very much), and we were so happy for him. Although this might sound so strange to you readers, it was one of my favorite things I have ever done! It was stupid and everything we were not supposed to do in life (to be safe), we did this weekend. BUT let me just tell you, I honestly had the best weekend of my life and would not go back and change one thing about it.

Also, Taylor and I bought tickets to Rome for Easter weekend on Saturday night -WHICH I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT!

Taylor and I napped from 7 to 11:45 pm and then went back to the Theater club! I am pretty sure I fell in love this weekend with the town and a boy! What a weekend!

I NEED TO MOVE TO BRUGES AT SOME POINT IN MY LIFE. It will always have such a special place in my heart.

Taylor and I ended up going to sleep around 6 am and woke back up at 9 am on Sunday morning to return to Brussels!

We caught a train that got us into the city around one in the afternoon, which was perfect because we could not check into the hostel until 2 pm! We happened to walk straight into a market outside of the train station and ate some Belgian food – it was a pancake-type wrap with olives, vegetables, cheese, and other random, weird food items we did not know of- and walked through all of the sales. We tried fresh fruit and got yelled at by sellers in so many different languages! There were a lot of Middle Eastern families in Brussels compared to Praha AND a lot of guards with machine guns on the corners of the streets.

We checked into our hostel which was only about a month old and it was the nicest one I have ever seen! We then went bar hopping in the city and had a calmer night UNTIL… we were almost home and stopped in a random little bar right next door to the hostel. They were playing what I thought was Spanish music, but it was actually a group of Brazilians dancing! A mom and daughter pulled Tay and me onto the dance floor and tried to teach us how to dance! I have never felt so white in my life. We were horrible compared to them! We danced with them until 1 am! They told us that when we come back to Brussels, we need to stay in their house with them and that they will teach us more dances.

We did not get any sleep this weekend, but I cannot explain how amazing it was. Belgium will always have a special place in my heart. Not only have I seen nothing but kindness here, but I have changed because of it. I wish I could explain to people what I experienced this weekend, but it is impossible because it was truly that amazing. All I can say is that I am witnessing so much of God’s greatness in the places I have been, but in the people as well.