First Impressions of Belgium

In this episode, we’re exploring Bruges: One of Europe’s most beautiful and storybook-like cities located in Belgium. From quiet canals and cobblestone streets to the smell of chocolate around every corner, Bruges feels like stepping back in time. We spent a few days wandering through the old town, climbing the Belfry for a view of the city, and finding a few local spots away from the crowds. Whether you’re planning a trip to Belgium or just love seeing places that don’t feel real, this vlog shows why Bruges is one of those cities you can’t help but fall in love with.

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⏰Timestamps ⏰
0:00 – Intro
0:49 – Bicycles
1:44 – Welcome to Bruges
2:13 – Oldest House in Bruges
2:41 – Brewery Bourgone Des Flanders
5:20 – Beguinage “Ten Wijngaerde”
7:21 – Exploring Bruges
9:54 – Grote Markt
10:50 – Chocolatier Dumon
15:23 – Brouwerij de sint – Sixtusabdij Van Westvelteren

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Everyone told us you’re going to love Belgium. We’d ask recommendations and they’d kind of say, “Well, I don’t really have anything specific, but you’re just really going to like it.” I kind of like that that we didn’t come in with expectations of what it was going to be. For the last 3 months, we’ve been in Scotland, wild roads, endless locks, and weather that really never made up its mind, but now we have finally made the track to mainland Europe. Go to Europe. Hey, I’m Chris. This is Sarah. And that’s Kramer. And we’re spending the next 3 months exploring the EU. And we’re starting it here in Bruge. That’s good. We’ve got chocolate. We’ve got beer. We’ve got more bikes than cars. And that seems like a good place to begin. [Applause] Right off the bat, I noticed how many cyclists are here. This whole town is ran by cycling. And we are close to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, but Belgium has a huge cycling scene. Sarah and I are cyclists and we are used to rules of the road and what applies to cyclists and all that good stuff. But here it’s a little different because the cyclists have more priority than the cars. Even the pedestrians have a harder time walking because they give weight to the cyclists. It’s just something to get used to. I guess I kind of thought it’d be a blend of a lot of things just because it does have like three distinct cultures. You know, there’s the Dutch side, the French side, and the even the German side. So, besides that, I didn’t really have any expectations, but I’m liking it. So, we crossed over from the UK on the ferry, ended up in France, immediately drove over the border to Belgium, and our first stop is here in Bruge. I keep wanting to say Brouges, and that is incorrect. It is bruge, which begins bridge. Listen to the bells. Okay, it’s 11:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. The bells are ringing. Streets are quiet except for people going to the butcher and the bakery down the street. [Music] That is the oldest house in Bruge. 15th century. Don’t know the exact date, but 1400s is pretty pretty old. I don’t really know what else to say about it. I think it’s fascinating that it’s a wooden one and it’s the oldest house. It’s so worn and aged and I love how warped it is. Sort of reminds me of the Up House. You know how they build everything else around it and that one still remains the same. Pretty cool. Our [Music] first Belgian beers. I may have overcommitted. We ordered a flight and I thought we were splitting and then Chris ordered a blonde. So now we have what by our standards is a lot of beer. Usually like one maximum two beer kind of people. And I just ordered a flight of six different beers and they’re very generous servings and some of them are pretty strong. So, we are probably not going to be able to finish this. We have a lot more to see today. And I feel like if I finish this, I’m just going to want a nap afterwards. Going from my left, your right, all the way across, we we have the blonde OS, the Brewers playground, we have a WHIPA, their house one, Chiplin, Bruin. I can’t say these. Why am I even trying? They’re all in Dutch. I don’t speak Dutch. Spilled it. Ooh. Ooh, that’s good. That’s the blonde. That’s what you got, isn’t it? So, we may have to go buy a pretzel to uh walk back to the truck. But we’re doing good. Look at this view outside the window. This is right off the main square in Bruge. This is my secret when I go to places. I look at whatever is the top thing on the menu and I’m like, I’ll just do that. And I think that’s probably the most popular thing here. Belgium has a huge culture of beer. And when I say a huge culture of beer, I mean there are hundreds of beers being made here. In fact, it’s been a part of their history for hundreds of years. Back before, you know, they could drink the water cleanly, a lot of people would drink beer. Even kids would drink weak beer, uh, cuz it was safe to drink. Monks have been making it for years. I mean, I heard that they even used to get tax breaks if they kept making beer. Like, it was such a huge part of the economy. This like I mean, this the culture of beer in Belgium is just none other. That’s really good. That’s the Timberman’s. It’s a pretty low percentage. It’s 4%. But you don’t taste any alcohol. It tastes like a melted cherry slushie or icy, doesn’t it? It really does. It’s very fruity. That’s really good. Man, this year has been so varied for us already. It’s only August and we’ve gone through Central America, the UK, and now we’re in Belgium. So, like I have to have keep having these like pinch me moments of like this is real life. Like four months ago, I was sitting on a beach in Costa Rica and now I’m sitting drinking beer in Belgium. It’s been a lot of hard work to get here. I’m not going to make it sound like this is just easy and this is every day for us, but I just can’t believe we’re actually here. This is so cool. I’ve waited a long time to come into Europe like this. 33 years. 33 and 1/2 years. We’re here. [Music] I don’t know that it’s actually a convent, but there are nuns who live here still. And this has been here since the 17th century. So appar app apparently it hasn’t changed much actually walking around there’s some pictures on the walls through the last couple centuries but through the decades even even during like the war and stuff and it’s just looks almost identical. The trees have gotten bigger over the years but really for the most part it’s the same and it’s very peaceful. We were here last night and it was so peaceful. Sun was setting hardly anybody here. Now it’s, you know, 12:41, middle of the day, and it’s pretty packed on a Sunday, but it’s still really pleasant, really quaint. [Music] And real quick, in case you didn’t know, every week Sarah and I send out an email. It’s called Field Notes. It’s kind of like our behind-the-scenes journal from the road. Plus, we send out flight deals that we’d actually text our friends or tools we use to travel and work. We never really talk about it and we need to start talking about it more. So, if you want to join our newsletter and get flight deals or funny links [Music] or useful links, whatever it may be that we find interesting and to keep up to date with where we’re at right now and what we’re doing, go ahead, scan the QR code. You’ll sign up immediately. or you can click the link down below. Anyway, that’s our plug calling it quits cuz I had enough going to weather the coming round. So, I think I’ll back it up. [Music] You never showed up and don’t know what to do. Yes. I hold my tongue till I can say something good to you. I feel like I’m on fire. [Music] You think that I’m a liar now, but I don’t deserve this. But I still break my neck. So just walking around is one of our favorite things to do any place we go. And the city is no different. Especially since we are in Europe and the architecture and the history is just so extensive in each of these cities. I mean there’s just centuries worth of architecture in these places. And I mean we just passed on the same block there’s a this really cool mural of this lady and birds and music notes. There’s a building that’s built in 1648 which is crazy. crazy to us as Americans cuz that’s like way older than our country even. But it’s just so beautiful to walk around and look at all the detail and you know so much of it’s historic. Some of it’s been rebuilt since the war. I mean it’s just absolutely gorgeous. I always have to be careful when we like take photos of buildings and stuff cuz some of these are houses and some of these are businesses. So I don’t want to be rude and take a photo of somebody’s like window in their living room or something. This one particular building has these swans carved into the side. The swans on the building almost look two-dimensional. Like they did the shadowing a little bit excessively, but they’re 3D and they just it’s so neat. There’s like lion heads. And then I love a lot of these houses have these tiny little doors at the very top. Oh, you see the fish up there too in the shell. So interesting. I could just I could spend years and years and years just looking at the detail and all the buildings across this continent. So if you’re going to come to any city in Europe, there’s the main area. So for this town, it’s like the market square. [Music] Go three to five blocks away from the main area where all the tourists go and they just flock and concentrate and it’ll get so much quieter and so much more relaxed. and you’ll see more of whatever is the real side of that city. So, now we are five blocks away. Granite, there’s a tourist bus coming up right beside me. They look so bored. Go beyond the main square. Like, go there, see it, why it’s special, cuz it’s always going to be famous for some reason, but then go out of the main area and find those places that are a little quieter and a little more local. [Music] Chocolate time. First chocolates in Belgium. And there’s so many shops. So, if y’all have a favorite, please drop it in the comments below cuz I’d be more than happy to hit up more. This one came recommended by several people, Duman. But they have a couple different locations here in Bruge. And if you don’t know, pralines were invented in Belgium. So pralines are traditionally like caramelized nuts in chocolate. And often times there’s cream too, I believe. Since Chris is allergic to nuts, we’re not going to get that many. So we got a little tiny box of four. And then we also got these chocolate dipped oranges. And they look like they’re caramelized. And I’m not really sure what all dated to it, but that looks really good. But Chris said he’s seen these in a lot of the grocery stores and they had a couple different variations of orange and chocolate, which I love that combo. So, I’m guessing these are very popular here. But we know the little Bon Bon pralines are popular. So, should we just go ahead and try I think we should probably try these just to be sure. I can’t can’t give a recommendation until I’ve tried it. So, you know, tough job again, but somebody’s going to do it. Milk chocolate, creamy chocolate filling, and some hazelnut crispies. This is home now. Tastes like chocolate and orange. The orange adds a nice little zest. The orange adds a nice little zest uh compared to the dark chocolate on there. As somebody who’s allergic to nuts, this was a safe bet for me. You know, it’s the burden I bear. Get a little snack. This is a really pleasant town and especially for a first stop. There’s a a lot to see, a lot to do, but it’s not overwhelming. It’s a nicesized town. See, I was say the opposite. I don’t feel like there’s a lot to do, but there’s a lot to see. There’s a couple museums, but it’s really just this. Bruge is famous for one, the bridges. Bruge means bridge. Figured that out a couple days after getting here, but there’s dozens of bridges throughout the town. And it’s got the canal that goes around and like the old walled city part of it. And you can still kind of go through some of the old I don’t if they’re watchtowers with the gates to go into the city. It’s just really fairy tale like very picture perfect. Bruge is really famous because it’s well preserved um like medieval buildings. It has a lot of those and so you just kind of wind through the little streets and it’s been very well taken care of. It’s I mean there are new buildings mixed in but there’s a lot that have been really wellmaintained for centuries which is really beautiful like much of Europe. But Bruge is kind of unique in that it’s a popular town to visit, but it’s not very large. So compared to like Brussels or Antworp, it’s very small, but I like that you can kind of walk from one side of the town to the other in about 30 minutes at least like the main, you know, center city center kind of area. So really you could do Bruge in a day. We’ve been here for several days or I don’t know, 4 days now just sort of taking our time doing a couple hours each day. You know, this morning we’ve been here for, you know, four or five hours now. But it’s very pleasant to walk around and get lost. It’s not noisy. It’s not too chaotic. It’s just small and manageable, which I think I really like. I will say the main market square that you will It has the the bell tower and it’s got the history museum off of it and there’s a lot of restaurants around the square. You’ll know it when you see it. And it is really, really, really, really busy. But you have to go there cuz it is really beautiful. But then go a block or two away. The prices once you start getting away from that main square at restaurants are going to get better. it’s going to get a lot less busy. And that’s really like the sweet spot of Bruge. Like when you go to the main square, like Sarah said, it is really busy. And she mentioned this before that, you know, it’s preserved. It feels medieval, but that the square is where it feels the most medieval. Like walking around, I couldn’t put my finger on it. I’m like, why does this feel familiar? And then she mentioned it. She’s like, oh, this is, you know, they’re known for having like really preserved medieval style town. And you feel that walking around that square. Beautiful town. Worth a stop. We have heard that it is magical during Christmas and the Christmas markets here are supposed to be fantastic. I could see this place being very magical during Christmas time. Yeah, everybody that we talked to that had been there, we only talked to one or two people who had been here in the summer, but everybody else had been here at Christmas time, so they’re like, “Well, I don’t really know what to do in August, but the Christmas markets are great, which absolutely does us no good right now.” But it did plant a seed of we need to come back and do the Christmas markets in Belgium, right? Yeah. All right, let’s go. [Music] Without fail. So we are at a monastery drinking beer. So there’s sort of this tradition in Belgium where monks have been making beer for centuries. In fact, there have been incentives to keep them making beer. It’s some of I’ve read some of the monasteries like they would be allowed to have two beers a day and so some of the monks started making their own beer because it would you know save money if they made their own beer for their two beers a day versus you know buying beer all the time. So anyway, there’s like all these different reasons why beer is so big in Belgium, but specifically in the like monastery monk culture, religious culture, it’s been hugely popular for years. And I feel like I’m butchering saying this, but this particular Abbey has actually won best beer in the world. Like it is often referred to as the best beer in the world. Now it is one of their dark ones. I got the blonde just now. I got So they only make three beers, which I really appreciate. You know, they really perfect what they make and they don’t make a thousand options and experiment with all these new things. No, they stick with three beers all the time. One blonde and two darks. We got the blonde. I don’t know. We might get the dark on the way out. We didn’t realize that was the one that won best beer in the world. Even though we’re neither of us are really huge dark beer per people, it’d be kind of nice to try it. So, we might do that. But for now, it’s 80° in Belgium in August, and we’re enjoying a blonde ale. I love things that have like that brighter taste to it, which is why I usually like blondes and IPAs and that kind of thing. That is very nice. That’s got a lot of flavor to it. This monastery. So, they have the monastery and then they have this restaurant part right here. And when you hear monastery, I I was actually thinking one one track roads out here like it was going to be really rural and it’s not. A lot of people are here experiencing this. It’s Sunday 3:45. You know, people are eating, having a good time. It’s a pleasant atmosphere. So, if you’re looking for the best beer in the world, I think we will probably take one home and uh try that because this is very good. But I want to try the one that won the award. Like, I need to do that. [Music] Everyone said that we’d love Belgium, and they were right. Bruge was a good start. Easy, beautiful, and a little too easy to stay longer than we planned. But Belgium’s got layers, and we’ve only seen one of them. Next, we’re heading to Brussel, the capital, the heart of it all. See what life looks like beyond these canals. Be sure to hit subscribe to follow along. [Music] For behind the scenes and extra content, you can head on over to our Patreon community. Otherwise, be sure to follow on Instagram or like and subscribe here. It really helps creators like us.