What a rainy day.
We packed the car up and headed out of Antwerp towards Mechelen to see St. Romboutskathedraal, a massive cathedral that took a really long time to build - so long that by the time the church was finally consecrated, part of the building was unstable. The tower was also never completed because it was thought that it couldn’t take any more weight so there is no spire, which makes it look quite different than most cathedrals. With it being rainy, we didn’t consider heading up the tower but stayed safely on the ground, instead, peaking inside and then touring around the main square in Mechelen for a few minutes.
Then it was on to Lier, to see Zimmertoren and the Begijnhof. It was rainy so we didn’t stay long and I’m not entirely sure we saw the whole Begijnhof? It also wasn’t quite what I expected, I thought it would be similar to the Santa Catalina monastery in Arequipa - but it really was just like most of the streets we’ve seen. We debated about whether or not we should skip the Begijnhof in Turnhout but the guidebook said it was very pretty so we headed off. It was much more in line with what we were expecting so I’m happy we didn’t cut it, though it would have been nice if the rain had gone away.
Then, it was time to head to Bruges. The drive was slow back through Antwerp but even with the slow traffic, it didn’t take long. What did take a while was getting through the throngs of tourists to get to the hotel. So many people, even with it being low tourist season. We splurged on a canal view room for our three nights here and we do have a really great view!
We have a full day tomorrow so since we got here a bit early, we decided to try to get up the belfry today. It was still rainy but it’s just around the corner from the hotel so off we went. We were able to get in before it closed to tickets and headed up the 350+ steps. Happily, there were several rooms to stop in on the way up, learning a bit more about how the belfry works. Once up at the top, we got some pretty good views of Bruges but the rain and wind didn’t encourage a lot of thoughtful gazing out over the city. EDP had seen a waffle truck from the top that he was interested in finding but we couldn’t figure out where it was, each way we went proved to be the wrong way. So we gave up and popped into the House of Waffles to get a Liege waffle (something that eluded me in Brussels) and it was DELICIOUS. As recommended, we got it plain. And as promised, it was slightly chewy and caramelized and wonderful from the first bite to the last. FAR superior to the Brussels waffle (what we know in North America as a Belgian waffle) and perfect in every way.
We ended our day with a little restaurant not far from the hotel for more croquettes, of course. I just can’t get enough of them! I could live on a steady diet of cheese croquettes and Liege waffles. Tomorrow, we’ll explore more of Bruges and the weather is looking a little better!
