Week 4

After 4 weeks of avoiding the inevitable, I have fallen ill with a cold. I have been eating well, keeping warm and not going out late. However the public transport ridden with bacteria has finally attacked me! Don't worry mum and dad I have already started on my antibiotics which I have purposefully kept in my handbag for such times as these.

I write this as I return to Birmingham on a nicely fitted out Virgin Train from London Euston. The virgin trains have sockets for mobiles and laptops, which is fortunate as my latop battery was dead and I forgot Belgium was in Europe, ie different socket. What does Belgium have to do with anything?

Well... This weekend i have been enjoying the romantic medieval Brugge, Belgium. It's an hour north west of Brussels (capital of Belgium). This was thanks to a recommendation from Terry (QT) that I'm very glad I took and to Eurostar have cheap tickets online. :) I didn't learn any Flemish except Dank u wel = thank you. However I did manage to speak a little french, it must have been obvious i wasn't french as most spoke English to me after a little bit. Everyone speaks English and are very friendly.

Here i delighted at the plethora of chocolate stores (I bought about 30 Euros worth of the most divine handmade chocolates I've ever seen - if I'm lucky I will bring some back to Brisbane with me), the picturesque settings, the romantic horse driven carriages roaming the city, the beautiful old gothic buildings found almost everywhere and even the grandma like lace stores that thrived as much as (and ususally next to) the chocolate stores.

Brugge was truly breathtaking. As soon as I exited the station and followed the pack of other tourists (who i hoped knew where they were going) into the old medieval town, I was in awe of the beautiful city. There was fresh snow about that added to the magic, but not cold as the sun was out. The first place I wandered into (I say wander as I had no idea where I was going and was relying on the frequently placed maps of the city on large boards that others seemed to use as well - I refused to buy a map) was the Church of Our Lady.

It was a beautiful gothic church with the 17th century typical high ceiling - the one with the criss cross peaked ceiling. Usual stained glass windows but it contained the only piece of michaelangelo's work outside of Italy - Madonna and child. It was a lovely marble statue. It had a huge, very detailed artistic wooden pulpit as well. The only time I had my mouth closed (ie it was jaw dropping awesome) was when I was looking at the statue and realised I couldn't see it properly if I kept breathing with my mouth open from the steam of my hot breath in the cold air (even inside the church). As i walked it got better and better.

I walked outside the church and around it, there was a quaint little footbridge i crossed and when I turned back the church looked beautiful with the snow around it. Everywhere was cobblestone as well. I walked all over the town.

The Markt is the central square which would be more beautiful in Spring with flowers as the postcards denoted. :) I wandered past the Markt and down somewhere else and stumbled across a little cafe. As it started to pour down rain and the menu seemed good I entered.

It was a good choice as they made fresh crepes on a hot plate that happened to be just behind my table. So everyone could see their crepes being made. It was awesome. NOthing like the food court crepes you might usually see. This was homemade batter and crepe belgium style. Big and reasonable price. I couldn't finish mine. I was already starting to feel sick so I wandered around some more in the direction of my hotel. Frequently stopping by the chocolate stores of course.

I ended up sleeping for a total of 12 hours while I was in Brugge just to rest up. I was disappointed that I could not have fondue for dinner (which Belgium is famous for) as it is always a minimum of 2 people. But I did have Flemish Rabbit. Tender, lovely and also too much. COuldn't finish my serving either.

I did see the beautiful Basilica of the Holy Blood and saw the vial too that apparently contains Jesus Christ's blood. I attended the Eucharist service too and all those venerating the Holy Blood. It was a very inspiring experience. However a little strange after reading Dan browns' the Da Vinci code. However I still had time to enjoy the city and buy chocolates. so I am very content.

I also had the most delicious hot chocolate. Well I couldn't taste much, so I added all the chocolate on the dish. :) It was a very welcome beverage after walking around for a few hours today (Sunday). The served hot milk with melted chocolate on a separte dish with a separate dish of fresh cream. Also on the side was a lovely assortment of chocolates (no extra charge, part of the service) - I could feel the texture and knew it was good chocolate. :)

The horsedrawn carriages where 35 euros for a 35 minute ride. It would have been more economical to do it with at least one other person - I didn't see any other single travellers. So I decided not to do it. :( But next time I will!!!! THe canal rides were cheaper but I didn't feel like jamming into a little boat with 20 other people to see everything I'd already walked around to see. :)

I had a wonderful weekend - now i'm in the office and sending this email. I am going to go home to rest. Tomorrow i head for Oxford (yes where the famous university is) for work. So i probably won't see much of it.

I think next weekend will be a quiet one in Birmingham resting up. Oh - last weekend was also awesome. Marcus my cousin came up to visit me with his friend Wan.

We saw most of the sights of Birmingham on Sat afternoon. It was raining and not very good, but Marcus seemed to enjoy what we could see. St Philips Cathedral, just opposite work and where I have passed on occasion is England's smallest cathedral. It was quaint. We dined out at the Mailbox - Birimingham's exclusive shopping mall and dining area. Had a great Indian meal and a very funky & chic restaurant.

We tried the clubs of Birmingham but found nothing to our liking before they closed at 1am.

Sunday we went to Straford Upon Avon. Unfortunately there are no plays on a Sunday and the ROyal Shakespeare Company is currently touring. We had a good time looking at all the replica houses (bar 1 which was 70% original) that all had numerous conjectures about Shakespeare's life but in reality there are only 3 real facts about this great 'man'. He was born, he married and he died. Everything else about his life is unknown.

Strange for someone so well known that not even one scrap of correspondence exists. Interesting, yet disappointing too to find out this truth. Stratford itself was very quaint. I revelled in the 15th -16th century buildings which was not so interesting to Marcus as they are all over London.

IN any case, I had a grand time and it was lovely to catch up with Marcus and Wan.