Brugge Buddies

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My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.

Wednesday, January 29, 2025

The evening after my morning in Gouda, I sat down in my lounge with my “US Ambassador” sign and waited for the Americans to show up. A couple of the regulars found me. They brought along their table mate, Leah – someone I had connected them with when the people assigned to her table hadn’t shown up for dinner.

I had such a great time talking to Leah that when my advertised ‘American Get Together’ hour ended and the other Americans had departed, we just kept chatting and people-watching. A tall French guy I’d briefly met a couple of nights earlier – he’d been sitting at a booth next to my ‘American Get Together’ when the Americans absorbed him into our group and interviewed him – walked by, and Leah invited him to join us. I was surprised when he did- and even more surprised to find that his personality was even more attractive than his looks! The three of us hit it off so well that we decided to explore Brugge together the next day.

Leah likes to seize the day and get off the ship at the first opportunity. As I guided them to the tram, Leah was delighted not to be the one figuring out where we were going for once. The tram to Blankenberge was packed with local teenagers on their way to school, instead of my usual crowd of other cruisers.

When we arrived in Blankenberge the sun was still coming up.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had been out this early. Instead of taking the bus to Brugge like I had before, we took the train.

I was surprised when the train only took 15 minutes (the bus takes about 30), but the train station was further from the city center than the bus stop – so as Mike Hogan would say – It’s half of one, six dozen of the other.

We started walking toward a tower, guessing that it would lead us to the historic center. Leah was as delighted by Brugge’s buildings as I was on my first visit.

‘Just wait!’ I told her – ‘We’re not even at the good part yet!’

We laughed watching William walk -he looked so French with a bounce in his step.

The closer we got to the city center, the more familiar things started to look. I tried to remember what the guide had told me on the walking tour last time. I recounted what I remembered – but it wasn’t much.

There was a place nearby where single women, who weren’t nuns, lived in a kind of community. When they got to be a certain age, they’d decide whether to join the community or get married. A famous saying supposedly came from this. I couldn’t remember it, but it may have involved getting into someone’s pants.

As we approached the city center, I was having so much fun watching Leah be as dazzled as I was on my first visit.

And then we arrived at the main square.

The market was in full swing.

Leah had researched a torture museum and wanted to go, so William and I were tagging along on her adventure. But the museum wasn’t open yet. We decided to get coffee and maybe some breakfast. The places in the center seemed too touristy, so we wandered in search of something more local. My favorite Brioche place wasn’t open. We wandered the streets, getting distracted by our conversation – we were having so much fun. But the buildings were starting to look more residential than breakfasty. We then tried to find a good place by searching on the internet, but we still couldn’t find anything that felt right. So we gave up and went back to the touristy cafe where we had started.

Back outside, we delighted in the market and our surroundings.

And Belgian waffles!

I was really enjoying my new friends.

Leah was obsessed with all the chocolate displays.

Then the hour approached when the museum was open. When I was traveling in 2017 and researching things to do, museums always popped up as an option. I quickly realized that I was going to museums because it was something cultural I should do and I actually was not enjoying the experience. What a waste! So I swore off going to museums that didn’t sound especially interesting. I scandalously did not go to the Louvre while in Paris (no offense to the Louvre – I don’t mean to imply that I don’t think it’s interesting – I just didn’t want to go).

So museums were generally off my radar, but I enjoyed hanging out with these two so much that I’d have followed them pretty much anywhere.

Leah and William seemed very entertained by the various devices.

I read some of the descriptions until they made me squirm.

Our next stop was a witchcraft museum, which made me reflect on the blurry line between witchcraft and religion. Both involve stories created to explain the inexplicable. Why were/are some things revered and worshiped while others were/are condemned?

And then Leah and William wanted to go to the Frites museum that I had been to previously.

But it was so much more fun going with friends.

I noticed things I hadn’t noticed the first time.

Like this giant bug – William insisted we take a picture with it.

At the end of the museum, there was an animated show featuring a song about fries and how they’re not French.

It was especially hilarious being there with someone who was French.

I enjoyed these two so much. We slipped into an easy friendship so quickly that I couldn’t believe we had barely known each other for less than 24 hours. I love spending time with really good friends, and I especially love exploring new places (or new things in familiar places) with them.

I’d had friends like this on the Coral—people I could play with in port—and on this ship, I’d honestly given up hope of finding that kind of connection. So I treasured every moment of getting to play with these people: marveling at the instant connection we had, laughing with them and appreciating each other’s perspectives.