Mazie

Steps: 23,950. Bruges. Weather: Amazing! Really amazing! The morning started out around 60, but it warmed up to 75 by mid-afternoon. I was in shorts and short sleeves the entire day (including sitting outside at 10pm) and somehow was never hot nor cold which has got to be some sort of weather witchcraft.

• 9:00 Wake up
• 9:30 Get up, get ready
• 10:00 Leave for a quick “run” along the river. Emphasis on the quotations there.
• 10:35 Back to hostel to “change”. Again emphasis on the quotations because I ran out of time so all I actually did was grab my bag.
• 10:45 Walk to center
• 10:55 Meet walking tour group in the central Market.
• 11:00 Walking tour! As promised, our guide Steve was a comedian and made the tour interesting. We got to act out scenes from Bruges history. Theoretically I’ll remember a lot more of what I learned! Here is some of what stuck with me:
  • Bruges went from being one of the richest towns in Europe to one of the poorest overnight. The king was to blame for its preservation and its downfall.
  • Bruges = Brujas in Spanish, whah means witch! I theoretically knew this but hadn’t explicitly realized it until now. There are many magic-related legends to go along with this. And some other observations…
  • I was the only American on the tour and maybe I’m making this up but the people on this tour were a lot more tolerable than your usual bunch; there were no ignorant questions asked or dumb pictures taken. That being said, the only role I got to play in a skit was that of a typical American with no sense of geography mistakenly thinking he was fighting a war in France when he was really in Belgium and naming the delicious fried potato sticks he was served “French fries”. Sorry Belgium, that one’s our fault.
  • We got two complimentary waffle tastings and one chocolate tasting- all from really high quality shops!
  • The 10 and 12 year old siblings on the tour really reminded me of how Tyler and I would have been behaving. (Up to you if you think that says something about the children or about Tyler and I…)
• 1:00 Grab a Leige waffle from what was apparently the highest rated place in town. Plain with powdered sugar. Really good.
• 1:30 Walk over to some peaceful hidden away medicinal gardens. From there I strolled over to a big park where I walked around for a while and was one with nature.
• 3:15 Walking back through town. Stop at the Carrefour express for a package of roasted chicken which was really funny and weird to walk around with but a really great idea given the chocolate and waffles is probably not the healthiest diet around.
• 3:25 Stop for chocolate at Sukerbuyc. I got the Bloody Mary (Almonds, orange, caramel) and the Max (peanuts and caramel and shaped like a car!). I also made several trips to the town drinking fountain, which was a lifesaver.
• 3:45 This was actually pretty cool. Again thanks to a recommendation from the tour I think I saw the actual blood of Christ in the Bruges Cathedral. It is said that someone long ago brought a blood stained cloth to the Cathedral and insisted it was the blood of Christ; there has been loads of evidence found to back this up. It is on display in an ornate sealed vile for a specific window of time every day and there was a line out the church and down the steps for a turn to take a look.
• 4:10 Explore the lower Cathedral
• 4:15 Explore the City Hall
• 4:20 A little shopping on the Main Street. Got chocolate from Neuhaus but they didn’t mention the two additional free chocolates if I put my email in :(
• 5:00 Leige waffle from a street food place. Would not have expected this, but I think it was my favorite one I had!
• 5:30 Visit Sint-Salvatorskathedraal. Very pretty and huge.
• 5:45 More chocolate time!
  • Leonidas: Definitely my favorite shop- great quality AND great price! Their hazelnut cream bonbons hit different I tell you
  • Elisabeth: The hazelnut bark was thick and ultra smooth and heavenly.
  • Chocolatier Dumon: Good but a little too bougie.
  • Another wonderful artisan store that was highlighted on the tour, which was probably my second favorite chocolate of Bruges. The Dubai truffle was out of this world.
• 6:15 Got French fries purely to check it off the bucket list (they were really not that good in my opinion). Realize I am too late for a boat canal tour. Very sad. I block out time for it tomorrow but the voice of the future (aka my voice right now as I am writing this) knows it is simply not in the cards.
• 6:30 A bit of aimless walking.
• 7:00 I realized that I only have one more day to eat Leige waffles, so why not get another one?
• 7:20 Walk through the back side of town to the hostel. I needed to get my charger as my phone had been about to die for the past few hours, and it was getting a bit chilly.
• 8:00 Back- grab my charger and my laptop and head to a little hill with green grass and a windmill on it overlooking the river (can you picture anything more Belgian?!) to have some much needed laptop work time. I was confused for a local by two different groups which made me feel very good about myself. Ask me about the stranger danger story haha
• 9:45 I was STILL in my shorts and short sleeves and was getting quite cold, so I decided to head back inside. Walking into the hostel I met Ferhan and we realized we were staying in the same room and chatted for a while!
• 10:15 We went to get drinks and that evolved into the rest of the night… :)

My feet hurt.

• 1. I don’t plan. Whoops. My form of planning is saving locations in Google Maps and playing connect-the-dots to try and hit them all.
• 2. I walk. A lot. Like basically everywhere. I will (and do) choose an 1:45 hour walk over a 20 minute metro. This means that #1: I don’t plan, quickly devolves into #2: I walk a lot.
• 3. To go along with #2, I stand a lot. On the metro, in cafes, in places where it’s kinda socially awkward to stand. I do this because I am often grossed out to sit on the seats, but genuinely I would just prefer to stand a lot of the time; my body craves it. (My feet, not as much :)).
• 4. I eat croissants and waffles and chocolate until I feel dizzy from the sugar. That’s when it’s grocery store time: a pack of chicken or lettuce will usually do the trick, even if people give you really weird looks for carrying a container of iceberg lettuce around like a purse.
• 5. I take a lot of pictures, and it’s even more severe with no one waiting on me. I will circle back around the block for another shot at a photo, or I will spend 10 minutes crouched down next to a little purple weed, trying to perfect the focus and the light. (That being said, I am no master at photography- just coming at it with curiosity and maybe a slightly different angle (haha pun) than many other people).
• 6. I wear whatever the heck I want. My friends curate cute outfits based on the city, I rotate between the same two t-shirts and pairs of pants. And the hiking boots are just a given at this point.
• 7. I don’t really like to shop. Don’t get me wrong, I could spend hours in a Jellycat store or trying on clothes (I love discovering cute local boutiques!), but souvenir shopping while on a trip just bores me. I feel like a husband or little kid every time I enter a department store to admire the architecture and fancy vibe: Counting down the minutes until it feels justified to leave…
• 8. I get back to my hostel around 1am, go to sleep around 3:00, walk up at 9:30, and somehow don’t leave until 10:30. I really thought that since I had full control of my schedule I would get a full 8 hours and sleep no later than midnight…
• 9. I won’t pay the 15 euro entrance fee to a museum or cultural site, but it will only take me 2-3 completely unnecessary bakery stops to spend the same amount. Confounding? Definitely. Concerning? Definitely.
• 10. I am not sure if this is the product of solo traveling or the fact that my all time favorite artist just came out with 21 of the best songs I have ever heard, but I listen to a lot of music.
• 11. I really vibe with hostels: The social, young, backpacking vibe and the bunk beds that make you feel like you’re sleeping in a treehouse at a summer camp. Everything but the cleanliness and the bathrooms, which prompt inevitable warfare in my head each time I enter and has me seriously considering startong up diapers again. That was a joke don’t be concerned.
• 12. In a similar vein, meeting other travelers from around the world has been one of the coolest parts of traveling! We learn so much from each other and it is so wacky to feel so sad leaving people you met less than 24 hours prior.

That was really fun to write! I am confusing but at least I can see that and laugh about it :)

I also think Paris is not the smartest place to set Mazie loose (I’m saying that fully knowing I was dead set on spending time here after study abroad). World renowned croissants and pastries around literally every corner may just be a little too much stimulus… I think my go with the flow style would really thrive in a mountainous/hiking sort of destination where wandering around is exactly what you’re supposed to do and the only way you’re gonna has access to a croissant is if you grind the flour yourself.

I LOVE THE GREAT DIVIDE. I LOVE NOAH KAHAN.

Two very important things I learned in London: Chicken bao bun= delicious, and APPLE JUICE ANYONE?!?!?!?😂 Unrelated but both very groundbreaking

JELLYCAT!!!

Heyyyyyyy

Steps: 36,027. London —> Brussels —> Bruges. Weather: Approaching perfect- Really sunny and warm! Somehow it was 70 degrees and I was still wearing pants and a jacket though :).

• 4:45 Wake up. It’s only easy to wake up before your alarm when your alarm is set for 5AM it seems.
• 5:00 Get up, get ready
• 5:17 Ready to go! Faith walks me down to the lobby and we say goodbye :(
• 5:30 Walk to Blackfriars station.
• 5:49 Thameslink Luton train to St. Pancras
• 6:00 At St. Pancras! As per Faith’s instructions, I walked straight forward and the Eurostar was literally right there. Going through security and passport control honestly felt like the airport but even more intense.
• 6:20 Cleared security and in the waiting area. I was pretty sure I didn’t need to get here as early as they said I did but they seemed pretty insistent…
• 6:38 Board train! Car 5, seat 25 (Time change. +1 hour)
• 9:25 First stop in Lille, France.
• 10:15 Arrive in Brussels. I may have accidentally fallen asleep listening to the Noah Kahan album and had no idea everyone was getting off the train until suddenly I was awake and the guy next to me was just gone. Thank goodness for whatever voice in the back of my head nudged me awake at that moment!
• 10:20 Cut my fingernails in the train station cuz it was bugging me.
• 10:30 I ended up walking like a half hour out of my way to three different luggage storage places that Google Maps was lying to me about. I was so confident every time until they all ended up being abandoned buildings or sketchy looking grocery stores.
• 11:15 Found a (really nice and actually perfect) hotel with luggage lockers that worked out beautifully. It was really close to the train station and I managed to shove both my suitcase and backpack into the same locker, barely!
• 11:30 Finally able to walk into central Brussels (approx 30 mins). The transition to the tourist area was VERY clear- one block there was no one and the next was packed with people. Very interesting.
• 12:00 Liege waffle from Obe. Plain- just powdered sugar on there, as it was meant to be. It was delicious.
• 12:20 Discover Grand Place, the central most square in Brussels which is just absolutely dazzling.
• 12:45 Belgian waffle (they called it a Brussels waffle) from Maison Dandoy. Powdered sugar. I think I preferred the Liege style, but I enjoyed this one more than I thought I would.
• 1:00 Walk around, stumble upon St. Michael & St. Gudula’s Cathedral which was breathtaking.
• 2:00 Explore the Royal Quarter and the Royal Park. Buy bus tickets for later today cuz not having them was stressing me out.
• 2:30 Back to the Grand Place square for a free walking tour! I am really glad I did this- our tour guide was great, I learned a ton about Brussels and chocolate, saw some niche spots I wouldn’t have known to go to, got recommendations that I actually used, and made some new friends (kinda… never mind the fact I didn’t talk to anyone).
• 4:45 Walk to MOK STUDIO- The coffee shop and “sound experience” Daddy was so captivated with. I took a selfie with the sign but due to construction directly outside and not wanting coffee and perceived awkwardness I didn’t actually go in.
• 5:15 Wolf Food Sharing Hall for an early dinner. I got hummus and pita from a Greek place and it was very good. The ambience was perfect- cool and classy but totally fine to be there alone
• 6:00 Chocolate Time!
  • Stop 1, La Belgique Gourmande: Incredibly disappointing. I paid $7.50 for FOUR TINY CHOCOLATES, two of which were actually fruit jellies that the tour guide recommended but I thought they were horrible so I didn’t even eat them. Rookies mistake- the store looked on the cheaper side… NEVER ASSUME!!
  • Stop 2, Leonidas: Another recommendation from my tour guide and complete redemption from Stop 1. This time I paid $1.75 for two really delicious hazelnut bonbons. The one I tried first was so unique- pillowy, fluffy hazelnut. I’ve never had anything like it and I think I will be getting it again!
  • Stop 3, Neuhaus: Also great. Faith and I had actually gotten free chocolate from this place in Bath by signing up for their loyalty program and I was able to get more free chocolate by signing up with a different email! Decided to save for later.
  • Stop 4, Japanese ice cream. I had seen people with this ice cream earlier and it was the definition of creamy, dreamy, all of the above… Couldn’t not try it
• 6:40 Another tour guide recommendation to visit the rooftop of the beer museum. Quick stop but great views.
• 7:00 Treat Stop 5, Aux Mervellieux de Fred: It was the smell of this one that drew me in. They were baking some sort of sweet bread and something about that smell was magnetic. It was really good- basically a sweet bun with pockets of sugar. But yikes five sweets stops!
• 7:07 Realize that I need to be on my way back to the train station for my 8:29pm train to Bruges.
• 7:30 Quick stop at the Palace of Justice. I had seen it on my walk into town but had to make an official stop because it is just so grand and majestic and beautiful! Also great city skyline/sunset views if you climb to the top.
• 7:35 MAJOR freakout about my train to Bruges. I went to verify my ticket details but the Omio website kept saying it “couldn’t fins any trains” between Brussels and Bruges until tomorrow morning. My first thought was that they canceled my train and didn’t bother to let me know, but I decided to cross my fingers and pray tickets had just sold out and the train would still go on like normal. Nevertheless my journey back to grab my luggage was NOT a peaceful one.
• 7:52 Arrive at the hotel to pick up my luggage.
• 7:59 At the train station. My train is listed on the Departures screen- thank goodness!
• 8:05 Found my gate and suddenly have 25 extra minutes. Whoops!
• 8:15 Call Ellie
• 8:29 Board the train. Ellie joins me virtually :)
• 9:25 Arrive in Bruges. Decide to lug my backpack and suitcase through 33 minutes of windy cobblestone streets because there were so many positive reasons to do so and only one reason, being the cobblestone streets, not to do so. Only one taxi driver leaned out of his cab to ask me if I wanted a ride :). I was a little put off when the first thing I walked through was a small fair that looked like something straight out of literally any small midwest town, complete with carnaval games, cheap prizes, and fried food. Definitely not the vibe I was imagining! But as soon as I got into the city itself I was hit with the quaint fairytale town I was picturing. It was one of those moments where the place actually meets (exceeds?) expectations, and I was literally overflowing with excitement and gratitude to get to spend time here. It is truly one of the most special places I have ever been!
• 10:10 Arrive at St. Christopher’s Inn: The Bauhaus. Met a lady who was also from Minneapolis!
• 10:20 Check in. 12 bunk mixed dorm, Room 41, in the building next door. I was glad to not have to stay directly above the bar. I unloaded my backpack onto my bed and shoved my suitcase awkwardly into a corner, then brushed my teeth and got ready for bed. My unwillingness to let any of my things touch anything in the bathroom meant that I had to open and close the door to the room like 5 times…. and I was zipping and unzipping my suitcase like I had a quota I need to meet.. Really sorry everybody else!
• 11:00 Warm and cozy in my bed. Faith’s dorm was such a wonderful backpackers vibe but it felt great to have a bit more space! However I did accidentally get sidetracked on my phone for an hour.
• 12:00 Lock in on buying my bus tickets to Paris for Saturday. This would have been done weeks ago (and I would’ve paid a lot less money) if I wasn’t traveling alone because the other person would probably have been more on top of it, but what are you going to do. It was really, really good I did it now though because there were only two seats left on the afternoon bus. I had another massive freak out when the website told me there had been an error and my ticket was available at a new price, but it was only 1 Euro more- phew!
• 1:00 Lock in on booking a walking tour for tomorrow. There were so many that all looked great! It was surprising how many of the “free” tours included chocolate/waffle tastings.
• 1:40 Decide it was better to go to sleep than keep pretending to lock in on tasks while I was really just freaking out about everything (the bus and walking tour were the most urgent anyways). Goodnight!

Steps: 23,598. London. Weather: Sunny, nicer than yesterday, but still a bit brisk.

• 9:45 Wake up
• 10:10 Buy rush tickets for Avenue Q tonight!
• 10:25 Leave. Walk to take the Jubilee Line from the Southwark station to Stratford.
• 11:00 Walk to City Bouldering
• 11:15 Check in, rent shoes
• 11:30 Murat shows up and start climbing! I didn’t truly understand HOW BAD I would be after not climbing for 4 months
• 1:15 Lunch at the Pie Crust Thai restaurant across the street- climbing and Thai food is Faith’s favorite combo! I tried her favorite dish, basically beef fried rice, and my only complaint was the spice was just like 3% too much.
• 3:00 Overground to Angel, walk to Murat’s house to get Merlin and take him for a walk! Merlin is so cute :) We walked through Islington and Angel, along a pretty canal, and through a few parks.
• 3:30 Stop for frozen yogurt. I got mine with strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries
• 5:40 Back to Murat’s. I leave to meander back to Central London
• 7:30 My first West End show (I think?)! Avenue Q at the Shaftesbury Theatre- basically a grown-up Sesame Street. Very quirky, very funny
• 9:45 Walk back to Faith’s dorm. Slightly chilly, but beautiful views along the river!
• 10:30 Back. Say my last goodbye to Murat!
• 11:00 Make Mina’s mac&cheese and edamame while (again) watching Taskmaster
• 11:50 Shower
• 12:30 Pack for real! After leaving my shampoo and conditioner with Faith and throwing out some recycling and old pastries I had been carrying with me, I realized that I am able to perfectly shove everything into my backpack and suitcase given that I exercise proper care.
• 1:40 Goodnight!

Steps: 18,775. Bath, London. Weather: Brisk (or I just dressed too cold). Rained a tiny bit, cloudy, I was cold.

• 5:50 Alarm
• 6:15 Leave
• 6:20 Blackfriars station: District line to Earl’s Court.
• 6:50 Our FlixBus to Bath was conveniently right outside of the station. We had extra time so walked to a TESCO Express for breakfast. I got a banana and Faith got an apple.
• 7:15 Board the bus. Oh my it was actually an amazing three hour bus ride! I listened to The Great Divide album and slept. The entire time I was half-asleep and thinking to myself: Wow, I’m so tired but wow, it feels so incredible to sleep!
• 10:25 Arrive in Bath
• 11:00 Station Cafe for a slice of (delicious) carrot cake and to plan!
• 11:30 Bath Theatre Royal, the Roman Baths (the big thing to do in Bath), and the Bath Abbey. Then walked to St. John the Evangelist’s Church and St. Michael’s Church.
• 12:45 Lunch at the cheapest good looking restaurant we could find. It was actually a really cute pasta place but they were full so we had to sit at a brewery next door to eat, which meant buying drinks. I got Ginger Ale
• 1:15 Pasta! I got the Pomodoro: Red sauce, pesto, Parmesan, and really cool looking noodles
• 2:00 The Circus, the Royal Crescent (where an apartment costs $3 million), and the Botanical Gardens!
• 3:15 Walk back into town and thus begins our era of winning free samples: Shortbread biscuits, tea, chocolate covered espresso beans, and a lot of fudge. We even went into a chocolate store where we got two free fancy chocolates just by signing up for their newsletter!
• 4:15 Head back to the bus stop and board the bus
• 4:30 Take off! The bus ride back was nice cuz we got to sit together and I wrote all of the London trip logs so far!
• 8:00 Arrive back in London
• 8:15 Quick grocery store stop at Oseyo to pick up ramen for dinner
• 8:30 Tube back to Blackfriars station and Faith’s dorm.
• 9:00 Make ramen and the rest of the dumplings for dinner while watching Taskmaster- very funny, would recommend!
• 9:30 Clean up, reorganize my suitcase a bit, send some emails
• 1:00 Lights out