Brugge...Brugge...Brugge....

How I wish I was still there....Brugge is, indeed, beautiful and enchanting. It has a small, quaint feel that makes you feel welcome, comfortable and peaceful. The canals flow gently...the grass is green and lush...there are more bikes than cars...the sound of the bells permeate the city streets...and everything closes at 5pm. It's completely different during the day and at night! As I walked around at 4pm it was bustling, at 9pm there were many times I was the only one on the street (side streets mostly)!

I visited the Chocolate Museum - soooo worth every moment! The history of chocolate is more fascinating than I knew and there was a good deal of information about the ancient Indian cultures mixed in as well. One chocolatier in specific was highlighted at the museum. He helped many aspiring chocolatiers get their start - of course I found dairy-free dark chocolate at his shop ;) Oh, and I learned that chocolate is actually good for your cholesterol (not the junk people pass off as chocolate in the states, but the good stuff) ;) at that it is the drink of royalty. So go ahead, induldge!!

The highlight of my stay? De Halve Maan Brewery of course! Family owned and in operation since forever, we had a lively tour guide that gave us many helpful hints, such as the tidbit that corriander helps prevent hangovers and is an aphrodisiac. Oh, and wheat beer and other unfiltered brews are a decent source of vitamin B :) I have pictures of a can collection that rivals that of my former housemate, Stephen, that I will upload when possible. I even got to see the farmers come to collect the barley husks to use as feed for their cows. So cool, it came down a shoot from the brewery still steaming hot and was dumped right into their trailor. Apparently it's good nutrition for the cows and helps them produce more milk.... Oh, and St. Arnold is the patron saint of beer - he saved many lives travelling from village to village encouraging families to brew beer at home when the infested water was wiping out villages of people.

I met several cool people there, including Sharon, a hot yoga instructor, and Lolta, who came to Brugge to meet her internet boyfriend....but it's just too much to go into at the moment (they charge you all kinds of cash to use the internet here).

My travel to Amsterdam was less than ideal, but I made it. It was a bit of a shock when I walked out of the train station - this place is huge! It's a giant city compared to Brugge and there was soooo much going on (I got in at 9:30pm).

We had a very cool jam session in the park today - Adam on his uke and Francios on his guitar with four strings (should be six)....then there were the bazillion SM&O University students that eventually surrounded us and were beyond rowdy and excited to sing. Good times, good times....

More to come soon....sorry guys, but I can't spend too much time in here ;)

Love to you all and thanks to those who have been commenting (Geet, Chris...) I do read them :)

xoxo, Lil