Germany: Day VI (Aachen) - Belgium: Day I (Bruges)

Monday, June 20^th:

Aachen Cathedral:

            The weather was slightly crappy today, but it certainly did not deter us from having a good time! Annike and Marcel woke us early this morning with an awesome German breakfast. We ate different kinds of rolls with assorted jams, spreads, butter, nutella, along with some yogurt, scrambled eggs, prosciutto ham, and different cheeses. It was a nice meal, and with some coffee we were off and running. We first visited the Aachen Cathedral treasury which holds many artifacts from the life of Charlemagne as he was coronated in the cathedral. The treasury is apparently one of the most valuable in all of Europe and holds Charlemagne’s bust (with part of his skull inside), a copy of his crown, his forearm, his thigh bone, and tons of artifacts related to Jesus’ life. One reliquary holds pieces of Jesus’ clothes from the crucifixion and a flagellation rope. Charlemagne’s 3^rd century-made original sarcophagus is also in the treasury.

The Bust of Charlemagne:

            We then moved next door to the Aachen Cathedral. When I had visited here in my youth I distinctly remembered there being tons of mosaics inside, and I was not let down. The entire main floor is covered with gold and blue tile mosaics depicting different scenes, angels, and animals. There is also a golden shrine to the Virgin Mary inside, and multiple awesome stained-glass windows. The outside is distinctly gothic and also has been added to over the years since it was built in the 8^th century. We walked around some more through the old town area before heading to the train station to catch a train to Bruges, Belgium. Right before we left, though, Annike gave us a nice gift to take with us, some German gingerbread-like cookies called Printen. They are very tasty! Auf Wiedersehen Germany!

Inside Aachen Cathedral:

            We caught our short train to Bruges through the Brussels main station, and arrived by taxi to our hotel at around 3pm. We stayed at the Verdi Bed and Breakfast right on the historical Markt Square, and our room was very cozy and spacious for once. My former college suitemate and good friend, Sam Day, and his girlfriend Annie were also visiting Bruges at the same time as us, so we left the hotel to go find them for some dinner and drinks. We waited for them in the beautiful Markt Square while tasting some Steen Brugge Blond beer. They had been travelling for three weeks through Italy, Slovenia, and Croatia before coming up to Bruges as their last stop. We got some dinner at a restaurant called Café Central, where we all got to eat some of the famous Belgian Mussels, au gratin with garlic, and I also ate some Flemmish Beef Stew. Jen had some Salmon with the same sauce as the mussels, and we both drank down a massive glass of Hoegaarden. This restaurant was also the first on my trip to implement some tourist-trap tactics, as they offered us garlic bread and steak sauces for our meal that turned out to be five and three Euros each, respectively. Pretty lame when they advertise a full meal for fourteen Euros.

The Bruges Belfry and Burg Square:

            Anyways, we left that restaurant pretty ticked off, but wanted to drink some more awesome Belgian beers, so we found another bar that had a happy-hour special from 10pm to 11pm—only an hour or so away. Here we tried some more beers, specifically the Leffe Bruin (YEAH BRUINS!) and the Leffe Blonde. The Bruin is dark and one of my favorites of the trip so far. The happy-hour special was nice, as we got to drink some Jupiler Pilsner beer for only one Euro each. We had a few of these before moving on to another bar before bed. We only had one day in Bruges, so we wanted to get some sleep to wake up early and make the most of it.