Well “Hello” Wednesday

It takes about an hour to get from Brighton to London, St Pancras and once there, I actually forget that I’ve not reached my final destination because it’s a lovely, vibrant place and one of my favourite stations.  It’s beautifully modern, as they’ve used lots of glass and stainless steel, but it also has the perfect balance of brick and natural wood mixed in, just to keep it interesting.

And how many stations have you been to, that have a gigantic statue of lovers, saying “good-bye,” (or are they saying “hello?)  No matter, I digress…

It should be mentioned that St Pancras is not just an ordinary train station, it’s also a shoppers paradise! …but not today, because today is Wednesday and we’re off to Belgium to celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary!

It takes about 2 hours, on the Euro Star, to get to Brussels, Belgium.  Once there, we have a quick change of trains and bing, bang, boom we’re in Bruges. (If you haven’t seen it, the movie “In Bruges,” with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, is a great flick and shows you the best of Bruges.)

We arrive after dark, but I can tell straight away, this place is going to be amazing!

After a quick wash up at the hotel, it was out the door, to find a place for dinner.  We walked around the main square and down a dimly light, narrow, very European looking side street… And there it was a small, warm, welcoming place with soft lighting and live evergreen branches and fairy lights surrounding the oval, wood framed windows and old brick walls.

It’s always a good sign when there are locals eating at the restaurant you’ve chosen!  …and there were more than enough “locals,” happily eating, drinking and talking!

The owner/waiter immediately knew we were English speaking… Somehow without us ever saying a word. He greeted us in perfect English and seated us at a nicely placed table for two.

As we reviewed the mouth watering menu filled with local and traditional tastings, we listened to vintage Sade, Michael Buble, Barry White and a whole host of other American artists. It was heaven… Good music, good wine, amazing escargot, and the freshest, tastiest mussels I have ever had!   Nick ordered a local dish called “Flemish Stew,” which consisted of large pieces of very tender beef, swimming in a pool of thick, rich, tasty sauce…. And plenty of warm bread to help get every drop.

It was a lovely, wonderfully delicious,  first Bruges meal.

I’m looking forward to Thursday and perhaps just a tiny taste of chocolate!