I awoke at 9:15 just before my alarm.

I checked Instagram and found a comment from Todd, a lifelong close friend, asking if I’d gone to Cantillon, a brewery in Bruxelles. Oops.. it was recommended to me a couple times but I hadn’t made note of it and didn’t realize either that it’s in Bruxelles or that it’s the originator of Zwanze Day, a global beer event Todd has told me about a couple times. I would definitely have gone.. another time, perhaps. I have so much of the world to see, I can’t imagine making repeat trips, but I am digging Belgium. I commented back to Todd, and he replied right away asking me to check my Facebook.

Facebook has been problematic for me on this trip. Facebook is where my mother is, and I’m No Contact with my mother at the moment. Besides all the other reasons not to post on Facebook (privacy nightmare, echo chamber), this has kept me from sharing much of anything there over the last year. I don’t really want her to know my mind or what I’m up to, and yet I haven’t had the courage to disconnect from her there either.

Before I left, I added her to the Restricted list, which allows her to only view my posts with the Public share setting. This would keep her from seeing my travels and thus from having to make the choice of whether to engage with that content through likes and comments. And I wouldn’t have to figure out what to do with those likes and comments if they came, but also it’s shitty not to get them 😔

As it was, I haven’t shared anything on Facebook from this trip other than an initial push from Instagram to begin a photo album. With my non-exploring time, I’ve prioritized Instagram and journaling. My Facebook shares of my travels are not nearly as detailed as these journal posts but a lot more detailed than IG shares, and I just don’t have the time for all of it.

I’ve been considering removing her from the Restricted list but haven’t really wanted to face what to do either way, so when Todd asked me to check my Facebook, I took a pass on that until later.

I went down to breakfast and talked waffles with Erika. It was my fourth and final day in Belgium, and I hadn’t managed to eat a waffle yet. She had recommended Lizzie’s Wafels above all others in Brugge for their freshness and authenticity, but I didn’t realize they are closed Mondays and Tuesdays. We made a plan for me to check out of my room at 11:00 tomorrow morning, Wednesday, and leave my bags while I went to Lizzie’s for a waffle before taking the train out of town.

Back in my room, I logged into Facebook and un-Restricted my mother since there was no travel content there anyway. I’m pretty sure I did this because I knew she would look at the birthday posts on my profile, and she would know something was up if she didn’t see any. I still can’t help taking care of her first before figuring out what I want in the absence of being able to have what I really want.

On a much, much lighter note, Todd had posted to my profile the most insane birthday gift, in the form of a video made by the actor Michael Rapaport, who played Dick Ritchie in my favorite movie, True Romance, wishing me a happy birthday in Belgium! He talked about what a great experience he had working on the movie with Gary Oldman, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Tony Gandolfini, and the director Tony Scott, before bringing it back around to more birthday greetings. Very cool.

Todd would be asleep by now. He must have really wanted me to check FB before he went to bed.. I would have to text him later to both acknowledge his anticipation and express my gratitude for knowing me and for giving me a gift we could both enjoy because we have loved True Romance since we saw it at UC Theater in Berkeley in 1994.

I did a little bit of research on Brugge spots and formed a loose idea of how to go about exploring for the day. I’d gotten a feel for the place since I arrived here 4 nights ago but I’d walked the same streets several times and was looking forward to seeing more.

I sent a message on Airbnb to my hosts in Amsterdam regarding my check-in in a couple days, then got dressed and went downstairs. I asked Erika if she had any tape I could put over the label of my leggings that couldn’t easily be cut out but the corner of which was scratching me. She found some and handed me a piece, and we chatted about their cat — Moni? — who was prowling on the outside terrace table. She’s 21! She came from Dietrich’s father’s farm. She was a stray, and the father picked her up by the scruff and asked Dietrich and Erika, “Do you want her? Otherwise, I’ll kill her.” Farmers, man.

I embarked on the day just after 12:00. Early for me lately.. still late but at least I was already in the place I would be walking around.

I had walked over many canal crossings but had not yet walked along the canals, so that was my first destination. I found the perfect spot for my birthday selfie and only made about 7 attempts to get the right one 😜

I also wanted to see the canals from a boat tour, and on the way there I stopped at a geocaching spot. I’ve had no mojo finding physical containers on this trip, but there was another Virtual I was pretty sure I could handle. De Garre apparently is the narrowest alley in Brugge, and all that’s required to log the cache is to take a selfie with the street sign.

Belgium added to my caching map, I bought a boat ticket for €10 and went in search of a bathroom. The ticket agent had directed me across the street, but I wasn’t seeing any public restrooms, only businesses. I did find a ginormous wall of beer bottles at the entrance to 2BE, a canal-side place to drink. I eventually asked the staff there and they gave me a token to use their bathroom. And the sink was a fish tank. Cool.

Every one of the boats I’d seen on the canals was packed full of people, and they went by one after another after another. Mine was no different. I was the last to board, so I was seated directly behind the driver. This was a pretty good vantage point; I liked that it faced forward so I wouldn’t be craning my neck all around.

The driver’s narration was kind of cheesy but not nearly as bad as the audio guide at Gravensteen in Gent. And it turned out the boat navigated much of the same canal route I had taken on my walk about an hour prior – ha! There were new areas too, and I love being on water.

At 14:00, I was starting to get hungry, but I was near the Belfort, the belfry tower, and planning to climb it today. I didn’t want to navigate away from it and backtrack. I paid the €12 admission and climbed up the 336 steps, resting in the informational rooms on the way up, like the one where you push buttons to hear the different types of bells the townspeople relied on beginning in the 13th century. There were combinations of bells and bell tones for signaling the time, work hours, and gathering events. I checked out the view from the top for about 10 minutes. It was windy and chilly, and I was ready for lunch in the sun.

I tried one more cache in the Markt, the Market Square where the belfry stands. It was a small box, much larger than the nanos and micros I’m used to hunting, but I still couldn’t come up with it 🤷‍♀️

I was interested in visiting a couple of the local breweries and started with Bourgogne des Flandres. They offer a tour, which I didn’t need, but I wanted a beer and I definitely wanted food. Unfortunately, they only serve snacks so I didn’t stay.

From there, I was close to Rozenhoedkaai, one of the most famous canal viewpoints in Brugge. Interesting.. the view was nice, as are all the canal views, but I’d already seen lots better.

I was starting to get hangry when I found a little zigzag walkway off of Rozenhoedkaai that opened onto a trio of restaurants with the sun blazing down on them. YASSSS

I looked at their menus and chose the one with the smoked salmon salad, taking a seat and ordering that and a Brugse Zot, made by Brouwerij De Halve Maan, another spot I wanted to hit up today. I luxuriated in the sun for an hour and 15 minutes, long enough that I burned my forehead and cheeks a little.

I’m not huge on sweets, but I wasn’t going to leave Belgium without trying some chocolate. Erika’s recommendation in town is The Chocolate Line. The selection was overwhelming. I was less interested in the small pieces like you’d find in a gift box and more interested in the slabs of uncut chocolate. I chose dark hazelnut, and the counter server snapped off a piece when I described about how much I wanted. She weighed it and asked for €1,50. I sat on a bench in the small plaza just outside the shop and enjoyed my small dessert.

My next destination to the south was the Minnewaterpark, which I thought was so named because it’s a park with water features. When I got there, I realized it’s a park next to the lake called Minnewater.

This was just fine because at the entrance to the Minnewater is a lock house, or Sashuis, and the view north from the Sashuis was my favorite in all of Brugge. Swans and a small bubbling fountain in the canal, birds flying and singing overhead, a building and colorful tree on the grounds of the Begijnhuisje to the side (an organization of religious laywomen, dedicated to God but not nuns), and ahead the tower of Site Oud Sint-Jan, Old St. John’s Hospital, now a museum and tourist attraction. When they call Brugge a fairy-tale town, this is that view.

I walked into the park a little bit and made a small circle around the lake, crossing over the Park Bridge and passing by Poertoren, a remnant of the city walls like I’d seen in Bruxelles. And then I came right back around to the Sashuis and stayed there a while. I tore myself away at almost 18:00, planning to visit De Halve Maan and then realizing when I looked it up that they were about to close.

So I pretty much blew it on breweries during my Belgium visit.

The salad didn’t go very far to satiate me, so I’d be ready for dinner soon and began heading back north. During my brief research this morning, I’d found a site describing the various filming locations of In Bruges and decided I would walk back to the main area of town via Koningin Astridpark. I walked up into the gazebo featured in a memorable scene from the movie, which I’d re-watched shortly before my trip. On the way to my chosen dinner spot was Restaurant Diligence, another movie location; Dietrich and Erika had recommended it for dinner on the night I arrived, but I looked at the menu and it was way too spendy and the food too heavy.

At 19:00, I arrived at vegetarian restaurant De Plaats. They have a Flemish stew made with seitan that I really wanted to try, but alas, as with 4 nights ago I was turned away for no reservation and because they are short-staffed tonight. This left me wandering somewhat aimlessly, not really finding anything else I wanted to eat and afford.

My back was starting to feel tired, and so was I, so I gave up on finding something particularly distinctive and chose Bella Italia, a pizza/pasta joint. A glass of red wine and a vegetable pizza did the trick.

I arrived home at 20:45 and searched the beer coolers for a Damme Noir, a beer Dietrich had shown me upon my arrival. It has chocolate in it – how very Belgian! The Chocolate Line was selling them; I didn’t want to carry a bottle around for the evening but thought it would make a nice treat once I got home.

Beers in the guest coolers are €2,50 and you just leave the cash in your room for the hosts to pick up later. I didn’t see any in the cooler just outside my room on the 2nd floor and went up to check the one on the 3rd floor. None there either, but I did find a guest book to sign, which I did, expressing my sadness that I was soon to leave and my gratitude for the hospitality I’d received here.

Speaking of that, though it was now 21:00, I decided to knock on Dietrich and Erika’s door across the hall from me. In addition to asking about the beer, I wanted a photo of Deitrich for my memories. He obliged and picked up Flanelle; I now have a photo of each of the hosts holding her as I’d taken some of Erika at one of my breakfasts.

As far as Damme Noir, the bottle he’d shown me was the only one they have, and it was gift from Erika’s son. Ah, well.. I still had half of the wine split that was in my room when I’d first arrived.

Dietrich told me about today’s news piece that Brugge shops are selling Westvleteren 12 for €18,00 a bottle. He wanted to show me the article on his phone.. adorable. I told him I can look it up 🙂

Erika mentioned that another option for a waffle in the morning would be the Wednesday market at the Markt. She said they are just as fresh and authentic as Lizzie’s. That sounded good to me.

Back in my room, I began packing up my clothes (sad face) and got in bed and edited today’s photos.

It was a really good day, and it was a bit lonely. I booked an Airbnb Experience bike tour on my birthday last year, and that was a good idea, not being totally alone. I also felt sad and just weird about not receiving birthday greetings from my mother for the first time ever in my life. My choice, and a difficult one to live through.

I put my birthday to bed at 00:15.