Day fifteen – Ghent to Bruges
| Distance today – 46 km | Journey time – 0h 40m |
| Total trip distance – 3,802 km | Total journey time – 2d 11h 10m |
A short hop from Ghent to Bruges today, before the long drive home. We woke to heavy rain in Ghent, but nevertheless decided a run would be a good idea. Jo plotted a route which was a one-way run, a tram back and then collection of breakfast from a bakery we had found the day before.
The run was flat – 11m of elevation in 3.5 miles…no wonder it only took just over 30 minutes. The only point of note, other than how wet we got, was someone herding a flock of sheep through the city. No idea where they were going from or to as there was no obvious place for them to graze, but they were being moved across some pretty major roads. The tram back arrived quickly as we sheltered from the rain under the stop’s canopy, then we found the bakery which turned out had a rather nice selection of chocolates and cakes. We opted for pastries – almond, pecan, chocolate and raisin – which we ate back in the hotel after showering.
The short drive to Bruges was also extremely wet. Once we found the hotel and parked the car, we discovered it had just 5 rooms and was beautifully decorated. Everything was going well, we readied for a walk and went back downstairs and were offered a glass of something (we chose Belgian beer) and a small plate of meat and cheese as a welcome.
Then it began to go horribly wrong. First they asked what time we wanted breakfast – we’d not ordered it as we had to leave early and didn’t see the point as we’d easily pick up something en-route. That confused the lady who was looking after us. I checked my email (from when I booked 6 months ago) and found I had selected the breakfast and parking options, so I let the lady know and suggested a suitable time for breakfast. Then I got a WhatsApp from someone else related to the hotel (who wasn’t in the hotel at the time) saying we’d not ordered breakfast or parking and that our room was already discounted. It was quite rude actually, though could have just been a language barrier. He then barraged me with messages (whilst I was sat in the hotel!) saying I’d not paid for the room either. I definitely had. I then spent 10 minutes trying to get the credit card statement from April to prove to this absolute buffoon that I’d paid for the room. Eventually I found it and messaged him a screenshot. He then took 30 minutes to check his own records, found we’d paid and apologised. Too bloody late, mate. He offered a bottle of prosecco as an apology, but frankly their customer service was woeful and just plain rude. He should have recorded our payment when received. Fail.
Castelsuites Bruges – never stay there. We won’t be again, which is a shame because if you remove the apes from the equation it’s a lovely place to stay.
So, a wander around Bruges. We followed another guided tour itinerary, this one took us in duplicated loops – perhaps to make those who did pay think that Bruges is a lot bigger than it is, and have a lot more bridges than it does (and it has a lot!) Our summary was simple – Ghent is a LOT nicer (though we didn’t find a duck shop in Ghent).
Whilst wandering we had a waffle with chocolate and strawberries, and bought some chocolates to try back at the hotel.
Then it was time for dinner. We’d pre-booked a restaurant the other side of the city which got great reviews, but decided to Uber there and back as we were tired after our run and extended and duplicated walk around Brugge (I was on 20,000 steps, Jo 22,000 by this point). Dinner at Cezar (rated second in Brugge) was fantastic – marrow bone to start, followed by venison stew and vol-au-vent with frites and croquettes, then crème brulée to finish, with Belgian beer of course!
