How Many??

Depending on what you read or who you listen to, there are either 300 or 400 beers available in Bruges. The place we ate a late lunch/early dinner! boasted of 300 with several local beers on tap with alcohol contents ranging from 4 to 12 percent.
 With only 2 days in town I have so far sampled only 4 , all of which have been superior to the suds that the mega breweries in Canada pass off to unsuspecting consumers. Only 296 to go- its going to be tough!
  The trip to Bruges from Amsterdam was rather eventful and a good introduction to the intricacies of european rail travel.A delayed conection out of Rotterdam caused a missed connection in Roosendaal which ultimately added two further connections to the trip, as a detour through Ghent cut a half hour off the trip. Regardless, we arrived 2 hours later than scheduled to a dreary damp city.
 Hungry and tired, a quick meal of soup and pizza supplied some much needed energy as we tried to figure out the local transportation options. Luckily a helpful attendant at the bus station googled our B&B's address and lined us up with the right bus.
 A half hour later we met Hugo, owner of the Lady Jane B& B, a building dating back to the mid 1700's ( but fortunately reno'ed.) The Africa room, home for 2 days is on the 3rd floor with 14 foot ceilings, a loft bed, accessed by a spiral staircase and a collection of African carving, spears, guns and tribal masks. I looked around for shrunken heads but didn't find any, but then, I wasn't looking too closely.
  An evening walk in search of restaurants came up rather blank, as monday is a typically closed day fo many places. Take Out to the rescue!  13 Euro provided 2 pasta dishes, a veggie side and a dessert. Hugo supplied a bottle of Argentinian Malbec/Merlot on the house- a perfect meal.
 We slept  till 9:15!!! Breakfast was waiting on a tray ouside our door- cheese, coldcuts, yoghurt and bread rolls that would have been warm if we had woken sooner.
  The centre of Bruges seems to be a mix of chocolate shops, restaurants and beer vendors. Canals meander through various parts of the city. Boats full of shivering damp tourists would occasionally wave as they listened to the commentaries of their guides. Like the Old Town of Antalya, it took a little bit of time to figure out the way from point A to point B. Luckily the tall spires of the many churches gave hints as to direction. It also helped that guided tour groups frequently crossed our paths, so it was often just a matter of tagging along and seeing where they were going.
The first significant stop of the day was the GroeningeMuseum a gallery of paintings dating back several centuries and including the works of Bosch, van Eyck, Poovost and others, all the way up to contemorary artists like Magritte.
 From the Groehninge we wandered over to the Zot Brewery, where we were given an overview of the beer making process,an overview of the city as we ascended to the top floor of the brewery and finally a sample of the finished product.
 A little typsy after the beer tour we had a late lunch at one of the many beer cafe's
 ( my term) that dotted the city.
 Wednesday morning, an early walk to the city main square found us facing an amazing sight- market day for the locals- stalls set up around the centre of the square selling everything from radishes to ribs, cheese to roast chickens.
 The trip back to Schiphol proved as complicated as the trip there. A 20 minute delay on our first leg of the journey ensured that me missed our planned connections so we pieced our way back via a multitude of stops including Roosendaal, Rotterdam, Delft, the Haig and countless other smaller towns.
 A couple of hotel shuttles and a plane ride later, I am back in Ontario, having already worked a full shift. A quick check of my bank accounts shows that I am still solvent, that the bank uses rip-off rates to convert foreign currency and that my RRSP's are still telling me I might be able to retire at 75!!
 All in all, another amazing trip over. Clearly a need to go back to Bruges at a later date, as well as visit other parts of Belgium. Next trip?? Who knows.? I am leaning towards maybe Panama and/or Columbia. We shall see.