Day two - Bruges and Gent

Hello Good Morning 

Ok we woke at 7:00 o'clock and we did the normal stuff until the time to leave( including preparing our lunch and snacks to take along). We left the Hotel. Ha i have to say that we were going totality on the blind concerning the train timeschedule ( on adventure mode we would arrive at brugges sooner or later :) ). 

The first thing that i notice was at 8 O'clock how the street look a garbadge dump.- In Brussels they don't use containers but plastic bags that are gathered together in several points giving quite a bad image. The trash trucks come to collect rather late so the streets look like a mess. Ok its nice that the men that work collecting and cleaning the streets work in the day and not and night but at least they could have containers.

Another thing that i've notice. Where are the cats and dogs? ....huuuuuuuuu mistery.


Ok we passed trough that street where the ladies are and there they were. Some ladies were putting lipstick, others were placing the stuff on its place and others seem bored. It was early to have action....and making business.

We entered the Noord Station and went directly to the machines( only coins and credit card rembember). We were buying the normal tickets to Brugges but the machine gave us a warning that instead we should buy the weekend tickets. The weekend tickets were half price that the normals. Cool!

Remember on weekends buy weekend tickets.

So now we had to find out at what time we had train to Brugges. We went to the screens and the train was leaving from platform 3 in 10 minutes. Such luck. So there we went and took the train to Brugges.

In the train you can find these kind of cartoons. Be civic.

Gent - Sint-Pieters, Brugge

The train voyage take us to the north to Blankenberge. Don't forget to leave at Brugge Station. 

Here the ticket revisor...

So the scenery was. Green fields and sheeps and cows. Some villages with their churces. With was quite nice.

We arrived at Brugge on hour later ( more or less i was not paying attention). The best way to not loose yourself is follow the crowd :). So we did.

The first thing to do go to the bathroom in the station. In Belgium we have always to pay 50 cents.

Going out of the station we don´t see nothing special. Once more don't loose time follow the crouwd.

So this in the first sight out the station was a big square a road and many tree. Where's the village. Behind the trees!

So when you cross the river you are in the historical village. Do you want to know some facts? Click here.

What to do in Bruges. Walk, find, enter. For me its the best way. 

Heres a another video. Click here.

So we started to walk and it was so pitoresc. The little cottages, the cold weather, the enormous towers. 

We decided to go to one of those huge towers and we arrived at this plaza.

This is the Belfry of  Bruges. The ticket is 8 euros and its worth it.

Here's some history.

Below you can watch another tourist visiting the tower

When you climb int the upper levels its an aventure. Why the steps are very narrow and you have to grab yourself very well because as you go up there are other coming down. For me it was funny but it can be dangerous for older people or children.. be careful.

I'm going to show all the levels of the Belfry. But first here's the sound inside the tower when one fantastic player decides to give us a concert and almost makes our ear drums blow :) We were admiring the views on the top level and the bells started to sound.

Do after this what we did we do? We ate! we were so starving. We had sandwiches that we prepared at the apartment so we didn't loose time. And then we went for a boat ride. There are many sites near the river where we can buy tickets and enjoy a nice trip explained in english. The ticket was 8 euros for person.

Day One - First Discoveries of the city!!

Day one - Brussels Center

Ok leaving the hotel we went down to Noord Station to have our first encounter with the metro.

Ok do you remember that street that i have talked before?  We turned the corner and there it was the Brussels version of the dutch red light district. A lot of ladies in the windows in underwear trying to get some gentleman to get in and party with them ... OK NO SHOKER FACT FOR THOSE WHO ARE OPEN TO EVERYKIND OF SEXUALITY. 

But notice the contrast of two civilizations next to each other....in one side a woman just showing her face, on the other a woman showing almost everything and coexisting!!!

Ok i'll show you pictures on the following posts!

Next step... buying the tickets! We saw on the net but it was a little bit confusing. We wanted to have like a Paris or London pass but there wasn't any.

We direct ourselves to the machines and we bought the STIB tickets to central station.

The metro is like the Oporto one and it was fast. First objective get to Grand Place. I'm writing this a week after and it seems like a blur i don't quite remember wich away we took. 

We did something like this.

We enter the square trough that street Rue au Beurre.

And this was the vision entering trought that street. Very crouded. First impression? Ok its small i liked more the grande-plaza in Salamanca. Don't miss interper me the plaza is stunning and it grows on you., but this first impression was a disapointement to me.

First we went straight to the informations office on the right.

What did we ask?

Is there a Brussels Pass ? Answer: No, but we are changing the system to implement one.
We are going to stay here for three days whats the best way to get around?  Answer: The STIB card 24 hours, but you can walk  its all relatively near.
Best way to enter the museums without spending too much? Answer: There are some free like the Maison du Roi .

We got a map and the first thing we wanted to do it was to find the pissing boy :) Manneken pis

We tried to reach it without the map, just walking around to see if we would stumble on it. We went the opposite direction :). No problem we were on holiday and getting to know the city.

We went trought la rue de la Tête D'or and turned right. we saw the gay flag everywhere.

It was the month of the gay parade of Brussels. So if you are a good person, a human person and you don't have a problem this will not bother you. Otherwise brussels in May its not the city for you! Come back later.

Gay Parade information

We went on and in fact we found ourselves in the gay area of Brussels. 

How did i know? Because of the beautiful cartoons on the walls.

This is very large so you won't miss it. Ok once more if you have a problem with this leave the area, there are plenty of other things to see. This picture was altered . First they were two guys and after an intervention the brunnete was patched uo to seem a girl.

Ok after a while we were desperate to find Manneken Pis. Come On!! We were walking around of it. Near the gay bars and cafés exists a police station. One policeman was outside and we asked him. It was quite easy. We had to go to the traffic lights turn left and the rigth. Follow the scent of chocolat and then follow the sea of turists! The little boy was on the corner.

The easy way to find Manny is from Grand-Place enter the Rue de Charles Buls right on the side of the city hall and go straight foward. After some street crossing you will start to see the typical waffles stores  and in a corner, a left corner there it is. The small naked boy.


Its small!! And it Pisses! Ok! Take a picture. And then concentrate yourself in the waffles stores right beside it.

The Manneken Pis its not so interest. If you want to enjoy the piss dolls try to find all the three that exist in brussels. The boy, the girl and yes the dog!!! This is fun and you get to know the city.


These streets are so sweet in sight and in smell! We had to eat a waffle, they are very good and gave us energy.

Lets try to find Jenneken - Pis?

Ok heres the map.

And now the dog!! We did not have the time so good luck and find him!

After Jenneke Pis we went discovering and what did we find? The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula. Entrance  was for free so in we went. Haaaa. In the way in the corner we found the giant man of french fries and we had to take a picture with it. In Brussels its tipycal to eat a large amount of french fries with any kind of sauce. So don't abuse on it but eat on and go walk to burn the calories.


Back to the cathedral.

Do you want to Know more about it? http://www.cathedralisbruxellensis.be/en/history

It was quite nice. I recommend it.

Ok we decided to go back to the hotel but first a last promenade trough the city

Now we were heading back to the Grand-place and we found the royal galleries that we crossed and ended up in a square with a monument to the soldiers of WW1.

The Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert are a set of stores in a street only for people that is covered with glass dome. 

These galleries have some stunning shops. I recommend.

After we crossed the galleries we turned left and we found ourselves in a quite square with some benches. UFFFFAAAAAA!! We were getting tired. My friend wanted to relax a bit and have a smoke ( electronical cigar) so we sit down and rested our feet. Looking around we saw in the middle of the square a monument. I tried to find out in my tablet where we were so after the rest we could go to our hotel.

The square has in the middle a sort of catacumbs. Its a monument to the marthyrs of  the Belgian Revolution of 1830 .

Heres a video from another traveller! 

I haven't spoke about the weather yet. When we left portugal the weather was horrible. Raining a lot. We arrive in brussels with some cold temperature 10 degrees with sunshine and some clouds. In the square we were cold but the sun was hiting one facade and the habitants take te opportunitie to get some sun. They were in t-hirts and  in the stairs cactching the rare sun. The habitants when the sun appears flock to open spaces to not loose the opportunity.

Ok enough rest. We went on and find ourselves in the brussels equivalent to santa catarina street in oporto. One shopping street, Rue Neuve.

We went trough going foward to the towers of the wtc and we arrived at the longest avenue in brussels.

 At the end the sunset and a enormous cathedral.

We decided to end the day  walking that street until we arrive at te cathedral. Ho my gosh! We were so tired. But we did it.. we arrived at...
Its the Basilica du Sacre-Coeur. The aveneue was quite pitoresc. We see many arabic  and indian habitants. In the cafes, outside and inside, there are only men talking.

Do you see the Basilica at the end? No? Look closer. Ok our poor feet!! But that the way to know a city.

At the middle of the way we foun this and had to take a picture. Use here your imagination to have an original picture.

Continuing to our objective we were getting close. Before arriving at the Basilica there is a park. Here there a lot of jogging, futebol, kids, talking, dating. Its a park filled of life.

So arriving at the gates of the basilica we notice that its huge!. Ok like every other church that we have seen in Brussels.


Heres a video for you to meet the basilica!

We enter the grounds and we sat at the main stairs admiring the views as to take our feets of the ground.

We notice that there where only arabic and indian guys and girls inside. The Indian guys were playing Cricket with a bat not with the english hammer. Almost like baseball.

The Basilica was closed we arrived to late. Ok enough is enough for the first day. We head back to the hotel, on foot. Yes we were complaining about our lives. We finally arrived after one our. We ate something. I had to take a hot shower to relaxe all of my muscles. And then straight to bed. We had to wake up early to go to Bruges.


See you tomorrow. I'm exausted!


Luis

Day one - Towards the Hotel

Wellness Apart-Hotel

We found last year that this is the best solution for a young couple or someone that doesn't like restaurants, or friends that want to make dinner at home. Apart-hotels

Ok we arrived at Noord Station. We went down the stairs and we arrived at the main tunnel crossing all the lines. We followed the indications to the wait out. Because we didn't know the station we went to the oposite direction to our hotel. No problem it was what google maps indicated. Ok step out of the building. And WOW we were in Brussels the European capital!!!!.

What did we saw first? The huge towers of the WTC world trade center. But we had to get away from those towers to get to our hotel. So in each side of the station there are tunnels for cars and people under the train tracks. We went trought those. We cross a street that we didn't notice a singular particularity of the streets animation. I will tell about this street later... Huhuuuhuh


Ok we went foward and for our suprise we were in Morocco. A street of arabic stuff and restaurants filled with people after cheap things. We were in the muslim part of brussels. The smells, the clothes the people we were not in brussels but in Turquie or Casablanca...

We went to that street observing everything and everyone until we arrived at our Hotel Street, Rue de Palais, We just had to find now the number 108. Ok we walked along the street and because we were looking to the other side we missed our hotel. Come about!! We turned and there it was the hotel.

http://www.aparthotel-wellness.be/hotels/belgie/brussels/aparthotel-wellness-bruxelles/

On the left side was a health club just for women! Suprised? No. Ok we did a quick check in and we were placed in the 1st floor on room 14. The key was a card.

The room?? Very good!! Here are some pictures

The room had two separated beds. Cable TV. Shower. Bathroom . A small kitchen. The appliances had to be asked at the reception. We didn´t need them. We had a small boiler. And during the holidays we prepare sandwiches to eat on the away.

We had also plenty of closet space.

Ok now its time for adventure in Bruxels. First Stop Grand Place. See you!

Total Spending

Total Spending by person



Transportation

Air Flight Porto- Brussels Ryan Air :
Metro Casa da Musica to Porto Airport ( Z4) + Andante Card  :1.85 + 0.50 =2.35 €
Train Voyage From Brussels Airport (Nationaal Luchthaven) to Brussels Noord Train Station :8.50 €
Train Voyage form Brussels Noord  to Brugge's Station and come back (Weekends Ticket!!! 2nd class) you can get out at Gent and and visit and then continue to Brugges: 15,20 €
STIB Metro 24 hours ticket : 7.00 €
Train Voyage From Brussels Noord Train Station to Brussels Airport (Nationaal Luchthaven)  :8.50 €

Staying

Wellness Aparthotel 3 Nights With bathroom and Kitchen ( for 2 persons):189 €

Food & Drinks

Waffle without anything on it : 1€
Waffle with Strawberries and chantilly: 2,50€
Waffle with chocolate sauce:
1st grocery buy  at ANFA 123 SA : 16,75 €


Visits

Brugges Belfort ( Tower)  - 8.00 €
Brugges 30 min boat trip - 8.00 €
Brussels Atomium visit Open every day from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Last entrance 5:230 pm : 11 €
Brussels Parlamentarium - FREE

To be edit soon

Day one - Departure

LEAVING OPORTO

We woke at 6 A.M. Took a Shower, breakfast and so on...

Then we left at home at 7:15 A.M to catch the Metro at 7 :28 A.M at the House of Music stop ( Casa da Musica) direction Airport line E.

From Casa da Musica to the airport you to buy the "Andante" Card  50 cents and to recharge the card for Z4 its 4 zones. We took more or less 15 minutes to arrive to the aereoport.

The "Andante" Card.

This card its what garantees your mobility at Oporto city. You can step in Buses, metro and train.

So you first have to buy it at the machines availabe in every metro station. It costs 0,50 €. Then you have to recharge the card with one trip or several or you can buy a daily pass. 

The trips are according with the zones you travel in. If you looking at the map figure that yo'll travel 2 zones you will have to buy the Z2 option, buy or recharge what best suits you and so on and so on.

Here's the map.

BE CAREFUL! ITS ONE CARD FOR PERSON. IF YOU BUY TEN TRIPS Z2 YOU CANNOT RECHARGE THE CARD  WITH FOR EXAMPLE Z3 UNTIL YOU HAVE SPENT THE 10 TRIPS Z2. IF YOU WISH TO TRAVEL TO A FARTHER ZONE YOU WILL HAVE TO BUY ANOTHER CARD. 


Finally when you are ready to enter validate you ticket on the yellow validators. You will see that a green light appears if it's all ok. At the stations you'll see that there aren't doors you can pass to the lines without any control. ????? Yeah we in Oporto trust in your responsability and then so often you will find train supervisors that will ask you the ticket. If you don't have it you will pay a fine (€€€€€) a large fine.

Every time that you change line you have to validate your ticket again.


THE METRO STATION AT THE AIRPORT

Its right in front of it. you have to go down the stairs cross the tunel in the auto park and then go up again on the stairs until you arrive at the departures level.


The Oporto aereoport its called Airport Francisco Sá Carneiro. Do you want to know more? http://www.porto-airport.com/


Arriving at the airport because i would travel with Ryan Air  i didn't have to do any kind of luggage check in so we went directly to the security check. Having no problems here we had only to wait for the opening of the gates. Because it was the first time that we went by metro we didn't want to risk and we arrived two hours earlier! HO MY GOD!  What to do? Stores, tablets, bathroom, computers with free internet....


Ok the time passed the gate 34 opened. Our tickets were checked and there we went to the flight FR 2929 to Brussels . We were on seats 20 A and 20 B just above the wings.

The weather was nice so we didn't have any problem taking off. Two hours after we were landing in the international airport of Brussels. Is a big one!

From the arrival until we arrived at the train station we took 10 min. The train station is situated on -1 floor.

In front of you you have the tickects office and the machine to buy tickets.. On each side the stairs to the train platforms.


Its all in French or in Flemish. huuuuuuuuuuu. It take us a lite bit to understand how it worked.


I'm a machine person so my first instinct was to direct my legs to the machine. First thing to notice it only accecpts coins or cards. The rest is very intuitivy like certanly exists in yor country. I bought to tickets to Brussels Noord Station. 8,90 € each. And then we went down to platform 3 to catch the IC train that takes more or less 8 minutes. OK the train is leaving see you on arrival at Noord station.