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  • Writer's pictureMatt Chinnery

Bruges … Where the canals flow with beer! Day one


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I am currently writing this blog on the Eurostar which happens to be delayed a fantastic hour and half (current update!) after spending three magical days in Bruges with half pint. It is my third trip to the motherland but my first time to Bruges, the previous two trips being Brussels.

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Being the beer nerd that I am I genuinely get excited about being in Belgium and this trip to Bruges for me has been my best visit yet.  As much as I loved Brussels for its artistic Jazzy buzz I have to say the historic picturess Venice of the north steals my heart. Half pint and myself booked the trip so we could visit the Christmas market and really I didn’t know what to expect from the markets at all and to be honest I was slightly disappointed with them. Apart from decent cheese and meat stalls I didn’t think there was much else but hot drinks and woolly hats! The normal market in Burg Square was much more of my cuppa!

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What didn’t disappoint was the amazing cafes and incredible beers. So with Podges 80 beers in Bruges book in my hand half pint and I set out on one hell of a beergramige!

The first day after settling down in the hotel (and drying my clothes thanks to a leaky bottle of water in my suitcase!) we settled our hunger with a Christmas market bratwurst in a bun then made our first cafe visit… Brug Beertje, regarded by many as one of the best beer venues in the world even being able to boast a visit from the Hairy Bikers! Being the eager beavers we are we got there at 3.50 10 minutes before it opens as I had read online that if you turn up after 4 you may struggle to get a seat! So after being let in dot on 4 after being scared by he many trip adviser comments of not getting a seat we cemented the best table in the house (in our opinion) a lovely little table by the front window. The beer menu here is amazing as is all the glasses at the bar. We did plan to only have one drink then move on but it turned into a few drinks and dinner!!! It would have been rude not to given the lovely surroundings! Have a look at my post of Bruges beers to see what we had here and for the rest of our days in Bruges.

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After stuffing our faces with a lovely spaghetti bologense we moved on to The Garre. We had a bit of a weird moment in the finding of this bar as anyone who has been there can tell you it aint easy to find! So while going down a shopping alley we was suddenly approached by a man dressed as one of the three musketeers! He took much interest in my poppy on my coat I was wearing and although I did tell him several times I lived in Essex near London in the UK he kept insisting on asking me if I was from Hertfordshire! He wanted us to come see his art studio but we kindly said no and quickly continued on our quest to find The Garre. Luckily only a few moments from dodging our introduction to Dogtanian’s porn studio we found The Garre, home to the world famous 11% house beer. We tried the house beer Garre and after having it we both knew why it rightly had such a well deserved praise globally on the internet. I really had to fight the urge to buy a bottle of it at 22 euros as I couldn’t spend all my beer money on the first night!  After a few drinks here we retreated back to the hotel for a not so good nights sleep as I was convinced the hotel was haunted … but I will save myself the embarrassment in explaining why!


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