Waffle Day!

Up until about 7pm tonight it was looking as though waffles were going to be my sole diet today. I'd never been seen asking forgiveness of anyone responsible for my excellent (read: 'difficult') upbringing regarding today's choice of meal, waffles are delicious. Breakfasts pick was of course laden with nutritious fruit, cherries... and of course whipped cream. For 10am on the busiest day of the week in Bruges, the little patisserie was empty and calm, but the waitress' curtness implied a calm before a storm. The storm came. After I left. I can imagine the pretty blonde lass being trodden into the floor by stampedes of European waffle-fiends.

My first trip was to the Groeningemuseum which houses art from the middle ages to the 1970's. Walking round the exhibits I was reminded again why I can to Bruges alone. Tourists in couples and groups passed me by as I gazed into the macabre detail of paintings of last judgements, flayings and crucifixions. And people throw their cups of tea in the air at the sight of another Saw movie billboard (not that I condone violence as healthy entertainment). What I loved about the primitives was their symbolism and detail e.g. Bosch. The neo-classicist section I rushed through - staring at a painting of someone staring back at you isn't the most enthralling pastime. The following romanticists led me to the highlight of the tour - a landscape once strewn by the oppressive dark of a severe storm is pierced with a ray of sun bringing life back into the greens of trees and grass and the white of a house. Ordinarily it wouldn't have arrested me quite as much, but I'd determined that I felt too upper class walking around an art exhibition in silence, so I hit the Hans Zimmer collection on my iPhone. The timing of the appearance of track 'Light' from The Thin Red Line coincided perfectly with the image of pure tranquility, and the result was indescribable. Sound and image in unison. And I hear Transformers 4 is in production.

By the time I got to the Expressionists, I started to question the evolution of the arts. Not the eternal question of how we could go from Van Provoost to Britney, but how we could go from the build up of Pixar-levels of detail in 19th century landscapes and cityscapes to the complete abandonment of detail in expressionism 100 years later. Nothing wrong with it, I enjoyed some of the challenges the thick lines and blank expressions presented. The discard of detail seems like a dead end. The 21st century is all about high definition, humanity and realism in art (post 9/11).

After all the high-browing, I quickly bought a copy of the painting that moved me earlier (Joseph Théodore Coosemans 'Ray of Sun after the Storm') and went for my next waffle. I returned to Bittersweet where I took up the waitress' (as it turns out, co-owner Liesbeth) recommendation of waffle with vanilla ice-cream (like non I had tasted before) whipped cream and a tiny jug of fresh molten chocolate sauce. Washed it down with another pint of Vedett. 20 minutes later I ordered the hot chocolate, which turned out to be scolding milk and a chocolate tulip filled with chocolate flakes which you have to drop into the milk and not stir until it's dropped to the bottom.

With there being a clear blue sky and hot sunshine, I went out and sat in the markt to read more Cloud Atlas. A strange looking 10 wheeler pulls up in the middle and immediately attracts attention. In the middle is a keyboard attached to bells in a raised glass ceiling. Two people get out of the truck, hop in centre room and start playing.

Going back to the hostel I discover I have a new companion - an Australian called Nick. We chat about travel, each others countries, then go out for a beer and a meal. When we get back we discover another two companions - Ram (South Indian), and Bell (Vietnamese). The four of us stay up late chatting about each others countries. We have a good laugh, especially when Nick introduces us to Australian rules footy. The 2004 and 2006 matches between Essendon and Hawthorn. I've never seen that scale of fight in a game before.

Well, I'm tired and my writing has gone to the dogs, so I'm off. End of waffle day. End of Dave's trip to Bruges.