Two Bats in a Belfry: Amanda's Perspective

If you were to glimpse into our life at the current moment you would find me sitting at a small table in the bar portion of our hostel. The sun is just beginning to set, giving me gorgeous views alternating between the cozy courtyard out back and the commotion of the street. I am sipping on my *favorite* beer in the world and embracing the chatter of languages I can't comprehend, almost enveloping me into the fabric of this community. 

You would turn the corner and find Gabe busy in the kitchen. Watching Gabe move around a kitchen is mesmerizing to me. He has an ease, a certain kind of comfort and confidence, that I can't seem to replicate. Yesterday I offered my assistance preparing our meal and Gabe answered with both kindness and authority. Under his direction we had one of the better tasting meals I have had in a while. It was rhythmic, finding ourselves slipping back to the tandem of the kitchen.  While we have been taking the time to enjoy local cuisine it has also been nice creating meals with the foods made available to us here. Right next door is a small grocery that carries an excellent selection of fresh, local produce and some of the more flavorfull sausage I have had yet. Tonight Gabe is on his own and the smell seeping out into the bar is enough to make anybody envious of our plates. 

We spent this Saturday in an enjoyable, lazy sort of manner. After waking up around 9 we grabbed some toast and coffee from the breakfast buffet.  We meandered over to the Saturday market in one of the main squares and Gabe had to practically (ok maybe literally) drag me away from the hoards of jewelry for sale. We found ourselves at a park next to a canal and sat for a while, soaking up the sun and appreciating the view. 

We had heard tale of the spectacular panorama that you could see at the top of the Belfry in the center of town so we decided that would be our next destination of choice.  

Turns out this was no small feat. Our particular belfry boasted a whopping 366 steps to the top, all in the form of a spiral staircase. This narrow staircase was used for traffic flowing up…and back down. In many places I genuinely felt that there was not enough room for my body so imagine my dismay that we had to make room for those passing by. 

Before beginning our ascent we found this informative sign.

Ok, we don't need to understand the language to get this, right? No smoking. Check. No ice cream. Check. (We will just assume they mean no food and aren't bashing on ice cream) No drinks. um, almost check, nobody stopped us for our water bottle. No dogs. Check. No……love? That's gonna be a problem. As you can clearly see we are rebels.

For reals though, we are guessing that they don't want you to get your freak on in the belfry but didn't want to post a photo to depict that. Breath easy belfry, we only snuck a kiss. 

This excursion was actually more informative than I anticipated. Turns out the entire structure is 83 meters tall or about 273 feet. The bottom two floors were built in the 13th century and used to stored Flemish fabric, an important industry at the time. Today it is used to plan community events and hold meetings.  The tower of the belfry is comprised of limestone and was erected between 1482-1486. It is octagonal in shape and only 70 people are allowed to enter the top at one time. Anymore than this could cause the structure to lean extensively more than the Tower of Pisa. This particular belfry houses the worlds largest brass drum weighing in at 9 tons.

 This drum operates the clappers, which ring the bells.

They change the melody around Easter every two years. The bells were crucial to lives of medieval citizens. They rang to let patrons know when the work period began, when to take a lunch break, and when the city gates were closing for the night. If you missed those bells you were in for one tough day! Bells told of good news, bad news, fire drills and town announcements. Even today the belfry is one of the preferred locations to make a city decree.

With our heads swimming with new belfry information we made our way out the the main square, where another belgian waffle was waiting to reward all of our effort in climbing to the top. And it was good, oooooohhhhhh was it good. We might have also picked up some delicious fries to munch on, who really knows? 

We strolled quietly and contentedly through the town and its not hard to see why.

We made our way over to another favorite spot along the canal to where all of the swans hang out.

There were a minimum of 50 swans all just chillin' out having a good time. They didn't seem to mind us as long as we kept to ourselves. Believe me, with the size of those guys we definitely did just that. After bidding adieu to the swans we made our way back to the hostel, enjoying the activities which I mentioned in opening. Dinner is about done and its time to prepare for Paris in the morning. We wish you farewell and send our love!  We have received kind words of encouragement that have definitely not gone unnoticed or unappreciated!  We really can't say thank you enough to everybody who is taking the time to keep up with our tales of travel.