{"id":1458,"date":"2011-06-09T08:07:15","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T08:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.singleoccupancyblog.com\/?p=1458"},"modified":"2024-07-21T05:22:03","modified_gmt":"2024-07-21T09:22:03","slug":"dealing-with-disappointment-in-brugge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/destinations\/dealing-with-disappointment-in-brugge\/","title":{"rendered":"Dealing With Disappointment In Brugge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The yellow tour buses pulling up to the Stadhuis marred my view of Brugge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I knew I\u2019d have a strong reaction to Brugge.<\/p>\n

As the single most visited city in Belgium, I had great expectations for Brugge as a destination and figured it would be a traveler\u2019s wonderland. The scant research I\u2019d done before my trip told me to expect one of Europe\u2019s most well-preserved medieval cities. As a history and architecture buff, as well as a student of medieval literature, I was looking forward to feeling that I\u2019d stepped backwards in time, that I\u2019d walk along quiet streets and meet lots of locals who\u2019d tell me their stories. I would leave Brugge feeling enriched.<\/p>\n

But reality rarely matches fantasy and the reality was that I hated Brugge on sight<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

I remember being excited on the train to Brugge, although mildly annoyed by the group of rowdy teenagers who were misbehaving towards the back of the car, but my disdain began growing from almost the moment I arrived in the city. The incredibly modern train station outside of the city center was a complete surprise. I had anticipated that the train station would at least try to mimic the medieval architecture Brugge is famous for, but the concrete structure with its showy facade immediately rubbed me the wrong way.<\/p>\n

A half an hour walk from the train station took me to my hostel where I dropped off my bags and then caught a local bus to take me to the city center. The day couldn\u2019t have been more gorgeous and the weather had warmed to a comfortable temperature. As I waited for the bus, I tried to convince myself to put my first impressions of Brugge behind me and to approach it from a fresh perspective.<\/p>\n

My resolve dissolved almost immediately when I boarded the bus and it was already full. At each stop we took on more and more people until we were jammed in like sardines.\u00a0 I consider myself to be pretty easygoing so the discomfort of the bus ride didn\u2019t bother me much. I was disturbed most by the throngs of people who were all headed in the same direction as I was\u2014the overcrowded bus was only a sign of things to come.<\/p>\n

I got off the bus early and made my way down a few narrow streets to the Grote Markt. What I saw made me immediately want to turn around and go back to my hostel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh. My. God.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
On the Grote Markt, Brugge, Belgium<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There were people everywhere. The tourist hordes were virtually clogging the central market square, many draping themselves on the base of the statue situated at the center of the square. \u00a0Bright yellow tour buses lined up in front of the beautiful town hall, ruining the view. Masses of camera-toting tourists indiscriminately shooting photograph after photograph of each other in front of the guildhouses on the square. I\u2019d been to the central marketplaces of both Brussels and Antwerp, but the vibe here was completely different. It was noisy and chaotic and not at all what I was expecting.\u00a0 The city that was supposed to be crown jewel in my Belgian experience simply wasn\u2019t.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn\u2019t have come. I was kicking myself\u2014hard– for not staying in Antwerp (which I loved) a day or two longer.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t often that I wish for a travel companion, but I would have given anything in that moment for someone to tell me that the problem was with me, that maybe I was overreacting. Truthfully, I hadn\u2019t been myself for days. I arrived in Belgium tired and unhappy and for the most part, unenthusiastic about my trip<\/a>. In Antwerp, I rediscovered some measure of happiness which Brugge seemed to snuff out like a candle.<\/p>\n

I could barely eke out a smile for my solo traveler self-portraits. My heart was not in this. My complete and utter disappointment with Brugge almost made me move on to Ghent immediately, but then my more rational self demanded patience. This was only a small portion of the city and I hadn\u2019t yet scratched beneath the surface. I decided to wait and stay as long as I had planned and give Brugge a second chance.<\/p>\n

Could I learn to love Brugge in spite of its flaws? <\/strong>Maybe. But I wasn\u2019t even sure I wanted to.<\/p>\n

How do you cope when a destination you\u2019ve traveled to doesn\u2019t live up to your expectations?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I knew I\u2019d have a strong reaction to Brugge. As the single most visited city in Belgium, I had great expectations for Brugge as a destination and figured it would be a traveler\u2019s wonderland. The scant research I\u2019d done before my trip told me to expect one of Europe\u2019s most well-preserved medieval cities. As a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5],"tags":[41,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-1458","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-belgium","8":"category-destinations","9":"tag-bruge","10":"tag-brugge","11":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nDealing With Disappointment In Brugge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Brugge was supposed to be the jewel in my Belgium travel experience. 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Brugge was too hot. Too much activity and too many people in the city center. 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Climbing the old stone staircase to the second floor of the Gruuthuse Museum in Brugge, Belgium, I am struck by the sunlight streaming through the nearby stained glass window, landing on the steps in a cascade of color.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Perspectives"","block_context":{"text":"Perspectives","link":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/category\/perspectives\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderlustforone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/gruuthuse-museum-sign.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderlustforone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/gruuthuse-museum-sign.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderlustforone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/gruuthuse-museum-sign.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.wanderlustforone.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/gruuthuse-museum-sign.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1458"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5221,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1458\/revisions\/5221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlustforone.com\/staging\/3560\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}