Brugge, Ostend, & Gent, Belgium
First Day
To be honest, until this trip, I have never gone away aboard or two other places without my family before when it has included other night stay away from home. I never been to such trips I could have down with my school when I was a bit younger, places like Cuffley Camp in Hertfordshire, North Wales, Euro Disney, French Alps and other silly places where my school told us we should go and fork out loads of money before.
So this is my first time away from home without my family. I was studying my GNVQ advanced Leisure and Tourism at North Hertfordshire College in Hitchin, my other local town which I was born in and brought up in, but do not want to be part of it, because, to be frank, it is a silly little rubbish market town full of idiots and single mums at the age of 15 years old, with a stupid little nightclub which is now close I think.
That is why I always say Stevenage is my local town. That is my excuse anyway. So, anyway, I stop ranting and tell you about this travel blog experience to Brugge in Belgium. And I also tell you why this is the only trip I will do with my college mates. This is great, but I didn't want to drink anymore alcohol for quite a while after this trip.
So, after an early start early one weekday morning in March 2000, the college class which I was studying with set off to Brugge from Hitchin, down the M20 towards the port of Dover where we boarded the P&O ferry to Calais in Northern France. Also travelling with us was the local Stevenage Borough Football Club educational class who were going to play a friendly match against Club Brugge Under-17 side.
Arriving in Calais, it was a quick one hour trip along the auto-route pass Dunkerque over the Belgium border into Brugge.
I was walking around with four other guys, Chandit, Oliver, Chris and Danny. We didn't really check out the local area apart from the bars. So at 4pm, it was time to get started on the local brews instead of doing some research for our tourism project.
Stella never tasted so good.
So after a few pints, we wondered around a bit were we met the other girls in the class, who did some research into the project we were doing. We all went back to the hostel, refreshing up, then headed to this big bar in the centre of town.
Then it was kind of a blur. I can just remember some points, like, somebody giving me 5 pints of Jack Daniels and Joke. Getting very jolly, and being sick from the 2nd floor window in the hostel, and all my vomit landed on a local elderly man who was cycling outside with his dog and landed all over him. Oh, then according to my tutor, I nearly jumped out of the window, so I could say sorry to the man with my waste.
Second Day
The second day started with a really bad hangover. I was sleeping on the floor.
Seemed weird as I thought I was suppose to be sleeping on the top bunk of a bunk bed. I noticed that I had a wet sock on my face. Anyway, the other guys were still sleeping, and I couldn't find my glasses. After an hour, the guys woke up, and one of them was looking after my glasses, fearing I may do something stupid with them.
I looked around the room, and I was sick in my suitcase, with all my clean clothes, and all over the top bunk. Dam. So I spent a while trying to clean up my clothes.
After refreshing myself, and I tell you, I never seen hostel showers look so green and yellow, I wanted to be sick even more, it was time to go downstairs and board the coach for a morning trip down the auto-route to Gent. Gent is ok. Nothing special. It has its trams going around the place.
Shopping is a no here. The food was ok; I needed some meat at 11am in the morning. What a good breakfast that was. I needed some food after the previous night, and also getting rid of the last of the vomit out of my system on the coach on the way into Gent. (Good job I had an empty carrier bag in front of me)
Lunchtime, we arrived back in Brugge.
So playing in a training pitch, next to the main Club Brugge stadium, which was one of the stadiums which were going to be used in the forthcoming European 2000 football championships later that summer where Belgium would co-host with Netherlands.
The pitch was bare, wet, and no grass in patches. Stevenage was winning 8-0 until I came onto the pitch after 70 minutes. This was probably one of my biggest sporting moments after my cycling career with Hitchin Nomads Cycling Club. I came on, elbowed a player who looked like he was 14 years old, and for some reason wearing glasses, had a few fine touches and was playing up front as a striker.
Oh, we gave the other team an own goal in injury time too, but we won 10-1. So after thank you to the other team for such an easy win, it was time to go back to hostel to get ready for another nights drinking.
Well, I didn't drink tonight, but watching the others is so much funnier. Especially in the middle of the night, when Chris was trying to smash down the inter-connecting door to the girls room with a hacksaw he found.
Third Day and Final Day
After sorting ourselves out and packed our suitcases, it was time to jump on the coach and start making our way back to Hitchin.
After a while, it was time to go again, and around 30 minutes later, we stop in a place called Adinkerke on the Belgium/France border.
The driver and the tutors claimed they wanted to buy Belgium chocolates from here. Then I saw those loading loads of Cigarette's. I found out that this place was called Tobacco road, with around 20 shops just selling tobacco.
Then it was time to go back via P&O ferry to port of Dover, via the Cite D'Europe hypermarket in Coquelles.
