Hanne and Bronek

On Saturday the twenty second of February 2009 we had an evening appointment in Bruges, the hometown of Hanne. First we had a dinner with Hanne parents and their guests: uncle and aunt of Hanne and a cousin of Nicole – Hanne’s mother. Needless to say – the dinner is always great in that house – we had a great meal. We had home made stoofvlees – a special Flemish goulash with French (Belgian) fries and a salad followed by a perfect tiramisu desert.

Valerie’s Birthday

The next stop this evening was the house of Valerie. At the mini party along with some nice drinks and snacks we had some pleasant chat. Friendships were celebrated, gossips spread and world politics discussed. Just after midnight we managed to raise back on our feet and cycle to the city center to search for…

Meet Willy

The centre of Brugge – UNESCO listed world heritage city – took us through it’s many narrow streets to a small cul-de-sac nearby the main market and city hall. Waldo – a friend of Hanne – invented this idea which after excitingly weird  prologue turned to be a really good one. With a little help of use-it map we finally got there.  The facade – hard to explain – was covered with chairs, and fire safety appliances (extinguishers etc.). The doors on the top of little stairs – closed. Behind them we could see an interior full of vintage, flea-market-aquired stuff. Music could be heard. After a doorbel and 2 minutes of waiting we were about to resign, when the doors opened and as it turned out – Willy himself invited us in informing about the formula of the house. To get to the cafe downstairs we had to buy 5 euro tickets – coctail of choice included. Led by Willy’s friend – a young guy in a tail-coat and a high top hat we got in the main room. As the place according to the use-it map was supposed to be a gipsy place indeed some gipsys could be seen inside. Above all th great gipsy jazzy band which amused the guests succesfully. Place was rather international. We could hear some southern european languages, along with the staff language – English and Dutch. The gathering of strange equipment, the collection of wooden figures, naked female saints paintings and other climate-matching elements were in variety. There was also a locked barking dog somewhere in the dark end of a garden through which gentelmen had to pass to toilet. Nothing else than “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” 🙂

The place had really a good climate. We drinked, talked and even danced enjoying this extraordinary place together with other guests. At the end everybody called it a complete package evening.

We did not notice when the hour had become late and at 4 in the morning the entire team cycled together home.

Best evening in a long time. I strongly recommend any visitor who would like to spice up his picture of Bruges as tourist city a little bit to check this place. Open on saturday till 2 am.

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