and then, 10 days before my planned departure, i broke my foot. i thought it was just going to be a sprain, and thought i can just tough it out. but speaking to my colleague (who recently broke her foot) and describing to her how swollen my foot was, she bluntly told me "i think you really need to see a doctor now." so i did, and after a trip to the x-ray room, the doctor has confirmed that i have indeed broken my foot!
i told him that it was imperative that i fly out in 10 days so he suggested to do an operation. i said i will do whatever it takes. so he cut open my foot, put some rings around the broken bone, put me in air cast and crutches and armed me with loads of painkillers. nothing was going to stop me from flying out.
i made sure to get a written document from him to allow me to fly out and then we went our merry way to the airport. my air cast AKA robo-foot had been attracting attention, and my t-shirt was aptly describing someone who broke her foot and still stubbornly insisting on traveling. 😄
after what you can imagine to be a very uncomfortable long haul flight only made better by being wheelchair-assisted, we were scooped up from the airport by my loving parents in law. we arrived july 1st, and as per original plans they were meant to be on a road trip with lovro on the 4th while i go and rock it out with my friend pieter at Rock Werchter. for obvious reasons, i could not go to that festival anymore and was instead going to be on house arrest. luckily, my days in Bruges were not meant to be a bore!
on wednesday we went to zeebrugge and i saw a familiar sight. exactly a year ago, we boarded this beautiful yacht in illullisiat, greenland for a 3-week expedition. and since the captain (my father in law of course) was there with us too, then a picture with Moonlight was to be had.
thursday i've met willy over salad and BarBar beer and we agreed to watch the belgium-brazil match the next evening at Le Trappiste - a popular and amazing bar in an old dungeon. the best part: belgium won! the streets have gone mad! so mad that i don't remember how much beer i had that night. nor do i recall whatever happened to those silly belgian sunglasses. 😁 amazingly, i made it back home in my bicycle. success!
and then for the weekend, i had amazing company again. olivier knew of my misfortune and decided to spend the weekend with me. we set off to explore bruges with me at the back of the electric bike. the weather was fantastic.
even though i've been visiting bruges every year i have never actually taken a canal cruise. with my broken foot it seemed like a good idea to see the small town through the canals, and so we hopped on a boat. it was quite warm and being on a cruise under the sun, we definitely deserved some beer. in the evening i managed to score a table at a popular local restaurant called Ribs n' Beer that serves unlimited racks of ribs. they have a popular sauce made of chocolate and ribs but we decided to stick to the original recipe. afterwards, we came back to the beloved dungeon for a beer.
sunday was a visit to minnewater park. it was quite warm, so sitting by the water, watching the lovely swans gracefully move about while having my most favorite belgian snack frikandel speciaal was such a treat.
little did i know that this wonderful weekend was a prelude to something even more special. but that's a story that peaks in greece. stay tuned 😉
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