Thursday, May 11, 2006

A Day in Brugge

This is Taunya and me in front of the canal in Brugge. Not too far from here we had the best pannini sandwich you could imagine. We spent most of the day in Brugge exploring, taking pictures, and picking up a couple souvenirs.

This is the Chapel of the Precious Blood. Just to the right of this picture was a priest with a sacred relic, a golde caped crystal vial containing what is said to be the blood of Christ. People were lined up to pray to or kiss the relic that has been kept at this church since 1147. See http://www.sacredspiral.com/Database/blood/untitled-3.html for the full historical story. You can also see a picture of the relic at http://www.terragalleria.com/europe/belgium/bruges/picture.belg30133.html You can't tell in the picture but it looked like an old dirty, possibly moldy, wadded up rag.

The lovely canal road near the city of Oostkamp where we've been staying. We walked down this very historic road after getting off at the wrong bus stop. The far side of the canal was patrolled by German soldiers during WWII. The left side that we were walking on was U.S. allies territory. We passed by three large cement bunkers covered in grass and moss, one of which had a large rupture on one side from what we're guessing was a german grenade.


Even with all the sightseeing training has been going well. I woke up Wedensday morning to the most dense fog I've ridden in while being here. I was pretty nervous to ride down the farm roads because I wasn't able to see very well.
Tuesday I rode with the team for just over 5 hours on a new hilly route. It was nice to get a few hills on my legs before I head back home. We were supposed to have done a Kermese, but new rules were put in place just a couple days before stating we had to have a signed paper to participate, which you usually only need for the big UCI races. The paper was left at the CC and so we were left to our own devices. Since I hadn't been living at the CC for the last week I didn't know about the new rule. There was also a German team there who wasn't allowed to race becuase they didn't have their paper either.
So that's it for now. Taunya and I are going out to explore some more.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since it seems that I am the only one to leave comments, I thought I had better keep it up . . . Your photos are looking great, professional, really. Does Taunya know how to use a camera? j/k
Taunya, tonight is the season finale for Smallville Season 5. That means that soon it will be for sale, so we can both get caught up. Another good show would be PrisonBreak. And I sure hear a lot of raves about 24. Anyway, just junk stuff compared to what you guys are seeing. Miss You! xoxo

Nate Rogers said...

meghan and i thought it looks liked a sausage...not a bloody rag. but thats probably just cuz of all the frite places we went to. looks like you 2 are having a great time - glad to hear it! if i dont talk to you, have a safe trip back home and rip it up in the states! take care rob,
-nate.