Bruges Scavenger Hunt!

Hello, Bruges gang. As we get ready, I wanted to set up a few more details about our first day in town. The previous blog post outlines our travel to Bruges, but below is our itinerary for the first day as well as the details of our scavenger hunt.

Monday 25 June 7:30am – Meet at Erfurt Hauptbahnhof
Our train leaves at 7:50, but it'll be a potentially busy train so I'd encourage folks to get there as early as possible (I'll likely be there a bit earlier, and the Starbucks opens as early as 6:30am).

Monday - ~3:00pm – Arrival at Bruges train station
We’ll walk to your hotel and ensure that everyone gets checked in. You’ll have a few hours to yourself to get settled.

Monday - 6:00 pm – Meet Jaime/Nick at the Palace de Bruges …
There is a large statue in the center with all of the EU flags around the outer edge … look for us underneath the German flag. We’ll be taking you from there to a place we think you’ll love, and we’ll have class there. Great drinks, but not a ton of food options so you may want to grab a bite before we meet. Also remember to make sure you’ve posted your CAT blog and read the face management material before we meet. Then, we'll head to one of my favorite spots in Bruges, 't Poatersgat.

After we meet (and after my favorite spot), everyone’s on their own for the rest of Monday night. Have fun, be safe, and remember we have a class meeting in the morning.

Tuesday – 9:00 a.m. – Meet Jaime/Nick at the Place de Bruges …
Required class meeting … meet at the same place as last night, under the German flag. We’ll launch the “Selfie Scavenger Hunt’ from here. 

Bruges Scavenger Hunt

Here’s the gist. Bruges is a small but beautiful city, and despite its charm it can be challenging to find its coolest spots. So we have designed a scavenger hunt to encourage you to explore the city’s nooks and crannies. Some are more obvious than others, but they’re all cool little bits of Bruges.

Here’s how it works. The person who finds the most items from this list wins something super awesome (rare, special, delicious), and in the case of a tie Nick and Jaime will decide the winner based on creativity. For a find to ‘count’ you must take a selfie with the item you find. By 9am on Wednesday – that’s 24 hours – you’ll post your batch of pictures to the SPICE Facebook group (complete with captions telling us which item it is and something cool about it … captions count for creativity too). Please be sure to upload all photos in a single post (rather than individually).

Also, for some of the items below there are ‘XP’ options (that’s gamer-speak for ‘experience points’) … these are just additional challenges to make the find even more awesome. These additional bits are completely optional, but really cool. Some clues are obvious and flexible, and some are cryptic and specific … it could be helpful to do a little research ahead of time.

An extra benefit of the hunt is that any of the items on this list are fair game as topics for your travel blog posts, so keep that in mind as you enjoy Bruges.

• The home of 47 bells – “Thrice consumed and thrice rebuilded, still it watches o'er the town” – is just 366 steps above two rebels and the site of a famous murder.
• XP – Climb the steps, and take a selfie at the top.
• Two brews – one of moon and one of jester – are born in this place.
• XP – Take a tour between 11 and 4, but note you’ll have to schedule in advance.
• Bruges is home to chocolatiers – find a sweet that’s shades of green.
• XP – Taste the treat!
• All o’er the town little angles abound … find three cheeky cherubs.
• In the U.S. doors can be bores, but Belgians entrée with more flare. Find three red doors!
• Bears aren’t so bad in Belgium – they hug beers! Find this lovely beast.
• XP – Enter his den and find the bit of Dr. Banks’ home town while you taste some brew and cheese.
• In certain spots – more low than high – you’ll spy tiny doors made for the gnomes. Seek out these gateways (but don’t try to enter!) as they may not like you in their homes.
• Swans are plenty in Bruges city. Find three of different forms: 1) Real and live. 2) Sweet and small. 3) Statuesque.
• XP – if your live swan is photographed while on a canal cruise.
• Signature local foods are all of the goods … try at least one of these dishes: Flemish beef stew, Belgian frites, Belgian waffles.
• XP – Check out the Frites museum.
• From the west to the east, lions are beasts – but whoever knew they could be blue, and carry a cross in their feets?
• Churches and cathedrals rise high above the town, but for one of the more interesting ones you may want to look down. Find the ruins of a 950 AD church in the basement of a hotel.
• Seek out – according to your tastes – a museum that highlights treasures of this place. Take your pick from torture, beer, chocolate, art, or diamonds … or another of your choice.
• XP – Pop into the museum and make the rounds.