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Where To Sleep, Eat, Drink and Sightsee in Bruges, Belgium

We took this with our iPhone and made it sepia. Awesome, huh?

As awesome as America is for road trips, and as much as we love hitting the European capitals, it sure is a breath of fresh air to head out to a smaller city—one perhaps with a preserved medieval quaintness and yet still very connected to the rest of the world. This we found in Bruges, Belgium.

The town is a mere 45-minute inexpensive train ride north from Brussels Gare-du-Midi, and once there, you need not set foot in another vehicle again until you depart; the whole town is extremely walkable, so long as you like cobblestones and bridges over canals. It's also an affordable place to spend a few nights—although we recommend avoiding the months between April and September, when the town is packed with tourists in the day and prices are hiked.

Last month we headed to Bruges for some time in the city during a time of the year when the streets are more full of locals than tourists, and thus we freely roamed around the best places for the best deals, and we'll share our tips with you after the jump!

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The Case of the Belgian Coffeehouse That Twitter-Stalked Us

Last month, when we were in Belgium, we were internet-stalked by the coffeehouse you see above—the one with the American flag over the doorway. From the moment we tweeted that we were Bruges-bound from Brussels, the "Bean Around the World" coffeehouse latched onto us via Twitter and immediately got our attention by replying back, out of the blue:

enjoy Bruges - why not stop at our American coffee house? located at Genthof 5 (at Van Eyckplein)

WHOA! That is some serious Twitter and tourism synergy at work right there, and it totally impressed us. We did stop into Bean Around the World eventually for a few drinks, because the fact that they tweeted at us led us to believe that they had free WiFi, which they did, along with free newspapers and a cute little location. Not every restaurant or cafe should tweet at people like this because it could get spammy real quick, but for such a small town with limited coffeehouses and free wifi spots, it was perfect.

So we're wondering...have you ever been Twitter-stalked? Was it a pleasant or unwelcome surprise and did you actually end up spending money at the place? And don't forget that you can Twitter stalk us all you want here.

Related Stories:
· Bean Around the World [Twitter]
· Bean Around the World [Facebook]
· Twitter in travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]

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Going Through Guidebook Withdrawal: How to Travel Lighter

Over the last year, we've slowly chipped away at the size of our luggage on trips by peeling away guidebooks and maps. And now that we're down to the absolute minimum, we thought we'd share the steps which led us to traveling sans clunky extras.

First, we went to Hong Kong and Macau and hauled a TimeOut guidebook, the small Wallpaper guidebook, the Luxe fold-out guide (to find the hip places), a Moleskine City Notebook to HK, and a fold-out map. On top of that, we were still packing a laptop, phone, camera and Flip video cam with all of their chargers and accessories. We didn't use half of them!

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What Is The Best Way to Exchange Your Money?

Help! This is for all the travelers out there who confront a currency exchange booth at the airport or on the street and shake their heads at the unfavorable rates, only to give in anyways because they just need more cash.

We're wondering what is the best way to exchange your money? We've been through it all—ordering foreign currency from American Express, shuffling up to the Travelex booth in the airport arrivals hall, taking and taking more from foreign ATMs, and even making the walk of shame to a booth in tourist trap. But our indecision really worked against us last week in London, when we discovered that by choosing to exchange cash at a booth rather than just withdraw from an ATM, we had lost something like $30 that wasn't the fault of the high value of Sterling.

Currency exchange is one of those unavoidable, frustrating tasks that must happen during travel, and it can quickly reach eye-gouging annoying levels when you're pressed for time or facing shady dealers.

So please, help out us and everyone who reads this, and share you best tips for currency exchange in the comments. Care to take this remaining 15 pence off our hands for your time? No, we didn't think so either.

Related Stories:
· London Field Trip [Jaunted]
· Money travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: ganessas]

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We Just Got Off a Ryanair Flight, and This is What We Thought Of It

On Friday, we told you that you'd never believe what we did the day before, and to tell you the truth, we still can't believe it ourselves. Who flies from Brussels-Charleroi in Belgium up to Edinburgh, Scotland for less than 20 Euro for two people? It would be impossible if we weren't talking about notoriously low-cost European carrier Ryanair here.

They're the airline we love to hate, what with their hidden fees and an insane CEO, but although it seems like a mess to the outsider, all's quiet on the western front.

See what we mean, after the jump.

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You Won't Believe What We Did Yesterday

Boarding our plane at Brussels-Charleroi Airport

Tangoing with the enemy?! Yes, it's true—yesterday, after a few years away (since 2006!) from them in which time much has changed—we flew on Ryanair.

Our flight was only two hours long, but that's the mean flight time for this European low cost airline, which is so low cost that they're notorious for two things: selling flights for 1 Euro and brainstorming all sorts of hidden fees. Since we scored this one-way flight for two people for exactly 14 Euro total and then bragged all about it, we were fully expecting to get what we paid for—the worst flight of our life. Instead, we experienced one of the most eye-opening flights of our life, in both good and bad ways.

We're kind of still fully processing our thoughts on the flight, so be prepared for next week when we unleash fully on what went down and what makes us both fearful of and optimistic for the future of air travel. But we will leave you with this: we actually did the flight with no extra fees levied!

Related Stories:
· It Can Be Done! We Booked a Ryanair Flight for Under $25 [Jaunted]
· Ryanair news [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]

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Brugge Hearts Shakira

Yes, Brugge is a beautiful medieval city, but there is an odd custom there that makes walking around the streets much like shopping at the Cambridgeside Galleria: They play music everywhere. Not atmopspheric live music in the streets, either. The town, or the shopkeepers, or some combination of the two, pipe in an incredibly odd mix of music using a series of strategically placed loudspeakers that blare throughout the town.

We know this seems really odd. We kept thinking of was that scene in Escape from Sobibor where the unsuspecting prisoners arrive at Treblinka to calming classical music wafting from a variety of outdoor speakers. An inappropriate analogy, yes, as Brugge has absolutely nothing in common with the horrific Treblinka.

And yet...the more time you spend in Brugge, the more comfortable you get walking past centuries old churches to the sound of Wyclef Jean saying "No Fightin'" and Shakira wailing "Oh baby, when you talk like that".

Somewhere nearby, the 9th century Vikings who settled by de Reie are no doubt rolling over in their graves, but there is 21st century feel to eating frites in the Markt to the sound of Human League's "Don't You Want Me"--kind of like a communal iPod. Or maybe we finally had enough Belgian beer to appreciate the Brugge radio remix.

Has anyone else experienced this type of musical town in their travels?  Can anyone shed some light on who controls, or sponsors, the music you hear in the streets of Brugge or elsewhere?  If so, leave a comment below or send a tip.

Related Stories:
· Belgium Field Trip [Jaunted]

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Non-Tourist Tourism: Chasing Cornelia

Meet Cornelia. Cornelia who works for Hotel Heritage, a Brugge boutique hotel, was asked by Jaunted where a Brugge Diegan like herself might go when they weren't stuck at work.

Apparently, locals like to walk or cycle along the "green zone" which is the park like area that encircles the outside of the city. After that most locals get hungry--turns out Brugge Diegans are just like us! When hunger strikes, Cornelia and her friends often head to De Media Tea Room, which she describes as a "most excellent" lunch spot.

We then cut the small talk, and dropped the hard hitting questions on Cornelia, like where does she hang during the all too brief Brugge summer season. Her response? De Republiek Cafe, which is a bar slash restaurant slash cinema. The topper? According to Cornelia, De Republiek comes equipped with one of the nicest outdoor terrace settings in all of Brugge.

De Republiek terrace photo after the break.

Related Stories:
· Belgium Field Trip [Jaunted]
· De Medici Hotel Reviews [TripAdvisor]

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Tasty Belgium Chocolate

Belgium is big into chocolate, and Brugge is the epitome of Belgian chocolatedom.

There are plenty of chocolate shops all over town, but those in the know head to Dumon Chocolatier. Dumon is one of the many family run chocolate shops in town. Despite the fact that only a half dozen Keebler elves can fit in this tiny shop, Madame Dumon and her children, who run the place, are busy from open to close. We went back three times, hoping to hit the shop when crowds were thin, to no avail.

Despite the constant lines, the chocolate here is damn good.

Related Stories:
·   About Chocolate [Chocobong.com]

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Back of the Envelope Belgium Beer Guide

With the help of a bit of "Jaunted Luck" we ended up spending the weekend in Antwerp during the seventh annual Bierpassie.

Under the tent we were able to quickly and efficiently suss out the tastiest Belgian beers, of course what follows is just our opinion, well, except for the Michael Jackson thing, that is a fact.

Click "More" for Jaunted's top Belgian beers list...

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Non-Tourist Tourism: Clubbing in Antwerp

Meet Cot. Cot is a cool ass bartender who pours drinks at Cafe Bartilia. If you order a Jack & Ginger Cot will look at you like you are insane, which is the appropriate response when someone orders such an American drink in Antwerp.

Cafe Bartilia would be a nice enough bar, however it happens to sit at the head of Antwerp's red light district, which means it has a bit of a seedy side.  Truth be told this is just the way we like it.  Cot is not at all seedy, he is a normal dude living and working in Antwerp.  He tried living in Brussels, but it was just too damn big and ugly, so he found himself back in Antwerp--where he knew his way.

We were on our way to Cafe d'Anvers, mostly because of what we read in the Guardian:

Antwerp can claim to be the birthplace of techno - at least that is what everyone dances to at the ultimate rave club to end a night out, the wild Cafe d'Anvers.

We asked Cot where he would go clubbing and without hesitation he said:

"Petrol.  This is not a spot for tourists.  This is where we go--it is not in the center of town."

Wanting more info we asked Cot:

"So, did you guys invent techno?"

Cot laughed saying,

"No, I hope not, I hate techno."

We couldn't agree with you more Cot.  So to recap, Cafe d'Anvers is a club in the midst of Antwerp's red light district where they blast smoke and techno.  The smaller the hours, the more sweaty club rats you will bump into.  However, while the kids and tourists are hitting up Cafe d'Anvers, Cot and his posse are rolling off to Petrol, where the real live action takes place.  

Photo of Cafe d'Anvers club kids after the jump.

Related Stories:
·   Belgium Field Trip [Jaunted]

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Antwerp Eats: Mata Mata & Pili Pili

Antwerp cuisine involves a myriad of choices.  Sure, as far as Belgian food goes, you can go frites all day long, but one popular eclectic cafe is Mata Mata & Pili Pili.

Just off Grote Markt, this semi-swank diner serves Congolese chicken and Nigerian beef--yup, it is a African restaurant.  If you aren't down with sampling the African dishes you can kick back and down a bevy of exotic cocktails until you convince someone in your group to hit a more traditional cafe.

Related Stories:
·   Belgium Field Trip [Jaunted]