waffles

There is much to say about our visit to the lovely town of Bruges but I'm not going to blog about that today. Instead I feel that I must take this opportunity to acknowledge that fabulous Belgian creation: the waffle. Since we arrived we have encountered waffles of every imaginable variety (and some that we had never imagined). There are pre-packaged waffles that make Eggo's seem like the soda cracker of waffles. They have small, bite sized waffles and vending machine waffles. The best so far however, are the fresh, hot waffles made in a restaurant across the square and offers a variety of toppings including chocolate sauce, whipped cream, strawberries (fresh and local), and ice cream. These waffles are so light and delicious that they leave you wanting a second helping rather than feeling like you might throw up if you ate one more bite. We field school students have rapidly begun to appreciate our evening waffle run.
In Bruges yesterday, we discovered a new facet of the Belgian Waffle experience - walk-up waffle stands. You have to take a second to appreciate we students, still exhausted from our platoon experience the day before, baking hot in the sun, hungry but not wanting to stop at a restaurant lest it cut into our precious free time. We pass by a waffle shop and decided that this would be worth the pause in our shopping. One of us, I'm not sure who now, said "Wouldn't it be nice if we could get waffles to go?" We laughed and joked about it to the man behind the counter. He just pointed us back out the door. That was when we saw, like beacon of light, the street front window with an open counter for the walk-up waffle sales. We laughed. We cried. We celebrated this lovely country and the town of Bruges itself, by eating their inaugural food: the waffle.

Jen Fink