In Bruges
Bruges (or Brugge, depending on which Belgian language you are speaking) is an easy train ride from Brussels, going toward the North Sea. I mentioned before that Bruges first entered my radar on a tip from my Uncle Ray, and I was looking forward to it. It didn't disappoint. It is an attractive town, with a 13th century belfry, a nice main square, and a series of canals. And it was all done up for the holidays.
Bruges is also memorable for the good food we found. On the first day, while we were still killing time before we could enter our AirBnB, we ended up surrounded by art in a quirky spot called Arthie's that served delicious food.
Bruges also has a lot about Belgian chocolate, including a chocolate museum. Two main memories of this museum. First, at one point they invite you to try early chocolate from the Americas. Cyrus and I, at least, eagerly took pieces and popped them into our mouths, only to discover they were what Cyrus still remembers as the most bitter and awful tasting thing he's ever had. What a dirty trick, but we were punished for our gluttony. Second, their chocolate mascot looked a lot like the poop emoji.
It was a fine museum overall, with some of the history of chocolate in the world and in Belgium, some chocolate sculptures, a demonstration of how to make Belgian chocolate truffles.
Here is one of the many many shops offering chocolate:
At this point we made it to our rental, and took a break. This was also an attic loft, though it was all-white walls and carpet. The opposite of Hotel Mozart.
The AirBnB also had a semi-broken toilet and only a tub (no shower). Abby says one theme of our year was sub-par showers in AirBnBs.
Abby hatched the idea of returning to the main square to go ice-skating with the kids in the temporary skating rink set up for Christmas. It was a beautiful scene as the sky took on darker shades of blue.
And then we had a really excellent meal at a Greek restaurant called The Olive Tree, not to be confused with the American chain.
The next morning we decided to try to climb the belfry first thing. After the Arc de Triomphe and Notre-Dame, not to mention St. Peter's in the Vatican, we were getting good at climbing stairs. It gave us great panoramic views over the town, which we then spent most of the rest of the day walking around before we needed to be at the train station. It is a lovely place -- and it was nice to get off some of the main streets which were busy with tourists and holiday shoppers.
Lots of bikes always in northern European towns, it seems:
hidden away grocery, inside a building:
Charlotte was very excited to see this type of horse. She'll have to remind me what it is called.
And that was that. Bruges is not a major metropolitan city or historical center. But it was a wonderful place to explore over a couple of days.
On to Antwerp!
Bruges is also memorable for the good food we found. On the first day, while we were still killing time before we could enter our AirBnB, we ended up surrounded by art in a quirky spot called Arthie's that served delicious food.
Bruges also has a lot about Belgian chocolate, including a chocolate museum. Two main memories of this museum. First, at one point they invite you to try early chocolate from the Americas. Cyrus and I, at least, eagerly took pieces and popped them into our mouths, only to discover they were what Cyrus still remembers as the most bitter and awful tasting thing he's ever had. What a dirty trick, but we were punished for our gluttony. Second, their chocolate mascot looked a lot like the poop emoji.
It was a fine museum overall, with some of the history of chocolate in the world and in Belgium, some chocolate sculptures, a demonstration of how to make Belgian chocolate truffles.
Here is one of the many many shops offering chocolate:
At this point we made it to our rental, and took a break. This was also an attic loft, though it was all-white walls and carpet. The opposite of Hotel Mozart.
The AirBnB also had a semi-broken toilet and only a tub (no shower). Abby says one theme of our year was sub-par showers in AirBnBs.
Abby hatched the idea of returning to the main square to go ice-skating with the kids in the temporary skating rink set up for Christmas. It was a beautiful scene as the sky took on darker shades of blue.
And then we had a really excellent meal at a Greek restaurant called The Olive Tree, not to be confused with the American chain.
The next morning we decided to try to climb the belfry first thing. After the Arc de Triomphe and Notre-Dame, not to mention St. Peter's in the Vatican, we were getting good at climbing stairs. It gave us great panoramic views over the town, which we then spent most of the rest of the day walking around before we needed to be at the train station. It is a lovely place -- and it was nice to get off some of the main streets which were busy with tourists and holiday shoppers.
Lots of bikes always in northern European towns, it seems:
hidden away grocery, inside a building:
Charlotte was very excited to see this type of horse. She'll have to remind me what it is called.
And that was that. Bruges is not a major metropolitan city or historical center. But it was a wonderful place to explore over a couple of days.
On to Antwerp!
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