Days 114 - 115 (June 28 - 29, 2013): Bruges, Belgium

The Quick Facts

* Easy train ride from Amsterdam to Bruges
* 1.5 days in the much-hyped town, full of chocolate shops and beer cafes…plus a little architecture to keep it interesting
* Stayed at the Hotel Olympia - an actual hotel (quite a luxury for us), which was decent enough even if it was a good ~20 minute walk to the middle of town (but a really nice 20 minute walk to the middle of town)

The Good:

* It is what everyone says it is: a cute little town away from the hustle and bustle of Brussels and other European cities
* Endless opportunities to eat Belgian chocolate and/or waffles (even at the same time!) and drink Belgian beer
* Minnewater is particularly beautiful with lots of cute restaurants and cafes in the area

The Bad:

* I think Bruges is a victim of its reputation – with such enthusiastic recommendations from everyone I’ve ever known to go there, I was expecting more than I got…

Chocolate, waffles, fries, mussels, and beer.  That’s what you get during your time in Bruges.  So, it’s not such a bad place.  Our tour began in the Markt Square which is dominated by some beautiful buildings, including a large bell tower.

 

 

We even trekked up the Belfort Tower for the magnificent views of the city:

 

 

The lesser cousin of the Markt Square is the Burg, which comes complete with its own beautiful building (the Stadhuis) which contains a beautiful meeting hall:

 

The Burg also had a waffle food truck parked in it, which we had to get a waffle (and chocolate sauce….and ice cream)!

 

As is our custom, we then took to our bikes for a bike ride around the edge of the city, which is bordered by a river.  There are also a series of windmills on the outskirts (who says windmills are just for Amsterdam?!?)…

 

And this is the aforementioned Minnewater....it's much better in person than this picture suggests.

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