Brugge, Belgium

We left Brussels on Wednesday morning and arrived in Brugge, Belgium in a couple hours. We had heard from so many people that we couldn't go to Belgium without a trip to Brugge because it is so beautiful. Everyone was right!
There were people everywhere becaues Brugge is a weekend getaway place for many in the area. The town square had the typical old buildings that we had seen in every town on our trip but it also had stores, and stores, and stores to shop. Tine, my cousin, reminded me that there are so many small villages in the European countries that most of the bigger shopping meccas are located in bigger cities so that's where you'll find the most people.
There were carriage rides, walking tours and boats rides through the canals that connect the city. We did the boat tour and were so glad we did. It was beautiful!


I wish I would have taped the tour guide. I was laughing so hard that I was crying and had a hard time stopping! Now...we had listened to and spoken German and French. Tine was trying to teach us a little bit of the Dutch language but she would laugh and then we would laugh and we would get nowhere. You see...in Belgium they speak French and Dutch depending on where you are in the country. Our guide definitely spoke Dutch but was trying really hard to speak English. It took us all about 5 minutes to realize he was speaking English with his Dutch accent...and then...we realized that he stuttered! It was so hard to understand but we made it through AND learned a lot about the city.
This dog was one of the ahhhhhh moments of the boat tour. He had his pillow and would lay and watch the boats go by. It made me miss my Max.
While we shopped, we had to eat some more Belgium chocolate. This store sold boobs and butts in chocolate. They had them in the window with a sign that said if you buy the set you get a discount!

Like every other city we had been to on our trip, Brugge was no exception when it came to old buildings. This house, seen from the boat tour, was built in 1675, 100 years before the US even had a constitution....pretty amazing when you think about it.

During lunch, we had talked about taking a detour to the ocean and skipping one of our days in Amsterdam. We asked a really nice store clerk for a suggestion and got the best tip of our trip. We traveled about 30 km to De Haan, a small coastal town that was perfect for a day of rest and relaxation.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010