To Bruges

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Breakfast in the hotel restaurant was great, all you can eat breads, yoghurt and juice with coffee to finish. Even Em had a good brekky – her first since being sick.

Back on the road and while we were driving through a town, there was a thick red line across the road. Oh, that would be the France / Belgium border! The next town showed what a difference there is between the two countries. Belgium seems far more prosperous with wider roads, far better maintained buildings and even new construction going on. It seems the French are not very good at capturing passing trade while in Belguim, the main roads are where most of the restaurants and shops are – similar to most small Australian towns. The traffic lights are also different and the road rules seem more coherent as well so driving is much easier with more room to manoeuvre. There is also more settlement here with less open spaces between the towns.

We finally arrived in Bruges (or Brugge) with the GPS sending us astray of our hotel. It took about 45mins of driving around and finally parking and walking to realise it was on the other side of the roundabout. Check in was not until 4pm so we parked in the main train station carpark and caught the free bus to the centre of town which Em certainly enjoyed. The literature on Bruges says it is the best example of a medieval town left in the world – and it’s so true! Tiny laneways, cobbled streets and amazing 12^th and 13^th century buildings cover the old city which is basically an island in the river. We walked into the belfort (bell tower) which is over 800 years old and went to a lace shop in a row of houses built in 1474. These are still private homes though, even though it seems like a giant museum and several of the buildings are being extensively restored. Inside they have been modernised with new kitchens and interiors and they are actually quite spacious, most being three storeys.

We had lunch at one of the restaurants in the main square which made the best lasagne I have ever tasted for just 12 euro. Mind you I ordered a bottle of water without looking at the price and it turned out to cost 9 EURO!! And I’m pretty sure it was a recapped bottle of tap water! It also seems that everyone around here speaks at least two languages and very frequently three. The waiters at the restaurants all speak at least four and not just a bit of each – they are fluently conversing in Flemish, Dutch, English, Spanish, French and German. I’m pretty sure I heard a bit of Russian too.



After lunch we wandered around the beautiful old town for the afternoon and found the lace museum for Mel. Em and I wandered off to find a little park with a swing then went back and picked up mum. Before long it was time to check into our hotel so we walked back to the car. One of the great things about Bruges is that once you park at the train station (cheap) it is walking distance to the entire old town. We went back and found we are on the third floor in the attic rooms which are far more spacious than last night!

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