Blogs from Bruges, West Flanders, Belgium, Europe

Greetings! (of the Merry kind) This time our travels took us on a day trip to Bruges (Brugge), Belgium. Craig won a day trip at a travel expo that we went to, so off we went! Bright and early. Departure time was 6:30am from London, by coach. Ferried to France, then continued onto Belgium. When we got to Bruges, we had about 5hrs to explore the town. We started with the traditional Belgium Waffle. AMAZING! (I should note here that a lot of what we did was eat + drink) Nutella and whipped cream waffle to share = great start to the trip! The town was beautiful. So festive, with every store getting into the Christmas Spirit. There were horse drawn carriages transporting people through the town, toy stores, lace shops, chocolate stores (every 3rd shop!!) ... read more

After two hours of sitting in London traffic on a Friday afternoon I turn to the passenger in the back of the car and jokingly ask if she has her passport. Al and I both laugh at the crazy thought that someone would have forgotten to bring their passport on a trip over the channel, but alas, Belinda didn't have hers. We turned around and collected it and after our third trip through the infamous Catford Giratory we were actually on our way to Bruges. The drive to Bruges (when you ignore our detour) was simple, with the worst part being the heavy traffic in London. We took the ferry from Dover to Calais and eventually arrive in Bruges at 1am having driven through the UK, France and Belgium. We spent the next few days wandering ... read more

Decided to get out of dodge early aka Bayuex and find our way to Bruges earlier then we planned.. after some train hopping and missed reservations we made it here earlier .. which is great because so far we are loving this little city.. The hostel has a "chill out" room and we are probably going to watch the film "In Bruge", seems rather fitting for where we are :). I would like to shout out a few thanks 1) Toni, thanks for the heads up about flip flops in the shower, good call 2) Susan, thanks for the back pack and little cloth bags inside, they have come in handy. Beers are super cheaper here compared to snobby Paris and Bayeux, thank goodness :) Belgium beer rocks my world, off to drink some now.. ... read more

After Paris, I boarded the big blue bus to officially start my trip of Europe. My Busabout ticket covers 33 destinations in 9 countries and allows me to hop on and off the bus as I please – so I choose how long I stay at each destination and simply book my seat on the bus to get to the next stop. I can also skip places if I don’t want to stop (but ofcourse I want to go just about everywhere!). So buckle up and share the ride with me, first stop Belgium. A medieval town complete with cobbled streets, winding canals, grassy green fields and endless chocolate shops.. it almost sounds like a fairytale doesn’t it? (well that’s what the guide books think), welcome to Bruges, Belgium! I arrived mid-afternoon and kicked off my ... read more

A few days late, on this one.... On Saturday we went to Bruges, Beglium and back to Brussels to see the city at night. First though, everyday has to start with a good breakfast, and what better way than ice cream on top of a waffle, with chocolate on top!!!!... After this delicious and nutritious breakfast, off to catch the train... It was probably about an hour train ride from Brussels to Belgium... Im not sure how to describe Bruges, other than its a beautiful that was probably quiet, until a Colin Farrel movie made it more known to the world. The easiest way to get around these cities is to look up, and by that I mean look towards the skyline, and see what's sticking out... Doing that got us to our first and only ... read more

Day 006, Thursday June 23 1630 (4:30 pm) Cows, everywhere, left Bruges, now on the train from Antwerp to Amsterdam, incredibly comfortable private seating in first class. Antwerp was only a 30 minute stop over from Bruges, which I think I’ll miss as much as London. Despite being extremely small in size, Bruges seemed as equally full of tourists as London, and just as beautiful and rich, culturally, and far more densely packed. With a population of 20,000 it is likely, at any given time, that there are most tourists in the city than locals. All the streets were cobble stone and could really only fit one vehicle in any given direction, additionally there were never any street signs indicating which way traffic would be flowing. Thus leading to multiple occasions where I found myself pondering ... read more

The train trip from Brussels to Bruges was lovely, looking out over the farmland lush with green grass and before I knew it the train was pulling into Bruges train station. My hostel was located on the other side of Bruges and the directions were to get on the bus and ask the driver to stop at “Bauhaus“. Following the instructions I did just that and the bus set off. Driving through the Old Town of Bruges I began to get excited, this town was beautiful with its canals and beautiful architecture, the town looked like it was created for a fairytale. We arrived at my designated stop and the bus driver gestured for me to come to the front to talk to him, the lovely chap was giving me exact walking directions to my hostel! ... read more