Gidday up horsey!

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Geo: 50.8371, 4.36761

It was perfect blue when we woke, but the sun disappeared faster than we moved – by the time we had got up (checked the emails) and were out the door to Ghent and Bruges, it was grey again. (From the passenger's viewpoint), driving in Brussels was a lot easier than Paris – much calmer, but the added excitement of trams and bicycles, both of which have absolute right of way, Miranda tells us!

The drive to Ghent and Bruges was longer than we planned (but exactly the length that the GPS and Jonathon told us!) – and so we decided to stop at Ghent first. What an unexpected gem! We really fell on our feet – just as we were about to decide that the cobbled streets were pretty (but a lot of renovation work in the main square) and move on, we decided to take the horse drawn carriage ride hat we have promised the kids. It was wonderful! Our young guide (and Basil the horse) took us down the cobblestone streets, past all the beautiful buildings that we had seen in the postcards (but decided the kids were too tired to walk to all of them), past the picturesque canals, and gave a commentary that was great for both kids and adults. This was definitely a town that we would come back to, and wander for a day or more!

Following a great lunch in Ghent (croques monsieur and Tom tried crepes with sugar – yum!), we headed off to Bruges, later than we had planned. It is really the most lovely medieval town, that remained unchanged for centuries when the money disappeared (the town was on the sea but is now a fair way inland). Windmills and a tower to enter the old town really set the scene! Munching on Belgian chocolates (except Matt, who insisted on English fudge!), we walked into the main square and down the streets until we found the river cruises and jumped on a boat which took us up the beautiful canals in the town. You could spend days in Bruges (Steven and I previously spent a weekend there) and whilst the kids didn't see half of it, they certainly got a taste of it and hopefully will one day return with more time to appreciate it all.

A quiet night at home for the kids – the sun isn't gone until 9pm, so it is very difficult to put them to bed at anything like a normal hour, and a great night talking with Miranda and Jonathon until 1am!

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Comments

[Siobhan Healy]

How appropriate that the girls are enjoying it more than the boys. They really do like machines don't they!