Bruges

 We made it to Bruges. The train rides were very pleasant. We were surprised to see the number of bikes at the train stations. We did not see parking lots for cars but hundreds of bikes. One of the stations had a double level bike rack system to accommodate the number of bikes. We splurged on cabs to the train station this morning and to the B&B this afternoon. It saved us from walking with luggage which is always a reasonable splurge. 

   Bruges is a lovely old town with many of the buildings dating back to the 1600's. We had dinner in a place that was built in 1515. There are many churches and Madonna statues build into buildings all over town. The restaurant had shelves lining the wall covered with religious icons. (Laura, it reminded me of the German restaurant we went to with the scary dolls lining the walls.) 

We shared a table at dinner with a lovely young lady who traveled to Belgium from Turkey. She was traveling alone and was delightful. We exchanged numbers and she offered to show us around Istanbul after encouraging us to visit there. It does sound like it would be a wonderful place to visit. 

Bruges is full of canals, and we took a nice boat ride after some of the tourists cleared out. A lot of people come for day trips and some of the town was very busy this afternoon. There is plenty of shopping here. We are not big shoppers, but Jack and I did check out a chocolate shop and bought some tasty Belgium chocolate. It was a serve yourself shop offering a wide variety of options. We each got our own box to minimize any possible conflict. We have learned a few things over the years. To be completely honest, Jack would have been fine sharing one box, but I didn't want to risk it. 

We explored the Provencial Palace that housed all of the area's governmental business for a couple of hundred years. It stopped serving as an official government building a few years ago. They did extensive renovations and the place was very impressive. 

Below is the bell tower that was featured in the movie Bruges.

                                            


                                            bikes at the train station





















                                            we had to duck under this bridge, it's called the guillotine bridge

                                                    











                                                                Restaurant



                                                        We shared a Belgium waffle for dessert. It was delicious.


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