Bruges, Belgium

I love Bruges. It's known for its quaint architecture, cobbled streets, canals, and chocolate. Sounds like my kind of place. We arrived early in the morning to a dead little Bruges, which gave us all enough time to explore the streets, and take some cool shots. After we explored town a little we made a few finds, the first being that Bruges chocolate was about half the price of the chocolate we bought in Brussels. And it tasted just as great. We also discovered that there was only one real way to see Bruges, and that was by boat.

So, we each payed the 7 euros to board a boat with 30 strangers and take a tour in French and in English (oddly enough it was easier to understand the French portions.) It was a very neat ride. My absolutely favorite part was when the tour guide pointed out that almost every time he gives a tour there is one dog who just sits in the window and watches. The first time we passed the doggy in the window was not there. When we turned around to return to the dock he was waiting for us.

In the afternoon the sun shine came out and we walked all over residential Bruges in search of their Wind Mills. Which we found and were absolutely adorable. We also saw a group of swans three ducklings and a mother Swan. The ducklings were molting and it was cute to watch them shed their baby feathers.  We also climbed to the top of the Belfry Tower 366 steps to the top...366 winding tiny steps to the top. It was rather terrifying actually.

 

The Bell Tower had a very cool markings all around the window sills that tell you how far away and in what direction certain cities are. We were so excited to find the Paris marker! To end our day in Bruges we stopped by their biggest church and took pictures of the Michaelangelo Statue there.  Very neat. 

We returned to Brussels happy, but a little sunburned. So we found ourselves some real food, NOT CHOCOLATE. And then headed to bed, excited to visit mini-europe the next day and get our super tourist on.