Bruges is an adorably quaint city in the Flemish region of Belgium where businesses blare Whitney Houston and The Police. I was delighted to see horse-drawn buggies toting tourists to their destinations – there are very few cars in Bruges.
Like Venice and Amsterdam, Bruges is built around a canal system.
But we couldn’t do a canal cruise because much of the water was frozen.
Bruges has lovely medieval architechture.
This was sculpted above a residential doorway:
And I just really liked this building:
A view from on high:
And from down low:
Market Square hosts a fantastic belfry:
And a market (as the name would imply) and ice rink in the winter. Here, Squigglels and I are just taking in the very, very cold fresh air.
It turns out the Belgium is a good place to get Belgium chocolates. I paid 10 euros for a very small selection, and decided that I still don’t like chocolate, even if it’s very high quality. Chocolate-chip cookies excluded, of course.
I did enjoy my candied grapes, though they left me with a bit of a stomachache.
Tim and I are on a very vague diet (with very loose interpretations and almost no rules), but he decided that cupcakes were out.
I decided that Belgian Waffles with chocolate and bananas were definitely IN.
And so was a super-creamy, fattening seafood dish, naturally.
Tim was served fries with his beef stew. Of course. (There’s a big pot of said stew that you can’t see… they’re not this stingy). There was a “frites maiden” who was actually not a maiden but a dude, who came around dumping fries on everybody’s plates the moment they looked half eaten. Also, you’ll be happy to know that the Belgians eat fries the only True and Living way: with mayonnaise. Fries were definitely not excluded from our diet. We’re thinking of starting a stricter diet after Christmas.
We went to The Church of Our Lady,
and saw Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child:
I really like that in many cathedrals, there are raised lecture podiums where priests can give their sermons.
In the middle of busy Bruges, there is a quiet and beautiful (“silence, please”) monastery that people can stroll through.
To my delight, Market Square lights up at night and is even more fun than in daytime!
5 comments:
Wow, Laura! I am absolutely LOVING all of these pictures of your trip. It looks like you had a fantastic time! I'm so glad you had this opportunity!
I think after this post, Bruges is now on my bucket list. What a delightful place. And those waffles! They have a waffle place in downtown SLC that's called Bruge waffles and... oh my goodness...pure delight. Just so happens, they serve frites as well.
What a great post, and your baby is super cute!
Oh, I love Bruges, too. I hadn't even heard of it until you posted about it, though. I love the architecture and I almost ate my computer screen the food looked so delicious! Keep the pictures coming!
GORGEOUS!!! Makes me want to move there. Wonder if Joe would be game to that? :)
Um...of course Belgian Waffles with Chocolate and Banana's should be IN: It's grain, veggie (chocolate is a bean after all), and fruit all in one! :)
All those food pictures make me have phantom gallbladder attacks. But it looks so fun. In fact, I know how delightful Bruges is because I've been there. In May. :)
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