Carly here...I had to jump in for a "guest writing" piece because I'm not sure my husband's matter-of-fact, "policy" writing style can best capture the charm and magic that was the little town of Brugge, Belgium. However, he will edit this post because I am most definitely not a writer. We got to Brugge (Bruges) mid afternoon on Sunday, when the town was fairly quiet except for the main drag filled with tourists and the busy central square. Our hostel room was a luxury room as hostel rooms go...we even had our own bathroom! The girl at the front desk gave us the coolest map that tells young people how to do Brugge: from the cheapest eateries to the best late night hangout spots. We took her suggestion and started with Belgian fries covered in mayonnaise and the best waffles that tasted a bit like Krispy Kremes but of course way better. You can tell we are on a diet over here.
The best part of the town were the charming houses and stone bridges that cross canals that make Brugge the "Venice of the North". If its possible to fall in love with a town, I definitely did. We also rode bikes to a smaller version of Brugge called Damme, where we saw even cuter houses and windmills. My favourite part was just walking and getting lost in the middle of a maze of brick and cobblestone.
Being in Belgium, we of course had to try beer and chocolate (can you tell we like food?). We took a brewery tour at De Halve Maan Brewery, the only brewery left in the small town. Most breweries moved to more industrial areas to escape the cramped quarters and pump out more beer, however this one was so dedicated to tradition that they built a 3.2 km long pipeline to transport their beer from the town to their bottling facilityoutside of town. Can you imagine the amount of permits you would need to drill 3.2 km through the middle of a historic town?! Belgium is really dedicated to their beer!
Our chocolate experience came after a recommendation from my Auntie Sher and was incredible! Belgian chocolate is as much of an art as it is a recipe. We also tried their version of hot cocoa that consists of hot milk poured over your choice of solid chocolate. The resulting rich slurry was to die for!
I could go on and on about this place...please ask me if you want to hear more stories. Or better yet, go there yourself! You can see the pictures under an album titled Bruges at this link: https://summerineurope.travelmap.net/