Brussels

Brussels' main square

 Something about the way Rick Steves refers to Brussels as having the best square in Europe appealed to us. Something about the way he acknowledged that enjoying a snack on the square might be the best way to spend your time in Brussels clued us in to the concept of just staying for a few hours in the city. It made a decent stopover between Bruges and home.

We saw the essential sights, including the original Godiva shop:

However, we bought a box of Galler's chocolates. They don't export, so they're less well-known, but still great. Daisy loved taking little nibbles and passing them around to share.

Belgian lace is a traditional commodity.

Tapestry is, too. I fell in love with this one, of Holland's Keukenhof.

This little Mannekin Pis fountain is one of the tragic highlights of the city. There's even a whole museum of costumes he's squirted through. We didn't go.

 The Belgian royal family's palace:

 I loved this lion's startled expression.

Finally, I figured that there was no better way to end a visit to Brussels than by eating my first ever bucket of mussels.

It's rare that Chris and I go somewhere that we'd really prefer to never see again, but Brussels was one of those places. Maybe if we'd gone to the Mannekin Pis museum, we'd feel more invested in the city culture... Our recommendation: skip Brussels!

Bruges, Belgium: Day 2

Chris and I watched the movie In Bruges together a couple of years ago. It left such a wretched taste in my mouth that I used to tell him that I would never, ever go to Bruges, and especially not in winter. If you've seen the film, you know what I mean. Well, time does wonders, since I approached the base of the tower with barely a twinge of nausea.

Daisy did a pretty good job on all those stairs. At the top, we could watch the mechanical chimes and bells the size of me in action.

We braced ourselves against the super strong wind blowing down off the North Sea to enjoy the view.

And we ran back down all those hundreds of stairs. Poor Chris had to carry Daisy almost all the way down!

We visited the Basilica of the Holy Blood, where a vial of Jesus' blood, a gift in return for help during the crusades, is still celebrated. It has a wonderful interior, but photos aren't allowed.

 

 We walked around the city, visited the Saturday outdoor market, went to the Memling Museum, walked around the scenic Minnewater area, and took some pictures by the canals.

After a late lunch, we relaxed back at our B&B before going out for a perfect Belgian dinner:

Fries (really Belgian! Not French)

And melty, sugary, buttery waffles.

Bruges, Belgium: Day 1

We are starting to face the sad reality: we won't always be able to take weekend trips to Belgium. Even though it has been on our "B list," we decided to do see Bruges and Brussels last weekend because...well, we can. It's an interesting country; although the two cities are just an hour apart by train, people in Bruges speak Flemish (a Dutch dialect, and understandable to German speakers) while people in Brussels speak French.

Bruges (pronounced "broozh") was one of the most important medieval cities for trade and the arts. Once its harbor silted up, it was abandoned, but it booms once again because of tourism. 

I traveled by myself with Daisy on Friday morning and Chris met us after work. That makes the fifth country I've taken her to by myself. Scottish Maggie welcomed us to the Royal Stewart B&B, a gabled brick building tucked away on a narrow cobbled street. I would recommend it to anyone traveling to Bruges.  Gilbert and Maggie used to operate an antique shop next door as well for over twenty years, but it sounds like it was a lot of heavy lifting and stairs and they ended up deciding to just keep the B&B. Maggie took a special interest in Daisy; after lighting all the candles in the breakfast room for us ("And here's some music - you can dance if you like"), she carried each one to her and let her blow them out. This was after showing her the dogs, Jake and Jojo. She told me she liked my scarf. "It's from Scotland!" I cheered. "I know," she replied.  

Daisy and I went for a walk sans buggy to pass the time until Chris arrived. It was nice to relax and enjoy the charm of the old city.

Bruges' canals, making it the (eye roll please)
"Venice of the North" 

The artist Jan van Eyck lived and worked here

Fanciful architecture

"The Windmills"
Flemish and English are each Germanic languages

It was appropriately windy

More canals, swans, waving to people in boats, etc.
 Daisy thought that this canal would take her to "It's a Small World"

Stopped for some Belgian chocolate

Ended up bonding with the Dumon owner; her son makes
all the chocolate by hand. 

Daisy didn't want to leave

We waited in Market Square to meet Chris, watching
horse-drawn carriages rattling by

Chris arrived, and we were all hungry for dinner. Which was really what coming to Belgium was all about ;)

Dinner, complete with delicious Belgian beer (Westmalle
Trippel and Brugse Zot)...

...but more complete with pralines back in our hotel room.
(PS: that "strawberry" is some sort of marzipan creation)