Friday, April 24, 2015

From Biking to Sightseeing

Our bike trip ended yesterday, so we are off today for a day of sightseeing in Bruges.  The ride to Bruges took about one and a half hours.  The Belgium country side looks very similar to Holland's.  In fact, I don't even recall crossing the country boarder.  No "check point Charlie."  Nothing to indicate we were in Belgium.

Typical Bruge architecture of step gabled roofs, makes it easier to step up on the roof for repairs.

Bruges is a beautiful city, but we found it to be very crowded.  Also  a walking tour of Bruges with a lovely lady, Yvonne, was not exactly what I was in the mood for.  

Yvonne, our Bruges guide.  

Guess I was still a bit tired from the ride yesterday.  Plus, I found the folks in Bruges to be rather unfriendly, boarding on rude.  What a difference from the smiles of Holland.  

The longneck swans commemorate the Count's friend.

Yvonne shared the story of the Count of Flanders.  Apparently, the Count raised taxes so high that the people rebelled   So the Count had all the rebels killed.  Afterwards, in retaliation, the people tracked down and murdered the Count's best friend who's name was Johnathan Longneck.  The Count was distraught and placed many swans in the moat surrounding his castle to always remember his friend, Longneck.  The swans are still in the area to this day gracefully decorating the area around the Count's Castle.   

Lunch in Bruges for mussels and fries.

Using the mussel for a fork.

We stopped for lunch at a little place that served mussels.  Finally, the girls were able to have their mussels.  Nearing the end of the season,  we had trouble finding mussels in Holland.  

The Hotel Dukes' Palace

After our tour, our rooms were finally ready at our gorgeous hotel, the Dukes Palace Hotel.  

Susie's Terrace.

Later we gathered in Susie's room for cocktails because she had a beautiful terrace attached to her room with a great view of the city.  It was actually one of the nicest evenings we've had.  

Susie's terrace for Cocktails.

We were not rushed to get to dinner and were able to just relax and enjoy the evening.  We decided to go find a place close to the hotel for dinner and stumbled upon an Italian place close by where pasta and meat sauce was the perfect selection.  





























It was an OK meal, but the dessert was

Finally!  A Belgium Waffle.  Best thing about Bruges!!

EXCELLENT!  We stopped at a little Belgium Waffle place and had waffles.  I added Nutella and powdered sugar on mine, which brought back such fond memories of my trip to Canada with Kenny and Sheryl where we discovered Beaver Tails.  Yum.

Italian Dinner and cheap wine.  Awesome!

The staircase to our rooms at the Hotel Dukes' Palace.

We were all exhausted when we returned to the hotel.  So we turned in early.  Tomorrow, Stevie and I leave for London.  Susie and Ellen go on to Antwerp.

Taking the staircase to our rooms.