In Bruges

We had rented a car so we could visit The Hague and thought it a great idea to take advantage of the car and took a day trip to Bruges. Our rental car was a Ford BMax. Never heard of this model, but it was a great car to get us around in. It was economical on gas and quite intelligent in that if you out the car in neutral when stopped at a light it would shut itself off to conserve gas and then the moment you pressed the clutch, the car would turn on again. The drive to Bruges is about 1 hour 15 minutes.


Bruges is by the coast and with its many canals is known as the "Venice of the North". It is a medieval city and the historic city centre is a World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is a very walkable city with cobblestone sidewalks and roadways. The city is remarkably preserved and the architecture just fascinating.

We started our tour of the area at Minnewater, also known as the Lake of Love. There is a local legend that says you'll experience eternal love if you walk over the lake bridge with your partner. Now you have to find the right bridge to walk over and I'm pretty sure several people were confused because you can find a bunch of pad locks attached to the railings of another bridge. We found the right one so I think we'll be OK.

From there we made our way to the city centre. It had started to rain, but that didn't dampen our spirits and we explored regardless. The only thing that bugged me about the rain is that it made it a little difficult to take pictures with my lovely camera. The weather is out of my control and when traveling you just have to go with the flow so I continued taking more pictures than I know what to do with. The rain did stop eventually which meant I took even more pictures without the interruption of wiping the lens.

We walked through the market square and window shopped the numerous stores selling chocolates. We had lunch at a quaint little restaurant that I don't remember the name of and for dessert bought Belgium waffles with fresh strawberries. Sharing of the waffle doesn't work very well so we each had our own.

To work off the calories from the waffle, we decided it would be a good idea to climb up the Belfry tower. The tower was originally built in 1220 and served as a bell tower, watchtower and market during the 13th century. It has also housed a treasury and municipal archives. It is 83 metres in height and it is 366 steps to the top. The staircase is a spiral staircase and the steps are rather narrow which can make it a little tricky when you are going up and someone is coming down. Along the trip up (or down) there are rooms you can enter to read a little about the history. You can also get a very good view of the main bell. The bells used to regulate the lives of the city residents. Touring this tower is a must do in Bruges.

While all the buildings are built with incredible architecture that has survived centuries, a couple of particular beauty include City Hall and Sint-Janshospitaal (Saint John's hospital).

This turned out to be a fabulous day trip and when we returned back to Z's aunt's place we were treated to a wonderful home cooked Thai and Malaysian dinner.










What else but a Belgium waffle in Belgium?


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