(9 to 12 April) We are in Bruges, once one of the largest trading centres in the world, and famous for chocolate, and beer, and now tourism. It is one of the best preserved medieval cities because it was not bombed or pillaged during the two world wars, so it has many historic buildings. It also has canals, although not as many as Venice.
We got here by riding the high speed Eurostar train from Amsterdam to Brussels, then a slower Intercity train to Bruges. The second was very full, and we were dismayed at the number of people who were coughing and sneezing. So far we've escaped colds and flu - long may it last.
Today we set out early to beat the crowds for a cruise on the canals. We enjoyed the cruise, helped by the commentary being in English. Although we were in the back of the boat so couldn't hear a lot of it! After a coffee in the weak sun we did the "Historium" in the main square, a sort of interactive museum for tourists including a short Virtual Reality experience. And we climbed up the tower. Bruges is known for the 80 metre bell tower which you can also climb, but Sue vetoed that idea and we instead climbed the shorter Historium Tower.
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| The famous bell tower of Bruges. |
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| The neighbours, view from our windows. |
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| Our cat. |
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| Our stairs. |
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| The smallest stained glass window in Bruges (the world?) - centre right. |
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| Our cruise boat was like this one. |
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| The Grand Place from the Historium Tower. |
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| Descending the Historium Tower. |
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| The city has plenty of pleasant green areas and parks too. |
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| The Begijnhof. |
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| Outside the Groeninge Museum. Typical Bruges cobbled street. And Sue. |
