Bruges, day 2

The next morning, we wanted to see the inside of the places we had already seen the day before.  We started at the Basilica of the Holy Blood.  The church houses a venerated relic of the Holy Blood allegedly collected by Joseph of Arimathea and brought from the Holy Land by Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders.  

 This window tells the story.

 We were there just in time to see the little ceremony that they do however many times a day.  There is a priest (?) who comes in carrying the relic, places it on an altar, tells a bit about it, and invites people to come to the front, pay their money to support the basilica and have a moment with the Holy Blood.  We didn't feel the need to participate, but it was interesting to see what all went on inside.  Whether you believe it or not, the church is pretty neat to see - being built in the 1100's with some of it remaining unchanged!

 You know why he's so happy?

 Because Benny and I were in line for waffles and ice cream.  It's a good thing I don't live in Belgium...I may weigh 1000 pounds.

 We stopped at a Pizza Hut lunch buffet, where Ben took a nap on the floor.  The food was good, but there was no dessert pizza - which was a minor let down since that has always been my favorite part of pizza buffets.  Let's be honest - any buffets. While he finished his nap in the stroller, we hit up a couple of chocolate stores and stopped for a sit at this church, which I think is St. Salvator's Cathedral.

 An interesting fact for you - see how raised up the road is? (It's back behind Josh and Benny.)  Well, supposedly, they used to just throw trash in the road which built up, got packed down, and is now significantly higher than the original level where the cathedral is built.

 These next few are inside the Church of Our Lady - where the Madonna and Child is located. It was being renovated inside, but was still pretty impressive.

 It's hard to explain how large this painting was, but it filled up an ENTIRE wall!

 I thought these doors were awesome-looking.

 Here she is.

 And here is a guy putting a vacuum away in a closet, that I would have assumed was a door that led to some super-secret spot.  Nope - just a closet.

 We finished up in Bruges and decided to hit Knokke Beach, which is about 20 minutes from where we were staying.  The boys had never seen the ocean, so we let them play for a bit (which was not nearly long enough!).

Benny has talked and talked about the ocean, the beach, the sand, the water, the seashells, etc.  I think we need to get back to another beach again soon.  Maybe a warm one this time!