Bruges

After we had had enough of Amsterdam, we decided to stop in Bruges on the way home.  It is a little gem of a city and we will likely make it there again sometime.  Does anybody want to volunteer to come with me? Benson learned in Bruges that the horse says, "clip-clop".  There were charming carriage tours around the city, so he was always on the lookout for some horsies.  We can't take a carriage tour however, because our children have sensitive noses.  Brigham is like a hound dog, always the first one to notice any new scent.  Benny has an allergy to poop.  Anytime he smells it (even his own) he begins to dry-heave.  We will stick with the boat tours.  Those likely draw fewer looks for our family.  

 

The Church of Our Lady tower, one of the world's tallest brick buildings/towers.  Michelangelo's Madonna and Child is found here.

 Josh and the boys, with the Belfry tower in the distance.

The boys and me.  I don't remember being as mad as I look here...

The boys were waiting for me while I waited for some lunch in a crowded little cafe.

Eating Josh's ham and cheese sandwich while I wait for the rest of the order (see waffle picture below).

Brigham's favorite way to see Europe!

Entering the back door of the belfry tower courtyard.

Market Square

One of Bruges' most famous landmarks - the 13th century belfry, housing a municipal carillon comprising of 48 bells.  A full-time carillonneur is still employed by the city.

The city hall on Burg square.

The Basilica of the Holy Blood.

The boys, sharing tastes of lollipops.

 Another view of city hall.

We went to a chocolate museum, Choco-Story.  The museum itself was pretty boring, all about the history of chocolate.  We learned some things, so I guess it was worthwhile.  

They did do a demonstration at the end of the tour.  The chocolatier gave the demonstration in 3 languages, one sentence at a time.  I feel really stupid and ignorant, speaking only one language (and it not very well sometimes!). And we got a delicious little morsel at the end, which definitely made it worthwhile.  Ahh - Belgian chocolate.

 Waiting for our 'boat ride'.

Josh set up the camera on the tripod and used the remote to take these photos.  I put both of the pictures so you can see him in his new photo-taking pose.  

Some beautiful canal shots.

This bridge was so wide! It was low too, so almost all of the men on the boat reached up to touch it as we went underneath! (Just like my 5th-grade boys used to do as they would leave the classroom and jump to touch the doorway.  I guess it's a male thing.)

My boys.

Another view of the belfry.

A cool mailbox deserves a picture, right?

 And so does a garbage can, apparently.

Smelling the tulips (and doing something else!?) outside the hotel.

A family shot by the swans.  We were out in the evening and practically had the whole town to ourselves.

 I hadn't seen a wall like this before, although Josh said they have them all over the world.  There was broken glass all over the top, to keep out intruders and whatever else.

The other side of the dangerous-looking wall.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of whatever was over there!

 Benny, enjoying a quiet bench.  He sat there while I ordered waffles and Brigham sat in the runaway stroller.  I went to pay for the waffles (yes, we had them again that day) and turned to find that the stroller was missing!  Brigham had rolled into a nice English couple about 20 feet awaywho were enjoying their evening at the outside tables.  Luckily they were nice and they saw him coming and caught him before he crashed into them.  They didn't seem too bothered, which I was grateful for.

Day 2 Bruges coming soon.  Pictures take forever to load!