In Bruges

There is a not-so-famous movie from several years ago starring Colin Farrell called "In Bruges."  Its really quite terrible so don't see it but go there if you ever have a chance - its just as lovely in person as it was in the movie. 

This weekend, Alex and I took a trip to the little town of Bruges.  Bruges, located in Northern Belgium, has been called a tiny Venice because idyllic canals wind throughout the cobblestoned little city.  We've heard that Bruges is a "must" and Alex and I found out this weekend why people adore it so.

As I mentioned before, Bruges is known for three things: chocolate, beer and lace.  There is a chocolate shop on every corner and we did our share of eating it.  Alex and I returned with several boxes of chocolate and I must say, chocolate from the little chocolate kitchens in Belgium is truly better than any chocolate I've ever had at the Godiva store at Green Hills Mall :)

Upon arriving in Bruges, Alex and I walked 10 minutes from the train station to our hotel.  I was a little nervous about the hotel because it was surprisingly in our budget and the hotels, overall in Bruges, seemed a bit pricey.  When we opened the door to our room, I was delighted!  We had a large bed, lots of windows, 3 sky lights and beautiful hardwood floors!  Not to mention, the room included a free breakfast.  The Martin's LOVE free breakfast :)

Because I love food - and the food in Bruges was outstanding - I want to share a few of the highlights in case you ever find yourself hungry in Bruges :)  Our first meal - lunch on day 1 - was at Kaffee Pergola - a hard-to-find and perhaps-a-little-too-upscale-for-lunch spot overlooking the canal.  It was so romantic and delicious!  Alex and I both had fish that was caught from the ocean about 20 miles north of Bruges. See how cute!

After lunch, Alex and I took a canal ride to see the sites including the famous bell tower, the Church of Our Lady, the Bastilica of the Holy Blood and the oldest pub in town, dating back to 1515.  Here are a few pictures...

The beautiful bell tower at night

A delicious sugar-dusted waffle (and popular afternoon snack)

Alex perusing the beer menu at the oldest pub (circa 1515 - that's OLD!)

Our dinners in Bruges were off the charts.  Another restaurant that I have to mention was called Tom's Diner. Recommended to us by the Queens, Tom's Diner alone was worth the 3 hour train ride to Bruges.  On the outskirts of town in an old building, you'd never find Tom's unless you were looking.  http://www.tomsdiner.be/

One of my favorite parts of our trip was our bike ride to Damme.  Alex and I rented bikes for a day and headed North along the canal to the next town several miles away called Damme.  Here I am at the bike rental shop prior to the trip.  Yes, I'm unfortunately wearing a lot of clothes for June.  I'm not in the South anymore :(

Alex and I decided to take some video of the ride so we made it into a little YouTube link that you can view below.  There are a few pictures, along with a few minutes of video.  Please forgive the bumps - we were riding on cobblestone and that is VERY evident in the taping :)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUNxNI9WtSI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Enjoy!

Love until next time...Melanie