Beautiful Bruges

After a month of traveling, we were kind of ready to have a calm weekend. Not that Paris, Aachen, and Antwerp weren't wonderful! But the idea of a slow weekend to relax and recover sounded excellent. SO we planned a two-day trip to Bruges!

One of the canals of Bruges!

Now, I'd never heard of Bruges before I was going to Belgium. I'm pretty sure that Daddy told me before I left that I needed to go there. And I am so glad I did! Bruges is this charming, picturesque, medieval town on the coast of Belgium. We took the train in on Friday morning, dropped our stuff off at the hostel, and then made our way into the heart of the town.

Best hot chocolate ever!

First we stopped for hot chocolate and scones at this incredible tea shop called De Proverie. The guidebook recommended it, and it was well worth the stop! Afterwards, we decided to go on a boat tour of Bruges. A canal surrounds and intersects the city, and the boat took us all around, pointing out different sights and giving us some more information on the history. We had actually just studied Bruges in the books we read for the Aachen/Antwerp trips, so it was cool to actually see the port where Italians set up their shipping businesses.

Cole, Cameron, and Theresa on the canal tour

After the canal ride, we stopped in the Church of Our Lady (Notre Dame). It was so beautiful! There is a Michaelangelo sculpture of Madonna and Child in this church, one of his only sculptures outside of Italy. I loved walking around this church and seeing the art and architecture of it. Afterwards, we wandered until we made it to the Markt, the center of Bruges. There stands the Belfort, or the belfry. We decided to climb all 366 steps to the top. Now, if you read my Hungary blog, you remember my post about climbing the minaret. Lets just say that the staircase in the Belfry is very similar,  but thankfully there are lights throughout it. So it was way better than the minaret because I could actually see where I was walking! But it was also even steeper in some parts. Not super fun for me, but hey, I did it! The view from the top was nice, and it wasn't scary because it was all enclosed (unlike the minaret).

Cameron, Adair, me, MG, and Theresa

We headed down and collapsed at the base of the belfry. We chatted for a while, but then we had to move because they were setting up for a wedding or something (Sidenote: Poor Cole and Stephen, the two boys on the trip. They started keeping count of how many times we talked about weddings, not to mention the discussions of hairstyles, clothes, etc. We were just preparing them for the future when they have wives and daughters). We decided to wander along the canals for a while. It was so nice! Bruges really is a delightful town. We found a great restaurant alongside the canal where we ate mussels covered in garlic-butter and frites (a traditional Belgian meal!). We just sat and ate and talked and laughed. It was perfect!

Mussels!!!!

After a great night at the hostel, we hit the ground running on Saturday. First we went to this cute market along the canal. It was a flea market, so I liked wandering along the stands and looking at the goods they had. Then we went back to the Markt, took a right and visited the Berg. We went into the Church of the Holy Blood - it was stunning. Very different from other churches I have studied, but it was so cool. Afterwards we decided to go to this brewery. We got there, and it was a little more than I wanted to pay, plus I don't like beer, and I wasn't feeling that great. So I decided to wait outside in this little square. Stephen decided to join me, and we people-watched and talked while we waited for the others. They said it was good I decided not to go because there were lots of narrow and steep stairs, including going down a ladder backwards! We grabbed some ice cream and went back to the center of Bruges again, where we found another flea market. After walking around and window-shopping, we headed back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff, and boarded the train back to Brussels.

Cameron, Mary Grace, and I

It was such a nice and relaxing weekend. Today Mary Grace and I went to this really welcoming International Baptist Church. We met some cool people, and then we sat in Amon-Re (favorite Egyptian place here) working on our papers that were due Monday!

*The alliteration in the title is for you, Mary Grace!