A sunny day in Bruges

I could hardly contain my excitement on the second day of my trip to Belgium. Having spent the previous day in Brussels, a city which had turned out to be the ‘shoppers dreamland’ I had anticipated, today I was to go to Bruges and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. My first impressions upon arrival were a mixed bag, where was I? I found myself in a large modern building, Bruges station, wondering where the quaint pebble-stoned streets and horse-drawn carriages that I had seen in so many pictures were. I grabbed a taxi to the centre and a mere five minutes later, found myself pleasantly surprised. All of a sudden my surroundings changed, I felt like I had been transported back in time as my taxi pulled up in the Centre Markt. My taxi looked oddly out of place in front of the old Belfry tower and amongst the many horse-drawn carriages lined up in the centre square. Bruges was certainly a mixture of old and new, and I immediately set off to explore my new surroundings. As I walked along the cobbled streets and amongst the medieval buildings in Burg Square, I found myself on a long street lined with a number of small little independent shops selling Belgian chocolate. Each one seemed more tempting than the last and I eventually found myself in a small little corner shop, sampling some of the most delicious chocolate I had ever tasted. After a (perhaps) longer than necessary browse, I made sure I purchased some delicious treats as souvenirs, cheekily sampling another piece before departing.

Slightly afternoon, the light drizzle of rain stopped and the sun broke through the clouds and I knew today was going to be a hot one! I proceeded into historic Bruges and found myself at the beautiful Den Dijver Canal. Here, I conceded defeat and made my way to a small van parked in front of the Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk (Church of our Lady), and bought some pistachio ice cream. I found a shaded spot under the trees that lined the front of the canal and ate my ice cream, listening to the sound of awed tourists as they passed along the canal on their tour boats in front of me, and the oddly satisfying click clopping of horse-drawn carriages on the cobbled street behind me. A short while later, I regretfully made a move to find some lunch, grabbing a spot in front of the Belfry in the square to enjoy the scenery and watch the return of the horses, whilst I sampled the local fare, moules and frites. After washing everything down with a crisp, ice-cold Hoegaarden beer, I popped on my sunglasses and made my way back out onto the cobbled streets. After a quick stop at the beer museum, purchasing yet more souvenirs, I made my way out to Minnewater, the lake of love, a pleasant and short ten-minute walk from the centre. Here, I stopped for a short rest and watched a large group of resident swans pass back and forth along the canal. After a while, I followed the path along a nearby river for a pleasant walk back down towards Bruges station, already missing the hypnotic clip-clopping of horse hooves that had followed me around the town centre. Bruges certainly exceeded my expectations, and I climbed aboard my train back to Brussels slightly sunburnt, but with a huge smile (and of course, a bag full of chocolate).