Bruges is a beautiful little town, full of Belgian history. It was founded in the 9th century by Vikings. The inner city is basically a little island with a moat surrounding the city. They call it the Venice of the North. Chocolate and lace shops line the cobblestone streets, while tourists get around the town by bike, foot, horse drawn carriages or boat along the canals.
Our first trip to Bruges (also spelled Brugge) was definitely a learning experience in many ways:
1. It took us over 2 hours to drive 79 miles! Traffic on the weekends (especially holiday weekends) towards the coast is just crazy. Even Lindsey who was sleeping peacefully, woke up and said, “This is taking a long time!”
2. The kids aren’t interested in waiting too long, moving too slowly, walking too much, or seeing too many old buildings. (Even a 30 minute canal tour was too long).
3. We need to have 30 eurocent every time Lindsey needs to use the potty.
4. The chocolate museum closes at 5 pm on Sundays, and we weren’t able to go.
5. The market square is filled with many cute restaurants with patio seating, but we had filled up on homemade ice cream.
6. The Belfry or Halles tower has 366 stairs to the top and we didn’t even attempt that.
7. Clearly there is a lot more to see and do, and we have plans to go back!
