Thursday, June 5, 2014

Europe 2014 - Part Two - Bruges!

So after our trip to Munich, we headed to Bruges on Monday.  We being the girls as Will had to work.  What can I say about Bruges other than it.is.adorable.

It's like going back in time, but without all of the disease and dirtiness.  Let's start with our kick ass hotel, shall we?  We stayed at the Grand Hotel Casselbergh and it was awe-some!

This is Emma on the little loft upstairs.  Look at the exposed beams!  Gah!  I know!!!
I know some people would balk at the exposed beams but I LOVED it.  The whole hotel was very modern, but they kept the existing beam and marble work of the original building.  It was fabulous.  Even more fabulous is the fact that they honored our reservation after I apparently made if for a Sunday - Monday stay, when we were there Monday - Tuesday!  Oops!  They were wonderful and I didn't pay a dime extra.
After we settled in, we headed out.  Dinner, exploring and just soaking in all that is Bruges.  Bruges is a city of canals and city squares.
We ate dinner at a restaurant right next to this ^ building.  THAT, friends, is why I love Europe.  It's a lot of outdoor eating and drinking next to historic beauty.  When I actually find a place that has outdoor seating here, it's usually facing a noisy street with tons of traffic, overlooking a Target.  Not quite the same...
One thing I don't miss about Europe?  Paying for water.  It gets expensive, let me tell you.  Especially for a water hog like me.
We walked around the town after dinner, popping in to the numerous chocolate shops as we passed them.  Bruges is known for it's chocolate and lace and there are plenty of places to chose from if you're in the mood for either.
The streets are all cobblestone and many are shut off to cars so little like Emma can run around as they please.  I loved that part of Bruges.
We had some desert overlooking the main square.  The buildings are colorful and look like gingerbread houses!
After desert we saw Emma eyeing some horse drawn carriages.  After we asked our waiter about the treatment of the horses and learning that they're treated like gold, working only 4 hours a day and the town having little to no car traffic, we told Emma we could go for a ride.  You can see she was really bummed...  ;-)
Bruges is FULL of swans.  They swim in abundance throughout the canals and they're so lovely and elegant.  But I'm sure the areas they come on land are full of not so lovely swan poop.




The next morning we had a light breakfast (if you call a sugar and butter crepe as big as bigger than Emma's head light) and started out to walk the city some more.
We had lunch and filled out some post cards...
And actually mailed them!!
Do yourself a favor.  Add Bruges to your bucket list.  Trust me.
And the rest of the post is an official photo dump.  Enjoy!











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