July 4
We had booked a walking and boat tour for this morning. We met our tour guide, Ann, in the main square and headed off to see the sights and learn about the history of this beautiful city. For those who don't know much about Bruges, it is one of the world's prettiest cities; most of its charm is in the historical city centre, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It managed to escape destruction through both of the world wars. The city centre is egg-shaped and surrounded by a large canal which feeds into a canal system throughout the city centre. Bruges is incredibly busy at this time of year when it is filled with day trippers and passengers from nearby cruise ships, but towards the end of the day, when they have all gone "home", it is much quieter and enjoyable. However, even when the main streets are packed, you take a quick turn down an alley or side street and it is devoid of people, you think you've been transported back in time.
After the tour, we returned to a quiet park where we ate a quick sandwich lunch and treated ourselves to a traditional waffle before checking out a few of the chocolate stores to pick up some treats for later.
By this time, we needed a bit of a break, so we headed back to the B&B to rest up before climbing the 366 steps to the top of the Belfry. The climb wasn't as bad as we expected, and the view from the top was spectacular. Afterwards, we stopped at a café for dinner, where Philippa tried a traditional Flemish stew (delicious!). Then, back to the B&B for a bath and a good night's sleep.
July 5 (Philippa's birthday!)
This morning, we headed to see one of the many churches in Bruges (St. Salvator's Cathedral) and then to one of the famous chocolate stores (The Chocolate Line). Philippa bought a birthday chocolate bar at the latter. We spent most of the rest of the day wandering the quieter streets to explore the beauty away from the crowds (which were a little bit more subdued as it rained on and off throughout most of the day).
The day's highlight was a two-hour photo tour with a local photographer, Andy. He's a Canadian who now lives in Bruges and offers several different tours of his favourite locations to photograph. The tour we took was called Hidden Bruges, and it was perfect. Not only did we get some photography tips, but we also got to hear more about the history and culture of the city.
July 6
Today, we took the one-hour train ride to Brussels and settled in at a central hotel close to the train station. Here we have a tiny room, unlike the loft at Anna9. However, it's probably a good transition as we must get used to a smaller room for the cruise next week. We explored a little, but the main goal was to get a camera lens adaptor that Philippa had forgotten back in Calgary. Without it, she can't use her wide-angle lens. Luckily, the adaptor wasn't expensive, but we were very annoyed when we realized Philippa had forgotten it. Having it for the photo tour the day before would have really helped! Oh well, it might be why we need to return to Bruges in the future.
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