Friday, November 22, 2013

Bruges (Brugge), Belgium


The Venice of the North!  Well, a Venice of the North
Well, we had our first snowstorm here in Luxembourg this week, which reminded me that fall is practically over, which reminded me I need to get these fall pictures up!

While Bruges was gorgeous and we had a lovely time, Pete started referring to it as EuropeLand.  You know: cute, crowded, expensive, with little evidence of any "real life" happening besides tourism.  A bit of a canned attraction.   There are lots of places like that in Europe, I suppose, and it's the eternal paradox of tourism in general.  There's nothing really wrong with it, but perhaps we're just ready for a more off-the-beaten-path holiday next time around.  Variety is good.

Anyway, rapid-fire photo tour of our Bruges trip begins...now!

Train was way cheaper than renting a car (+gas+parking) for 3 days.  62€ total for all of us, round trip.
Settling in...
inexpensive apartment just outside the city
kids' room
Poor Daphne brought her homework
local beer, the Bruges fool
Market Square...

yay, bikes
the classic postcard shot
bell tower leans about 4 feet
Climbing that bell tower...

explaining the complex carillon
some of the 40+ bells
view of a canal
Canal boat ride...

in line with the other tourists
on the boat

evidence I was, in fact, also in Bruges (first pic of me in 3 posts on it)

Church of Our Lady
Swans, swans, everywhere...




Miscellaneous around town...

giant bike lanes!!
lace shops
convent courtyard
bridge on our walk into town
I don't know what this is but it's probably my favorite photo.
Where we stayed
End tour.

No comments: