Throwback Thursday: Brugge & Brussels, Belgium

During our second year in France, my friend Sarah came to visit. We didn’t really have anything planned for while she was there – other than visiting Paris and spending time together – but after a few days of resting in Angers, we wanted to do something else. And, I really wanted Sarah to get the most out of her trip. So we booked some hotels in Belgium – one night in Brugge and one night in Brussels –  and hopped in the car.

We got to Brugge sometime in the afternoon and checked into our hotel – Hotel Koffieboontje. We got a really good deal on Booking.com, and the hotel was really close to the Markt square, one of the main attractions in Brugge.

We wandered around the city for a few hours, checking out the awesome medieval buildings and popping into chocolate shops, which were everywhere. Dinner was seafood and kriek on the terrace of a restaurant on Markt square.

After dinner was another stroll around the picturesque canals where we saw a ton of swans. Apparently the swans are a legendary in the canals of Brugge, and they really are everywhere.

In the morning, we did some shopping and a little more sightseeing. Seriously, look at how cool and old these buildings are. It amazes me that they’re still standing, and they’re so different from anything I saw in France.

 

Sometime in the afternoon, we hit the road and drove to Brussels. We had also booked our hotel for Brussels on Booking.com, but this one was a little disappointing. They said there was parking nearby, but it was, like, a mile or two away, and we had to walk through a not-that-great neighborhood to get back to the hotel with our stuff. After that, we had to hike all the way to the city center because there was no direct tram line.

We stopped to see Manneken Pis and Grand Place (the major market square).

My main goal in Belgium had been to eat waffles, fries and mussles and to sample as many fruity beers as I could, and we totally accomplished that.

In the morning, we drove out to the Atomium, but we opted not to go inside or to the top because we had to get back to France so we could make it to Rouen for Marc’s away game.

More Throwback Thursday fun:

• Christmas in Dublin
• Ireland
• Mont Saint-Michel