Bremer Blog: Bruges

We just got back from a wonderful weekend in Bruges. It's a tiny little city (town really) in Belgium that I didn't know much about until I saw the movie "In Bruges." Not sure if that helped tourism at all, but it did inspire me to go. So I booked a nice little weekend for Ric's birthday and we had a great time celebrating his 2-9.

Getting there was super easy... we took the Eurostar on Friday evening into Brussels, then changed to a different train and two stops later (about 1 hour) we're in the middle of Bruges. We got in fairly late (and I'm not the night owl that I used to be... ok, I never really was a night owl), so we went straight to bed. The next day we kicked things off with a yummy breakfast at our B&B, which looked like an old Flemish farmhouse and only had 3 rooms.

Then we went for a boat ride through the canals and got a great view of the gorgeous buildings from the water. I was really amazed by the architecture and how clean and nice everything looked. They've done a great job maintaining the character of the place, but so many of the buildings look like they've been redone and were really, really nice. After the boat ride we pretty much wandered around for the rest of the day. There was a pretty park, lots of pubs and restaurants, and tons of tourists (more than I expected).

Dinner was one of the highlights - we ate at a three Michelin starred restaurant called De Karmeliet, which is only the second restaurant we've been to with that many stars. It was an 8 course meal that lasted 4 and half hours. Every course was delicous - from the salmon to the shrimp to the venison to the cheese course and BOTH desserts. But four and a half hours was a little much for us. I know that they're trying to space things out, give each course time to digest, and the pacing is supposed to be a science. But pretty much whenever we eat at a nice place with a long tasting menu, I find myself wishing they would just bring the courses faster. Once, in Berlin, we timed it and a full hour passed between two of the courses. That meal lasted about five hours total. I'm all for savoring a great meal, but back to the whole "night owl" thing, when the clock strikes 11 or 12pm I start to lose my focus. Anyway, the food was amazing and the service was great too. Would definitely recommend it.

After considering how we could move to Bruges and both find jobs there, we realized it was time to head back on Sunday afternoon. All in all, a great weekend and a very fun place to visit that's such an easy trip from London.

Here are a few pics! More on FLICKR

Our B&B, the No. 11 Guesthouse