Trip Log: The Low Countries - Part 3b: In Brugge
In which I finally share our adventures in Brugge
We spent two full days exploring around town between the day trips I wrote about in the last post.
Thursday, 31 July - Around Brugge
We stayed in town for the day to explore. Things were busy but not overly crowded once you got into a museum or shop. We did the walking tour of the historic are and stopped at churches and other sites as we went. We had lunch at a random French restaurant I found online which was good, not great.
Matt and I went to two different art museums while my mom and Lizzy went off to explore around the main square. For some reason, cell service was horrible in Brugge so we couldn’t always figure out where my mom was but we did get a phone call or two to go through to locate her. They had done a bus tour of the city when it started raining which was perfect.
We stopped into a Rick Steves recommended chocolate shop which was very busy but everyone else was able to get a few of their personal favorite flavors. (I hung out outside, not needing to add to the chaos inside.)
Saturday, 2 August - Last Day in Brugge
We got a later start, knowing we were just going to stay in town all day. We did lots of wandering and shopping. In the afternoon, Matt and I went on a tour of the De Halve Maan (Half Man) in the old town. We also had waffles at Lizzie’s and walked around the Käthe Wohlfart store.
Where We Stayed
Whole house rental via AirBnB - located about half a mile from the center of town which involves lots of turns but a very lovely location where it was so peaceful
Where We Went - Brugge
Main church in Brugge (Our Lady) - be sure to find the statue by Michaelangelo
Renaissance Hall (part of the Liberty of Brugge)
Dumon Chocolatier (has several locations in town)
Museum Sint-Janshospital (art museum in an old hospital/hospice)
‘T Gezelleke - Typical Belgian pub
Cafe Vlissinghe - oldest pub (from 1515!)
Very beautiful pastry shop - Patisserie Van Mullem
Lizzie’s Waffles (not amazing but worth our visiting with our Lizzy)
Käthe Wohlfart - German Christmas store