Another sunny day in Balen

Thursday, October 01, 2015
Brugge, Vlaanderen, Belgium
We left for Brugge on Tuesday morning and had a nice drive via Antwerp to Brugge. The traffic around Antwerp is awful...always a slow down...to Manu cars and trucks. We arrived in Brugge in early afternoon and checked into Hotel Castillion which is just around the corner from Sint Salvatore Church in the middle of town.. The town is very pretty with cobblestone streets and canals and very old tiny houses. We stopped at a sunny terrace for coffee and a snack before exploring
We went on a canal boat ride which was really nice ...a totally different perspective from the streets and the guide was quite funny. Brugge is famous for chocolates, beer and lace and was a free Hanseatic city in the Middle Ages which made it very rich...lots of beautiful old brick city houses. We ate at a very cozy restaurant called Den Dyver which is on the canal. Very yummy food and service and atmosphere.
The hotel is nice. But a little faded. They are closing in January for a total Reno to update and add rooms.

Wednesday morning after a great breakfast we walked to the Beguinhof which is the famous convent for religious women.....it is a serious of cute little cottages/row houses that are inside a walled convent area with lovely old frees and park right on a small lake at the end of a Canal. We explored the area, found a little present for Erik and then went on a tour of the De Halve Maan brewery which is the last of 70 breweries that used to be in Brugge.. It makes the famous Brugse Zot beer....after a very interesting tour from a guide from Alaska we went to the bar and tried an unfiltered draft beer which was really good.
We explored the City Hall which has a stunning Rennaisance counsel room and the a wood carved ante room next door at another counsel chamber.. After walking back and having a coffee and a waffle with whipped cream we headed home again via Antwerp and a Stau..
We had steak and tiny, tiny fries at the restaurant on the canal near Balen called the Waterkant....yummy! Then watched The Great British Bake Off on TV.

Today we are enjoying the sunshine in the garden, doing a little laundry and we are going for a walk later as we are going to try to find an umbrella as it is supposed to rain in Lisbon at least part of the time we are there..
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