We arrived at camp around noon and had a quick cup of tea and lunch in the van. Then we headed off to Bruges for an afternoon of exploring. The bus was a short walk away from camp and we bought a 10 ticket pass at the gas station. We went via the train station and sat there for a while because the next bus driver hadn't shown up on time for work. He still hadn’t shown up 20 minutes later so our driver flagged down another bus that was going to the centre and we all transferred to it. We didn’t have any sights to enter and just planned on wandering around. We arrived at the main square and hopped off the bus. It was busy with lots of tourists; we had passed tons of tour buses parked outside the town wall and figured that it might be packed. I can’t imagine what it must be like in the summer! The town map we had was put out by locals for "young" people and mentioned that there are 20,000 people living in the old town and some days there can be just as many tourists! The map also had lots of other interesting facts and tips and colour-coded points of interest including sightseeing, bars, food, going out & fries. Apparently fries are from Belgium and not France which meant we saw “frituurs” everywhere.

Bruges is a really cute town and most of the buildings are brick. The canal goes most of the way around town so you get some lovely views as you are wandering. Many postcards had pictures with willows and other nice green trees along the water. We didn’t see a single tree in leaf since it is still too cold out, but there were some nice planters with pansies or daffodils. There are chocolate shops everywhere – nearly every other store is selling chocolate which makes for some wonderful window displays. There is also lots of lace for sale, some more authentic looking than others. There is also beer for sale everywhere and we saw lots of people heading off with bags full of it.

We wandered around the streets, peering in to shops and checking out a few menus in case we felt like eating out later. Anoop was particularly keen on mussels but at 24€ decided he would wait until we got back to France where they are half the price. Instead we stopped off at a waffle stand to get a waffle with chocolate sauce on it. It was very tasty and very dense compared to the waffles we make at home. Feeling re-charged we decided to walk out to the east side of town where there were some windmills along the canal. On the way we passed by a chocolate shop that had been mentioned in our guidebook. We headed downstairs to see the kitchen and saw the chocolate being molded and a tap that was spouting chocolate. We had a sample as well but decided not to buy from there since the lady gave us quite a sales pitch and seemed a tad pushy. As we were wandering to the windmills we passed by another chocolate shop mentioned in our book and stopped in. This shop was not as fancy as the other shops and felt more like a real family run business. The chocolates looked delicious and we decided to buy from there. We could have picked up a mixed box that was already prepared, but the owner said he was happy to make us a box without coconut ones (since we indicated we didn’t like those) if we wanted to come back tomorrow. We thought that was great and continued on. The windmills were neat and it was nice to be able to get up close to see one. However it was quite windy and we were getting really cold so we had a quick look before heading back to the centre of town.

We found a Belgium patch that was quite nice and picked it up to add to our growing collection. We also got some postcards and stamps with famous places in Belgium on them. Then it was time to eat some fries and we headed back to a store we had seen earlier since it was too cold to want to eat them outside. We got one to share with mayo on the side and enjoyed munching on them in the warmth. We then headed back to camp and didn’t really feel like cooking. Instead, Anoop picked up a roasted chicken from the grocery store and we made a salad.

The next day we headed back in to town after checking email and following up on our claim for the roof damage. Still no news as to when the part will be in, but we forwarded off a quote to the insurance company. Hopefully we will hear soon when we can get it repaired.

We set off on a walking tour described in our guidebook and enjoyed wandering past cute buildings and along the scenic canal. We really enjoy doing the walking tours in our book and they usually last between 1-2 hours depending on how often we stop for pictures. They give you just enough information about the buildings to be interesting, but not so much as to be overwhelming. It is also a great way to see spots you might not have happened across if just wandering on your own. Towards the end we were getting quite cold since it was very windy out and probably only about 3⁰C. We were a bit further away from the centre of town and noticed that the prices were also a bit cheaper. We found a place that had a coffee and waffle special and decided that it was time for a break. We sat right beside the heater in a nice warm room while enjoying our waffles. Anoop had chocolate sauce on his and I went for the whipped cream. Then we just spooned some chocolate on mine and added whipped cream to his and voilà, fancy waffles! They were very tasty and much better than the one the previous day. We met a couple from the Philippines while we were there and they said that they were finding it really cold. I can only imagine what the temperature must feel like if you are from a warm country! Of course, being from Canada where it always snows, we should be used to it… I say this because whenever we mention where we are from, the comment always seems to be “oh you must be used to the cold, isn’t there a lot of snow there?” At least no one has asked if we live in igloos… After we had warmed up a bit we finished off our walking tour and then returned to the centre of town.

We popped in to a shop that was selling mostly kitchen stuff for a browse. It was an amazing shop with all sorts of nice kitchen stuff and lots of smaller items which would be so much fun to fill a kitchen with. I was very restrained and didn’t buy anything even though there were tons of cute things I would have loved to have… I didn’t need any of them though and couldn’t particularly think of a use for them so decided that I would just enjoy the window shopping instead. It really put Ming Wo’s and Cookworks in Vancouver to shame and those are two of my favourite shops to browse! We then returned to the chocolate shop to pick up our boxes before returning to the main square. We wandered over to a shop where I had seen a purse the day before with pictures of Dubout’s cats on them. It really was a neat purse if you are a cat lover and I particularly like Dubout’s drawings. In the end I decided to get it and look forward to using it when we get back home. We decided that we had had enough outdoor wandering for the time being and returned to camp. We enjoyed a cup of tea with some speculoos, a Belgian cookie sort of like a mild gingersnap.