After an emotional day in Passchendaele and Ypres we needed something different. Bruges should fit the bill.
We had heard Bruges was beautiful and it was another surprise. It was a circular city surrounded by a moat (a canal) and an ancient gatehouse.
All the streets were curved and narrow. It was quite easy to get lost. We felt like mice in a maze trying to get to the cheese – the centre square. That’s where the people were.
In the centre of town were all the restaurants, the magnificent medieval buildings, and the city square.
"But where", Allan thought, "is Angela?"
The Bruges museum had paintings of historic figures and events surrounding the ancient city hall. Bruges was the centre of medieval trade and an important centre in Europe.
There was also an unusual pair of basilicas, one on top of the other. We could feel the worn-down stone steps as we ascended to the higher one. The lower basilica was a dark but equally impressive church.
Allan’s dinner entrée of mussels was three-times the size of anything we would get in Vancouver. These Belgians love their seafood!
After a wonderful day wandering and feasting, we headed back to Amsterdam and our original campsite…electricity, hot showers, and a dump station! Tomorrow we would return our rental RV and cab-it to the Airport Hyatt for a change of pace while we waited for the long day of waiting in line, passport control, waiting in the mother of all lines, airport security, waiting for the plane, and hours of sitting at 550 mph at 35,000 feet. Then there was customs (twice) in Toronto before just making our connecting flight to Vancouver. Home to dream about our next visit to Europe.