Bruges is a beautiful little place in West Flanders, Belgium. This city has so much character and grace you can't help but fall in love with the place. The ferry trip was my first, well I've been on the ferry from Dover to Calais but that was only an hour long, unlike this 14-hour crossing. Unfortunately, the days before we departed a huge storm hit the UK and though the storm had cleared, it left behind a very rough North Sea, and yes, I got very seasick so spending the night in the cinema room was not the most fun. 8am the next morning we had made it to Zebrugger, and onto the coach to take is to Bruges. The moment I stepped off the coach and felt the cold, crisp November air hit me, I knew I needed a hot chocolate and some breakfast and what a place to want this. We walked down the main street looking for our hotel, a very fancy 4* hotel at a very good rate, why was it so cheap? Because it was one of the furthest hotels. Oh well, a stop for breakfast was needed and we found this perfect chic tearoom to stop at. A continental breakfast so divine we went back the next morning for another delicious Belgian hot chocolate with croissant’s filled with decadent whipped cream and fresh cut strawberries and perfect eclairs again filled with the most decadent cream and topped with a homemade chocolate ganache.Finally, in our hotel room, we could drop our bags and relax, but not for long as I was ready to hit the city, explore and eat chocolate and waffles...I mean come on, you can't go to Belgium and not want to just eat chocolate and waffles, can you? and maybe a cheeky beer or 2...or 3. Heading back down the bustling streets on a cool November morning seeing the locals around getting on with their daily routines, I was envious of how much energy they had and enthusiasm to bike around the city. We stopped for another hot chocolate and meandered around the shops, gazing at perfectly formed chocolate and the amazing Christmas displays getting ready for the Christmas markets in the next coming weeks.
At last, we gave in and bought a waffle but this was no ordinary waffle, it was a waffle on a stick! and a very good waffle it was, covered in delicious warm Belgian chocolate. We headed back to our fancy far away hotel with arms full of bags packed with yummy chocolate to take home and then back out again to find a restaurant for tea (dinner). Unfortunately I had to bring my very fussy eater of a boyfriend along so we were limited but we found a nice little bistro close to our hotel that served freshly cooked homemade meals...including spaghetti bolognese, a safe option for the fussy eater, we drank Bruges zot and the night slipped through our fingers, finally was time to head to the hotel for a restful nights sleep before hitting the museums in the morning.So after breakfast, that I have already bored you with further up in the post we headed to the chocolate museum, unfortunately, not a museum just filled with different chocolate but we got shown how chocolate was invented and created and developed to what it is today. An interesting tour through the ages of chocolate making...and even better the free chocolate bar to eat on your way around. The shop at the end of the tour I was expecting to be expensive but I was rather surprised at the prices and bought some presents for people back home, and maybe one or two bars for me... ;)
We had no idea where in Bruges we were and which way we needed to go, GoogleMaps to the rescue, next stop, a brewery tour. We made it, a little early for the next tour so we wandered around the close by streets where we heard the awful news of what had happened in Paris the previous night and the possibility that Belgium may close its borders. We panicked a little but there was nothing we could do at that moment so we decided to sit down for a beer and enjoy ourselves. We headed into the brewery tour that took us through how Bruges Zot is made, the history and the future, a little look of Bruges from the top of the building and a free beer at the end, a perfect end to a lovely trip to the beautiful and historic Bruges. Back to the hotel and a taxi to the park to meet the coach, But the taxi driver drove right past the park and to the train station charging us double from what the hotel taxi charge was, luckily the train station was only about a 10/15 minute walk from the park. Safe and sound at the ferry terminal, so we thought, everyone was running around like crazy and stuck in a very long line of passengers, all because one guy wanted to bring shotgun shells on board...I was so ready to get back home and was not looking forward to the long journey. 3 hours of standing (and really needing to pee but wasn't allowed through security to go because the desk people were dealing with the shotgun shells) I finally got to find a toilet and head onto the ferry.We departed and I could not have been happier. I was so tired and Ash was frustrated after the long wait, we had a drink in the bar and went to bed. The next day, 8am we docked in Hull and we had made it home, my parents picked us up from the dock and took us home for a much-needed cup of tea, sit down on a comfy sofa and hand out our chocolatey presents.
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