Bruges, Belgium

The rest of our holiday was spent in Bruges, where Bern had a medical conference. Bruges is definitely a must-see destination. The place is beautiful and everything is conveniently at walking distance. Above is the most photographed spot in Bruges. If you are thinking of visiting Buges, make sure you watich In Bruges, a movie with Colin Ferrell in it, to get a taste of the place.

The town centre

The Belfry

The city is best viewed by taking a boat ride along the water channels, and the cost was only 7 Euro per person. Again, there were no shortages of chocolate shops, and the best would be The Chocolate Line, but be prepared to fork out twice as much as the other shops. But definitely worth it. We are savouring the last few pieces that we bought!

Bern and I met up with some friends in Bruges that were also attending a medical conference. It was really nice to see some familiar faces, and it made us quite home sick. The restaurants here all have fairly similar menus, and moules and frites (mussels with fries) was definitely on every menu. I had moules and frites 3 nights out of five! Really fresh, tasty and plump mussels served in a huge pot, and normally cooked in white wine and garlic.

Bern as usual opted for steaks, but had moules and frites on some nights.

I always chose Belgian waffles for dessert. Some places were better than others, but generally, the waffles were light and fluffy, but cruchy on the outside. Really lovely, especially served with ice-cream and drizzled with dark Belgian chocolate.

Bern on the other hand was happy sampling many of the Belgium beers with his mate. On one occasion, they had four each. Considering the alcohol content (which was 9-10%, double of the usual beers), that is quite alot to drink.

City Centre at night

On the third day, our friends kindly took us on a drive to the outskirts of Bruges and one of the places we visited was Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves Cemetry and Memorial to the Missing.  Tyne Cot is a  burial ground for the dead of WW1 in Ypres Salient. Many Australians fought in this area, and were instrumental in capturing the area. The cemetery and its surrounding memorial are located outside of Passendale, near Zonnebeke in Belgium.

The other great thing about Bruges is that there are many tea houses around serving beautiful cakes. It must be the French influence. The baguettes here were just as good too, and that was had on many lunch occasions.

A tea room that Bern and I went to for lunch on the last day.

My hot chocolate was served in a little teapot and also came with a little cupcake. On the left are aperitifs of beef tartare on toast.

Bern's Croque Monsieur

My moussaka.

Overall, Bruges exceeded expectations. I am personally biased as I love France, and Bruges reminds me of France- beautiful, clean and most importantly, has good food!