Belgium

Continuing to get caught up... Way back in October for the long Columbus Day weekend we made a road-trip over to Belgium. We were still a bit hesitant to fly with Madison so we opted for an excursion in the car, and we hadn't been to Belgium yet so what the heck. Our first day we drove into Brussels - the capital of Belgium and administrative center for the EU. We found Brussels to be a nice city, clean with a very pretty square and an ample supply of pubs and good restaurants. All in all, nice but not really remarkable - except for the chocolate and beer.

The next day we packed up again and headed to Brugge; which I knew nothing about but that Shelly had heard was a neat city.

Indeed, we found Brugge to be a pretty neat place. The city has a small series of canals that are reminiscent of Amsterdam, while also maintaining a quiet old Europe feel. Come to find out, Brugge is known for their chocolate and beer, and we found them much to our liking.

In this picture Shelly is standing in the main square; just off the square we found a cafe where we could duck out of the cold to rest and feed Madison, and continue sampling the local brew.

We also found a small chocolate shop that had the best truffles ever, and I mean ever. The chocolate at this shop was the most expensive ever too; I thought we were buying gold when I saw the price per pound. We had planned to stay the night in Brugge but we couldn't find reasonably priced rooms so we called my sister who welcomed us to stop over at their place on the way home. So, of course, we had to buy my sister a few of the golden truffles. There was nothing in it for us of course. Riiight.






Here is a shot of the main canal in the city. This is the same picture you might see when Brugge is referenced; not surprising since there were a fair amount of people lined up taking this same shot.






Finally, what you have all been wanting - a picture of me. No?!? Well then, Madison perhaps?

We are back in the main city square now and getting towards the end of the day. From here we searched around a bit for a grocery and loaded up on beer - some for Chris, some for Marcus (the guy that runs the kennel where the dogs stay) and some for us. After loading up we made our way back to the car, where I somehow found space among all our (Madison's) stuff for the two cases of beer, and headed to my sisters place in The Netherlands.