Bruges originated as a 9th century fortress built to defend the coast against the Vikings. Dominated by the French and then the Dukes of Burgundy, Bruges became one of Europe's most sophisticated cities and an international trading hub.
There are drawbridges all over to allow the boats to travel from canal to canal.
This is the lounge where we gather each night before dinner for our cocktail hour.
The lounge is also where they hold the lectures, port talks and entertainment. This is the only place where you can get a drink. We are not used to only one bar onboard.:-)
We took a bus into Bruges. It is either Bruges or Brugge. We were docked in the Netherlands but road into Belgium for our tour. The ride took about 1hour. We started with a walking tour to the center of the town in order for us to go to the bathroom. Here in most of Europe there are no free bathrooms. It costs about 50 cents to go. Most restaurants have bathrooms but you must order something in order to use it.
We walked past the Cathedral also but as it was Sunday, we did not go in.
This style of building is very common in Belgium. They used the step to fix the roof.
The Cathedral bell tower. As you can sort of see, they used several different styles of bricks to finish the construction.
Another view of the Cathedral.
After our lunch we decided to visit the Cathedral but found it locked up tight. So no pictures of the insides.
More Cathedral.
We walked to the canal where we got on a canal boat tour.
We road these boats all around the canals. You had to make sure the weight was equal as the boat would tip to one side or the other until completely filled.
As in Venice, building are right up to the waterline.
This is a example of the wood faced building of the past. They do no use the wood anymore because of the danger of fire. One would catch on fire and the entire block would burn.
They was one area where the swans swam along with our boat.
In olden days, there were gates around the city. The gates have been removed but the entrances still remain.
Not a bad motto to live by. The Belgium's make about 1400 different kinds of beer and each kind has it's own glass. You do not drink a beer from a glass of another beer.
This Knight was supposed to have a lead arm. He was the first leader of the city of Brugge.
A typical street view. The buildings are beautiful. Lots of the buildings are protected by the historic society. So no changes can be made to the outside of the building.
Central square is surrounded by small cafes and restaurants. We had time to waste so we enjoyed another of the Belgium beers before taking the bus back to the ship.
Every town has a town hall. They are usually quite impressive.
Most of the cities we have visited have these horse and buggy rides. The horses wear diapers to keep the streets clean but the people do not clean up after their dogs. Maybe dogs should wear diapers too.
Just another view from our walk.
We had lunch and then shopped a bit. I did buy some chocolates but that was all. Then back to the bus and our ride back to the ship. Once on board we took off.
Bob napped and I worked on the pictures. Then we cleaned up for dinner and met the gang in the lounge. They make the worst martinis ever so from now on, vodka on the rocks.
Dinner was good and then we stopped by the lounge for a drink to take to the cabin. Lights out and night night.
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