Travel: Bruges 2016

In the Spring, I took a trip to Bruges, Belgium with my younger sister, Amy and my Mum. We had an amazing time in this beautiful city: eating, drinking, shopping and sight seeing.

Eating and Drinking

 

Everywhere you look in Bruges, there are chocolates and waffles for sale. The waffles at Go.fre (above left) were amazing and covered in almost every conceivable topping imaginable! The best meal we had was at Sale e Pepe, which is a small Sicilian restaurant just off the centre of Bruges. The food was fresh and delicious and the service and atmosphere absolutely spot on. 

Amy and me (right), Sale e Pepe

We also ate more traditional Flemish food at  't Huidevettershuis which was a in a very picturesque spot by the waterway, but was unfortunately having an external makeover whilst we were there. We bypassed the famous Belgian beer in favour of wine (may have had a few too many wines in the photo above actually)!

Sight-Seeing

Climbing Belfort (below top left), the 83 metre tall tower at the edge of Markt is a feat not for the faint-hearted. There are a staggering 366 steps spiralling up to the top of the tower which affords amazing views of Bruges, and of the numerous bells which ring out their tune to square below. For obvious reasons, there are restrictions on the number of visitors allowed in at any one time so you will almost certainly have to wait. 

A tour of Bruges by boat is an excellent way to spend half an hour and to orient yourself, and these boats leave regularly from a number of places around the city. You have to be quick with your camera though as they are certainly speedy.

Some of the best times we had were just wandering the cobbled streets. 

Shopping

One of the benefits of a girls weekend away is the shopping (which I very rarely get to indulge in on a family holiday, without someone looking at their watch). At every corner, there is something to tempt. I loved Dille & Kamille, which is a small Dutch home chain, Hema (another Dutch chain) - a kind of amalgam of Ikea and Homesense, as well as numerous other independent shops. My purchases were restrained by the fact that we were hand luggage only, and I bought a lace snowflake, some sweet postcards, a couple of cat magnets, some stationery including a notebook with a calculator on the front cover (!), some waffles for the boys, a Tintin mug, some tiny handmade pottery olive bowls and a T-shirt for my husband.

Accommodation

We stayed in the Triple Junior Suite at the Jan Brito Hotel which was only a short walk from the centre. The room was very comfortable and the breakfast was wonderful - a buffet of cooked and continental.

Love Mrs Jones x