Brugge, Belgium

sunday afternoon we flew out of vienna headed towards belgium. nothing too exciting happened. we did manage, however, to secure the last row of seats on the airplane.

it was a tight fit -

we landed in brussels and then had to take a train to brugge. while it wasn't a long train ride it did prove to be tiring. i was fortunate, however, to be traveling with two wonderful companions.

aren't they lovely?

that's one handsome couple :)

once we got to brugge and checked into our hotel all pains were forgotten. brugge is incredibly beautiful.

since we didn't get in til way past 6 we ventured down to the market square hoping to find a restaurant.

we ended up at a lovely brasserie.

the food was absolutely amazing.

in the morning we set out to explore the town. it was actually very small but packed tight with lots to see.

we hit the belfry first - it's that large 13th-century building to the left

for the bargain price of 8 euros they let you climb the 366 stairs to the top.

it's worth it for the view:

this is us after climbing back down and once our breathing returned to normal

we were mighty pleased with ourselves.

after that we hit the canal tour - it's just a nice little boat ride that takes you through the canals of the city

this is the couple that followed us everywhere we went in brugge.

they weren't just creepy. they were european creepy.

brugge fun fact: in 1488 the people of brugge executed somebody important from austria -- this important austrian person had a swan in his coat of arms -- so the court of austria punished brugge by damning swans to their lakes and canals for eternity.

and they say ever since that execution swans have populated brugge year round.

man those austrians are rough.

more pics:

we, of course, hit the belgian chocolate shops

and ate our fair share of the demon candy

we hit the local brewery, de halve maan

we sampled the frothy brew

and then ate some beer soup

absolutely delicious.

more sight seeing. the chapel of the holy blood

brugge fun facts: the church contains the relic of the holy blood. it is blood preserved by joseph when he washed the dead body of jesus. the relic was brought to brugge and has not been opened since.