Belgium: Brugge

We spent a great day in Bruges, Belgium.  We parked in a parking deck and walked down a cute road with tons of chocolate shops.  We were a tad early for the normal Belgium arriver, so everything was still closed.  We made our way down to the Church of Our Lady, but found it was still closed for a few more hours, so we decided to walk around the city and explore for a while.

As we were walking past the church we went through a cute archway and found ourselves in the most enchanting courtyard.  It was one of the cutest places I have ever seen and the view of the church was pretty great.

We learned that this place is called the Bonifaciusbrug, which is an early 20th century pedestrian bridge that has the most spectacular views of the canal and town. We were so lucky we came to the town early, because we were able to enjoy the views all to ourselves. I guess during tourist season, the bridge is massively packed.

We spent a good part of a half hour or more here just taking in the beauty around us.  The kids loved looking in the river trying to spot fish and ducks.  Kevin and I loved looking at the quaint little houses that lined the river.  The weather was a little damp, but it just added to the beauty.

After taking in the gorgeous scene, we kept walking and found our way to the Belfry of Bruges and the city square and market in front of it.  We honestly walked past the shadow of the Belfry and all our jaws dropped and we just turned in a circle taking in the city square.

The buildings all had these sharp points and steeples.  There were angels and beautiful reds and earth tones all around us.  All the fronts of the buildings were so adorable.

By the time we got to the town square, the town was waking up and the Market was opening.  There were cute restaurants all over.  I really wanted to climb the 266 steps up the Belfry, but we had already walked a bit and we didn't think the kids would last up the stairs.  So we decided to eat our packed lunches on the benches and enjoy the music from the bells of the Belfry.  We took our time and let the kids run around and just enjoy this cute little town.

After this kids finished lunch we decided to walk the streets some more.  As we were walking we found a super delicious and cheap gelato shop.  The kids were so excited to see it and since it was so cheap, we all got some really yummy Gelato.  I love how there is gelato all over Europe.

Just around the corner from the gelato shop is Bruges most famous chocolatier, Dumon Chocolatier.  The lines were pretty long, and the store was pretty small, so I stayed outside with the littles while Kevin took the older two inside to get some chocolates.  They got some amazing pumpkin spice chocolates and some melt in your mouth mint chocolates.  They were so delicious, that Kevin ent back in and ordered more.  He said he originally had a cherry one, and when Big Sis asked for it, the lady said she couldn't have it because it had alcohol, so luckily Kevin exchanged it for a different chocolate.  That would have been super funny though, if Kevin had eaten it, spiked and all.

We originally were going to take the kids to the Torture Museum Oude Steen Brugge, but when we walked by it looked a little more gruesome then we were prepared for.  Kevin walked in and came out and said no way, not for our littles.  So we took pictures outside and moved on.

The Church of Our Lady was our next destination.  We walked back to the church and were happy to find it open and the crowds weren't too bad.  The main reason we wanted to go here, is to see Michelangelo's Madonna and Child.  The church felt as all other Gothic huge stone churches feel, large and cold.  The ceilings were so high and the stained glass was gorgeous.

We enjoyed seeing the church, there were many relics and tombs that we weren't expecting to see. You have to pay a feee to go in the back of the church where the relics and the Madonna and Child are.  There was a beautiful wood carved confession booth that was super neat to see see.

We saved Michelangelo's Madonna and Child for last, and were disappointed to find the altarpiece under construction.  I was grateful, however that the statue was still visible.  Due to the construction, we had to stand very far back from the statue, so it was hard to see any detail or even fully appreciate the statue.  We learned that this statue is the only one that Michelangelo allowed to leave Italy while he was still alive.  This statue was part of looting during the French revolution and during the Nazi German revolution, luckily it was recovered both times.  

The kids did so amazing in the Church, that we made our next destination the Minnewater Park. As we were walking to the park, we passed by a huge duck pond.  There was a cute watermill and a huge field with so many ducks and swans.  They all really enjoyed seeing the birds.

I thought the park would have a playground, but I was wrong.  It did have a huge field that the kids ran and played tag and chase though.  They enjoyed being able to just run around. After a good run around, they all plopped down on a bench in exhaustion. 

We jumped in the car and decided to make a pit stop on the way home at the Sit-Janshuismolen, which are original and active windmills from the 18th century.  Monster and Little A were way too tired and complained that they didn't want to walk more, so I stayed in the car with them and Kevin and the two older girls ran to the windmills.  It was a great day and all the kids fell asleep in the car with in a few minutes of driving back to the hotel.