Brugge (again) An unexpected third visit to Brugge this year for the weekend with Lucy and Dom.As I’ve been to Brugge so many times before, to try to prevent myself from taking the same photos over and over again, I’ve started giving myself a photo-challenge to restrict my photo opportunities. The last time we were here I only brought a macro lens. This time I’m only taking photos with the camera on my phone.
Eurotunnel Friday - Across the Channel on the Eurotunnel as usual. Like last time, they snuck us on to the back of the train before the train we were booked to travel on. Unlike last time, I managed to get to the back of the carriage before they closed all of the remaining fire doors and take this heavily HDR’d shot down the train.
Eurotunnel Lucy’s car on the Eurotunnel.
Brugge Let the Belgian beer festivities begin. Me and Dom in the Bier Bistro waiting for our dinner to arrive.
Church of Our Lady Even though I’m trying not to take photos of all the same things as usual, it’s tough not to take pictures of things like this.
Minnewater Reflections at Minnewater. I think this is right at the limit of what the camera on my phone is happy with/capable of.
2be Saturday - We’re up and about respectably early. After a spot of breakfast, we pop into 2be for a beer on their lovely terrace. If 10:15am was too early for a beer, then presumably they wouldn’t already be open? Besides, we can’t come back this afternoon because it will be rammed and they don’t open in the evenings.
De Halve Maan After beer breakfast we pop down to the Halve Maan Brewery to do their tour. Judith and I did the tour a few years ago, but the brewery was refurbished earlier this year, so it’s worth another look.
Begijnhof We have twenty minutes to fill before the tour starts, so we go for a short walk. Just round the corner from the brewery is the Begijnhof, where they have this impressive stand of trees.
Square In the square outside the brewery.
Tour In the new brew room on the brewery tour. Through the windows you can see the refurbished bar/restaurant where we will be having our lunch later.
Roof The brewery tour takes you up to their roof, which offers the second best views across Brugge (the best being the ones from the Belfry in the main square). It would almost be worth the EUR7.50 cost of the tour just to come up here and look at the view. The fact that you get a whole tour as well and a complimentary Zot beer at the end is just a bonus.
View A miscellaneous view from a location that I can find no name for. The pleasant looking outside bar is called B-In.
D.I.S.C.O. Having spent the whole day sightseeing and bar hopping, we finally make our way back to our hotel (the Crowne Plaza) to discover that someone has built this massive stage in the square outside and they’re having a music and dance festival. We settle down on our hotel’s terrace with a beer to listen to a fabulous selection of 70s and 80s disco and dance music.The festival is scheduled to go on until 2am, but we run out of steam at about midnight. Time for bed.
Beetles Sunday - The remains of a hurricane are blowing across northern Europe today, so the weather in Brugge is miserable. We stock up on beer and chocolate before heading to the Citie de Europe near Calais to kill some time before our train leaves. These Beetles were in the car park at the Citie de Europe.
Beetles Same photo but in black and white. Given that the cars are quite colourful, I think I prefer the colour one. But this one is nice too.
Microbrewery They’ve opened a microbrewery in the food court in the Citie de Europe and they have a very respectable range of beers. As we were pushed for time and there were six beers to choose from, this taster pack seemed like a good compromise. All of the beers were excellent, but I think the “ambree” was my favourite.They also do some impressive food. My beef stew was excellent and Dom’s burger had to be seen to be believed. Unfortunately we were all so amazed by it that we forgot to take a photo of it.
Eurotunnel An unexpected treat to finish the weekend. Mayhem was ensuing at the Eurotunnel when we arrived, with long queues to check-in and get through passport control, so they were just sticking everyone on the first available trains. We only ended up on the train after the train we were booked on, which wasn’t bad considering the queues when we arrived. However, what was interesting about it was that, for the first time ever, we were directed into the double-height bit of the train normally reserved for coaches and people with roof boxes on their stupidly oversized SUVs. Being in there really makes you appreciate just how big the trains and the tunnel actually are.And so ended another excellent weekend in Brugge.