Brugge I say Brugge, but really we were just getting in a sneaky early 2018 visit to Ribs 'n' Beer.
Eurotunnel Friday - Still had a few of my Eurotunnel FlexiPlus Frequent Traveller tickets left, so we were on a train about ten minutes after arriving at the Folkestone terminal, having first popped in to the FlexiPlus Lounge for some free refreshments.
Ibis A couple of hours later and we were checked in to our hotel and enjoying a complimentary beer in their pleasant bar.
Dinner While we were driving to Brugge, Judith made us a dinner reservation at In't Nieuw Museum, which, slightly confusingly, isn't a museum or even near a museum. It's in a residential area a few minutes walk from the touristy areas and it looks much like house as you approach. It was very busy (there would have been no chance of getting in without a reservation), but the food was excellent. However, it was the only place I've ever bought a beer in Belgium where my beer was not served in the appropriate beer glass! Instead it was served in a red wine glass! I'm sure there will be trouble if the Belgian Beer Police find out about that.Anyway, if you like a good steak and aren't too traumatised by the prospect of having your beer served in the wrong glass, this would be an excellent place to go.
Reflections We took a meandering route back to the hotel, down backstreets and along canals. I think this is the best time of year for getting nice photos of reflections. It still gets dark pretty early (so you don't need to stay up late) and the sightseeing boats and ducks and swans are all long tucked up for the night.
Reflections
Fire and Beer Festival? Near the Burg Square there was some sort of festival going on. There were no signs up (other than the ones saying where to go to get your beer tokens) and there were lots of fire related displays, so we assumed it was some sort of fire and beer festival.
Big Candles This is what I mean when I say "fire related displays".
Bedtime Beer There was just time for one more tiny beer before turning in for the day.
Le Pain Quotidien Saturday - Popped into the excellent Le Pain Quotidien for breakfast.
Canal View For January it was shaping up to be a fairly pleasant day. There was a bit of a chilly wind, but that's not unreasonable or unexpected at this time of year.
Walking to Damme As it was such a nice day we decided to walk the four miles from Brugge along the canal to the pretty village of Damme. There were plenty of cyclists out, but few other walkers.
Damme After about 90 minutes we arrived in Damme.
Lunch We had a tiny lunch (soup), just to tide us over before the evening's main Ribs 'n' Beer event.This rather anonymous looking beer is a Sint Pietershoeve Bruin (8%).
Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Hemelvaartkerk After lunch we popped to the village's impressive church with the intention of getting a bit of exercise by walking up their tower to admire the view, but it turned out that it's closed until March! Doh!
Bike We saw this lovely old BMW motorbike on out way back through the village. It looked to be in excellent condition. I reckon it would be at least as practical as the Morgan 3-Wheeler that I've been aspiring to for a while now. Although I'd have to travel around in the sidecar as Judith's the only one with a bike licence. At least I wouldn't need to worry about her tumbling us over when we come to a stop.
Just time... ...for one more beer before we headed back to Brugge.
Ribs 'n' Beer A few hours later and we were safely tucked up in the one and only Ribs 'n' Beer (well the only one except for the other one in Kortrijk obviously).Started with the nicer-than-they-sound Signature Chocolate ribs (very much not ribs in chocolate sauce like the name sounds) before refilling with Smokey BBQ and Spicy BBQ and then helping Judith polish off her Smokey BBQ refill.I reckon I could maybe have managed another refill, but it would have been embarassing to pass out half way through so played safe.
Swans Sunday - Out for a walk around Brugge to stock up on beer and chocolate before we headed home.
De Haan We were going to go to the Atlantic Wall Museum, but it turned out that didn't open until March either, so we popped in to the pretty town of De Haan instead.There are some fabulous looking houses there (although it seemed bad form to take photos of them, but you can look them up on Google Streetview). I reckon this would be a really nice place to visit in the summer.The photo is of part of the seafront and beach.
Lounge A while later, back at the Eurotunnel terminal, we got to have a go in the brand new FlexiPlus lounge, which was so new it even still smelled new. That was a very nice place to wait for our train to start boarding.And so ended another super Brugge/Belgium weekend.