After a lovely hot shower we all met up for breakfast at 9am which was taken in a beautiful old dining room looking out over the gardens. It was a buffet breakfast so all three of us indulged in cereals, breads and pastries, cold meats and cheeses and scrambled eggs accompanied by bacon and sausages. We filled our boots! The coffee was strong and plentiful so we literally waddled out and back to our rooms to finish packing!
After checking out and giving back our room keys we stored our bags in the left luggage room again and made our way out into bright sunshine to do a walk. Well, that was the plan but I wasn't able to work out where to go! Mum and Sophie trailed along after me and after visiting the Church of the Holy Blood and not being able to see it we decided to take a carriage ride through the city and then just wander about rather than try and work out the route on the map.
Now, you would think that in Bruges a half hour carriage ride would be very expensive but I thought that 39 euros for up to five people wasn't bad at all. The last time we were in Bruges Keith treated us all to a trip at night and it was magical but there were no horses around last night at all. Mum declared it was her treat and we had a very lovely thirty minutes seeing most of the sights with a running commentary from our driver. The sound of the clip-clopping of the hooves on the cobbled streets is one of the delights of the city and I never tire of seeing the horses and carriages riding along the roads. Half way around the route the horse gets a rest and something to eat and passengers can have a quick look at the entrance to the Beguinage, inhabited now by nuns.
Once we were back in the main square we paid the driver (and a tip for the horse) and meandered back to the area around the Beguinage. The Lake of Love is also here, which is full of swans and ducks. There are lots of little chocolate shops along the way, a huge church which dominates the skyline and several cafes and restaurants. We stopped in a little cafe for coffee (mum) and a beer (me) while Sophie had a chocolate milk drink and a coke. She paid the bill, bless her, and it was wonderful to sit in the hot sunshine and people watch.
I had to show mum the Beguinage which has existed in Bruges since the 13th century. Women of independent means would enter the convent and spend their lives doing good works. The last Beguine left in 1937 and since then an order of Benedictine Nuns live there. It's very peaceful and quiet and a wonderful place to sit and enjoy the tranquility. You can also visit the church there so we went inside and lit candles for our loved ones who have passed away.
Mum and Sophie mentioned the dreaded word "lunch" so we walked slowly back to the centre of Bruges to find a restaurant serving pizza as that's what Sophie fancied. The perfect place came into view - Pizza Hut - where I knew the prices were fixed and we could all share a large pizza! We were lucky enough to get a table outside and very soon we were munching happily on a Barbecue Chicken pizza and sipping long cold drinks.The bill came to a very reasonable 30 euros with a tip.
Before going back to the hotel and retrieving our bags we did a spot of chocolate and beer shopping and then it was almost time to go. I'd researched the train times to Brussels and the last one left at 6pm but I was a bit apprehensive about getting that one in case something happened! We had ordered a taxi for 3.30pm and while we waited we sat in the lovely gardens of the hotel and relaxed.
Our taxi arrived, we were whisked off to the station and then we managed to catch a train to Brussels at 4pm. The train was almost full so we didn't get to sit together but we were very close. It was a great opportunity to people watch and I listened to a conversation in English between two people who were clearly not English (one woman was German). I am always impressed with how well the Europeans speak our language and put us Brits to shame!
After a stop, a lot of people disembarked so I was able to sit next to Sophie with mum in the seat behind us. I had a little snooze and by 5pm we were pulling into Brussels station. We found the Eurostar terminal easily and sat in a cafe opposite with a drink as we had quite a long wait before our train left at 8pm!
Luckily we were able to check in at 6.45pm and it wasn't long before we were boarding the Eurostar and on our way back to Ebbsfleet. The journey home was much better as we had a group of four seats to ourselves and there was only one other man opposite. We had a quick bite to eat and then we were pulling up at our station. I spotted a luggage trolley and we piled our very heavy bags onto it, which was a huge relief as my bags were full of bottles of beer and chocolates!
The journey home on the motorway was fantastic. We pulled out of the car park at Ebbsfleet at 9pm and I dropped Mum off at home at 10.40pm - one of the fastest journeys we've ever done! I was mightily glad to get home before 11pm as I imagined I would be pulling onto my drive at something like 11.30pm. I just hope the speed cameras weren't working!
No comments:
Post a Comment