Into the Lion's Den in Bruges...

After getting ready we were all set to hit the town! I didn't really know where to go for our evening meal, just to avoid the main square as the prices there were pretty expensive, or so I was told. We slowly made our way along one of the main canals and found ourselves in a small square near to where the canal boats are kept. This area is very pretty with a couple of bars and restaurants and old cobbled streets but was very quiet as a lot of tourists just come to Bruges for the day.

We sat at a bar/restaurant and Mum ordered a whisky and Sprite. Although I love the beer in Bruges I felt like something stronger too, so I joined her and Sophie asked for a Diet Coke, even though at 16 she is legally allowed a glass of wine or beer as well!

The bar was virtually empty with just one other couple sitting behind us and although a few people walked by and looked at the menu nobody stopped. The waiters were friendly enough but for some reason I felt a wee bit uncomfortable and this is where I really missed having my husband with me! He normally takes charge when we go out for a drink and I never have to pay (or if I say I'll treat him I give him the money before we go out - old-fashioned, I know, but it works for us!).

We sat there for perhaps three quarters of an hour and did consider eating there too, but the prices were a mite on the steep side - 3 euros for a portion of French fries, 8 euros for a side dish of vegetables, 12 euros for a plain omelette... no wonder people looked at the menu and moved on! I knew beforehand that a whisky was 7.50 euros (in all fairness a double measure) but I still received a shock when we were told how much the bill was - a steep 25 euros! This meant that we'd paid 10 euros for the two Sprites and a Diet Coke!

Now, I'm not a miserly person by any means but I really hate the feeling of being ripped off and this is how I felt as we walked away from the restaurant. The only consolation I had was that the place was now completely deserted!

Avoiding the main square we returned to the street where we'd had lunch and picked a small restaurant called De Bourgondier which specialised in Fondue dishes and hearty steaks and grills. Again, the place was very quiet but as it was getting a bit chilly we sat inside right next to a lovely fire. Mum ordered a glass of red wine, I had a very delicious beer and Sophie stuck with Coke. We nibbled on some bread and butter and all three of us chose the mixed grill which consisted of lamb, beef, chicken and a sausage accompanied by the ubiquitous French Fries and salad. The waitress, who was lovely, asked if we wanted any sauces with our meal so we all chose a Bearnaise sauce.

The meal was very good with lovely tender meat and two huge pots of sauce. Sophie decided she didn't like it so mum and I just had a fraction drizzled over our meat. I indulged in a second glass of beer and then we looked at the dessert menu, although there was nothing on there we fancied, which was Belgian waffles and ice-cream!

We asked for the bill and Mum said she would pay it as a thank you to me for organising the whole trip. We were pretty shocked when we saw it totalled 93 euros!! 9 of this was for the sauce which was unbelievable!! How could they justify 9 euros for some sauce?? Looking back I really should have said something but there were only two other couples in the restaurant and our waitress was lovely, so we just paid the bill on Mum's credit card and I didn't leave a tip, figuring that the price of the sauce could cover that as it would have been 10%!

We ambled off slowly to find a place that served waffles and ended up peering into different hotels and looking at their menus. One place was offering "Light Bites" - Parma ham and melon for 18 euros...excuse me??? Bruges seemed much, much more expensive than when we were here last!

The Belfry in the late evening sunlight

Eventually we made our way back to the main square and went into one ice-cream parlour which advertised its closing time as 11pm only to be told it was take-away only! Feeling a bit miffed by now as it was past 10pm we made our third mistake of the night and ventured into the Lion's Den also known as Cafe Craenenburg...

Now, there seems to be a bit of confusion here as we sat down and asked for waffles with chocolate ice-cream and I noticed that waffles with bananas were priced at 5.60 euros so I didn't think that waffles with ice-cream would be any different. How wrong I was! I ordered a Tia Maria which I probably didn't need and our bill came to a shocking 34 euros! I felt like running into the square and just hurling euros at passers-by as I really did feel now that the inhabitants of Bruges were taking the p**s out of us!

We called a waiter over when the desserts arrived and asked what one of the charges, amounting to 5.60 euros, was for and we were told it was the ice-cream. We also had the tiniest jug of chocolate sauce you could imagine (maybe I should have told De Bourgondier and they could have swapped jugs!).

This meant that per waffle we paid 9.20 euros! I can't even say they tasted delicious because they were like dry cardboard and I did get the feeling that if we'd had our men with us this wouldn't have happened! I did have a go at one of the waiters but he just shrugged and said that the prices were on the menu and that was that. Well, do I need to say that I didn't leave a tip and I made him count the change out from my two 20 euro notes in front of me!

Back at the hotel I called my poor husband and ranted down the phone to him for a good 15 minutes. I said that the next day I wasn't going to part with a cent more of my money and that I'd rather wait and get a McDonald's in the UK than spend any more money in Bruges. I told Mum and Sophie to "fill their boots" at breakfast so we wouldn't need to have lunch and I believe I was still ranting away in my sleep when I finally dropped off! Would I keep to my vow? Hmm...let's wait and see!