Bruges, Belgium

Since my friend Nicole Horton, from Coronado and 5 year resident of Germany, INSISTED that Jeff and I visit Bruges while we were here, I thought why not try it out with Lisa and Beau as well...We were not disappointed. 


The Church of Our Lady

Since this is the first of three Bruges posts (we will go back with the Reeds and the Clarks), I think I will focus on Beau's favorite part of Bruges...the Chocolate!  There are chocolate shops on every corner and you can watch the art of chocolate marking in many of them.  We enjoyed samples from several chocolatiers but the best was The Chocolate Line.

 

Chocolate Poodles soon to be
displayed in the front window



They even have a museum
dedicated to Chocolate!



Carved chocolate royalty





This, I believe is the Brugian ploy to keep the tourists from bothering to visit Brussels.  This is a replica in chocolate of the famous Manneken Pis statue in Brussels.  However, rather than a water fountain, this is a chocolate fountain! 

I can't finish this post without including some of the beautiful scenery.  Bruges was a powerful port city in its hay day in the 14th and 15th centuries.  It is an extremely well preserved Gothic town with a canal, which used to be the moat, encircling it.  We took a canal cruise as well as a horse and carriage ride through this idylic town.