Brugge, Belgium

Today we went into Bruges, Belgium. After breakfast and a shower we met our group guide outside the boat at around 11:10 AM. On the way to Bruges from Zeebruges, We saw thousands of new cars being ready to be shipped a derailed tram and huge windmills. The whole area was occupied during both world wars, so It did not get bombed or incinerated. Some of the buildings even dated back to the 800s.

They were a lot of horse drawn carriages and the horses look very well taken care of so much so that there are even fountains especially for them throughout the town. Strangely enough there is also a Japanese restaurant called a Tanuki… complete with a life-size to Nookie at the door. Mom also found a sloth next to a store called the Bare Necessities.

We toured a chocolate factory and learned all about the chocolate making process from the cocoa pods to the finished product. If anyone ever offers to let you taste a raw cocoa nib, shoot them. I was distracted by the fact our presenter looked like Sam Rockwell. The nibs are in fact nasty disgusting and they get stuck in your teeth for hours and hours and hours. But the filled chocolates we got to sample at the end of the demonstration made it all worth it.

We saw many beautiful places throughout our tour and had about an hour to ourselves to wander. We saw the Lego houses and bought some souvenirs in the Markt. There was a slight debacle with the bathroom as it cost $.50 in euros to use the toilet. One lady in front of me did not have any change. So of course I pay for her because when you need to go you need to go. Later on she found me, stuffed a dollar bill in my hand, and called me an angel. all of us were a bit shocked that the men’s bathroom had absolutely no privacy even for the ladies waiting in line outside.

We return to the ship rested a bit and then went to O’Sheehan for a snack. Our waitress was insistent and we ended up with meals instead of snacks. Mom had the meatloaf and I opted to have just the corn and mashed potatoes. We thought this would be enough but the waitress insisted that we needed some pretzel bites as well. She insisted this very firmly. It was kind of funny.

Tonight’s entertainment was called How to Be a Headliner by Rebecca Kelly. She had an amazing voice and some very dirty jokes. After that we went to the ship’s store and bought some Pringles. I think I did well to last this long without them. They even gave us a discount. By 9:30 PM we were about ready to sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day exploring on our own to a city outside of Le Havre. I hope that I can get us where we need to go without too much trouble.Read more