Our taxi van picked us up predawn to take us to the train station for our expedition to Bruges. This side trip started with Anne’s dream of visiting Bruges after seeing the movie In Bruges. We found our way to our correct platform after appreciating our English-Speaker privilege. I need to confirm that I am getting on the right vehicle in order to have no anxiety. We had no trouble finding people who would affirm for us that we were in the right place. We repeated the same process in Antwerp and boarded the train for Bruges.

We have decided that coffee here is delicious. However the default portion size can be destressingly small. Denise did a little dance of joy when she found a large coffee as we boarded the train in Antwerp.

We arrived in Bruges and found a picturesque medieval city known for chocolate, waffles and lace. But the first thing we had to do was climb the belfry. We waited for an hour for the privilege of climbing 366 very steep, very twisty step for an incredible view.

We all made it to the top and were well rewarded.

We then tried to find an affordable lunch in a totally touristic site, and when we failed we ate like kings- Flemish stew, mussels in wine sauce and frites. Life is good. We took a canal tour to get the best view of town before taking the train back to Amsterdam.

Our final stop before getting chocolate and a waffle was to see a rare statue, a Madonna and child statue by Michael Angelo. There are few outside Italy.

We are still jet lagged but having too much fun to complain.