Part 3 -- Trip to Brugge

On Sunday, June 2nd, our family began to split up.  After having dinner with Ton and Tonny Hanse, we went on a little walk to a building that looked like a castle but was a youth hostile, and then we went walking along the beach.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures on the beach, but it was a beautiful day and the family had a great time walking in the sand.  Then, it was time for Matt and Stacie and Billy and Amy to leave to go to Amsterdam, as Billy and Amy were leaving  Monday morning to fly back to Washington DC, and Matt and Stacie were leaving Tuesday morning to fly home. 

Monday morning, Scott and Amy, Ryan and Jenny and Dick and I left on the bus from Westenschouen and traveled to Middleburg, about a 20-minute bus ride.  In Middleburg, we caught a train to Vlessingen, which was only two stops away.  When we got to Vlessingen, we boarded a fast ferry to Belgium.  That was about a 20 minute ride also.  Then, we got on another bus and rode for an hour and a half to get to Brugge, Belgium. ( Billy's wife, Amy, had encouraged us to go there and said it was a very nice place.)  The bus ride was a bit long and windy.  It stopped at every little town.  But, we finally got there.  Each couple had accommodations in different hotels, kind of like a triangle.  So, we eventually met up later in the day and spent some time sight-seeing.  The canals are beautiful, and the architecture of the buildings is so quaint and picturesque.  We walked all over the city seeing the churches, buildings and beautiful lace shops, chocolate shops, Christmas shops, etc.  It was so fun.  We also took a canal ride.

Above is a peanut vendor with a music box that played fun music.  He was outside one of the churches.

We saw a lot of trees that had their branches spread horizontally on bars.  It was interesting.

Amy and I pose on a bridge.

Amy, Dick and Scott near a canal.

As we were taking our canal ride, we passed such quaint houses.  So pretty.

Swans.

Scott and Ryan

This was one of the beautiful buildings in Brugge.  It had a museum inside.

Amy and Scott hiked to the top of this tower, 350 or more stairs.  Great view at the top.

This is the town center.  Dick is in the foreground.

For dinner, we walked about 3/4 of a mile to a little restaurant.  Amy is standing outside of the restaurant.

Across the stree from the restaurant were two beautiful windmills.

We spent the night in Brugge, and in the morning, Ryan and Jenny caught an early train to Paris. Amy and Scott took a later train to Paris.  Dick and I walked around the town in the morning.  Then, in the afternoon, we took the same route back to Zeeland that we took getting to Brugge--one and a half hours on the bus, 20 minutes on the ferry, 10 minutes on the train, 20 minutes on the bus to get back to Westenschouen, where the chalet was.

While waiting for the bus in Middleburg, we watched many, many people ride their bicycles past us--young, old, inbetween.  It honestly look quite fun.

The bus dropped us off in Westenschouen, and we walked about 1/2 mile to get to our chalet.  We enjoyed a peaceful afternoon and caught up on a little sleep. We loved our trip to Brugge.