We left our room in Brussels and walked to the train station. The people at the train station were not very helpful & figuring out which train we needed to catch was a little bit of an issue. We were finally told to go to a boarding area and got on a train heading to Bruges. Unfortunately, when the ticket agent came around, he told us that we should have gotten on the direct train which is a little over an hour, this one had lots of stops and would take 2.5 hours or so. We didn’t think that would be so bad until the train got stopped due to an accident on the tracks ahead & delayed us for about another hour. We finally got to Bruges & made the mile walk to our accommodations. My daughter had found this place for us in a 1500’s building that is now owned by an artist. He has 2 rooms he rents out with a 3 course breakfast every morning. It was the most amazing room I have ever stayed in.

His artwork hung on all the walls. He even stocked the fridge with free water & a few of his favorite local beers. After that long travel I was ready to take a short rest & enjoy the incredible view from our room with a cold beer.

The bottom of the building served as his art studio & had a garden that was only available to his guests with a view straight out of a fairy tale.

One of the most famous bridges in town was just a few steps from our door.

The other side had an entrance to a beautiful park where some visitors would enjoy the view via carriage.

The best thing about this is it made it very quiet at night. While we had people taking pictures on the bridge all day the whole courtyard was shutdown at night and it was quiet and peaceful. The windows in most of Europe have no screens and this place had 1500’s circa stained glass windows. We were afraid that the winds would slam the windows and break these one of a kind stained glass! We also learned that the area has no-see-ums that would bite you while you slept. My wife thought it was bedbugs the first day but I convinced her what it was since we only had them on places outside of the sheets.

Walking around Bruges takes you back in time like no other place. The architecture is breathtaking with endless brickwork. We quickly learned though that most visitors just day trip here so we could have the city to ourselves if we did stuff before 10am or after 4pm. In between that it could get overwhelmingly crowded.

The canals flow all through the town but are only used by authorized tour boats. The tours are not expensive & come in all different languages. We did one that our guide spoke 5 different languages. They ask you what language you prefer as you get on the boat.

The swans were the stars here & knew how to pose for me.

On our boat tour I learned something I had never thought of, where the term “pigeon hole” comes from. Since the 1500’s in Bruges they used pigeons to deliver mail. You can still see the “pigeon holes” in some of the older buildings. It is where the carrier pigeon would enter the building. You can see it here above the windows in the center.

After a long day of walking, my wife wanted to climb the tower made famous in the movie “In Bruges” which happened to also be one of the only DVD’s at our accommodations. We had watched in the night before on a pull down screen in the room. I was too beat to go but she got a few good pictures despite shooting through a screen and fighting her dress from flying over her head!

Our last day they had a market in the town center and it was a nice way to wrap up our time in this lovely place.

We also had plenty of amazing beers here which I may have to do in a separate story as this is getting long. The food is great here too and I can not more highly encourage visiting. You can learn more about the history of Bruges here. If any of you do go, I can give you more info on the place to stay, amazingly inexpensive for a once in a lifetime experience.