We sailed on to Belguim and docked at Gent. From here we took a day long trip to Bruges, one of the most beautiful and tourist-filled towns in Europe. I don't really know that much about Bruges because our guide was hard to understand, so the pictures will have to suffice.
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Canal at the edge of the town center. Click for larger picture. |
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I think they said that this picture (or one of the statues) is by Michaelangelo. |
As I said, Bruges is a beautiful city and very, very crowded. It's still worth stumbling thru the crowds. |
Bruges is at the end of the trip for us, but the start of the trip for the return trip group. The tour director said that Bruges is where they usual lose people due to the large crowds, narrow passages, lack of experience of the guest, and lack of knowledge of the guests' faces. We had trouble staying with each other and we know how to find our guides, etc. Also, if we are straggling behind the tour directors know us and can guide us back to the flock. |
It's hard to see, but the water flows from the horse's mouth. Speaking of horses, there are a lot of horse drawn carriages giving tours of the city. Unlike in the US, though, they move pretty fast thru the streets: just one more thing to jump out of the way for. |
Downtown square. Very crowded. Click for larger picture. |
Other side of square. |
Because Bruges requires an hour trip by bus to reach, they served us lunch in town. It was very good and very big. Meal was a great tomato vegetable soup, beef with some very tasty gravy, frites (french fries), and Belgian Waffles. For you beer drinkers out there: the beer you see is pretty sweet. Some liked it - some, not. |
A fabulous street musician. He plays the steel drum with his hands while moving his foot, which has bells on it. The diggery do he plays intermittently. He was one of the best street musicians I have seen. Click for a video clip. (Requires Apple's Quicktime) |
After lunch we took a canal trip. It was very good and we could understand the recording. |
That's Audrey. I'll bet no one else has a picture like this. |
Jenny waiting quietly while the rest of our group, Jim and Joan, look unsuccessfully for an ATM that will accept his card. While she is waiting, guess who walks by? |
Yup, there's the talented steel drum player. |
Then we started our walk. Jim was on the lookout for an English language newspaper. In this store we did find a copy of the Constitution of the US. Being a lawyer, we will assume he's read it. |
Sliding garage door. Notice the groove in the concrete. |
Jim spotted this ball in a window. |
That ball contains a lot of ham. From left to right: Joan (in back); Jenny; Claude (Dad); Steve; Jim (head ham). |
Another beautiful picture of Bruges. Click for larger view. |
OK - this is obviously NOT a picture from Bruges. It is a banner ad from the internet as I am checking my email. EVERY banner ad was for an American Green Card. Not everyone saw these. I did because I went into Yahoo from their German site. |
