By some wonderful miracle, all the stars aligned and Nato & Robin had a chance to go into Belgium for a weekend alone.
We stayed in a little town up north called Brugge.
The city had a neat water canal system used many years ago for transportation as well as defense.
We were able to take a boat ride along the canals and have a water view tour of the city.
It was very photographic. Unfortunately we forgot our camera and so Robin's brother Cliff lent us these that he took on his trip up there last fall.
Cliff: From the spot where you took this photo. If you were to turn to your left you would be looking right at our hotel. We stayed that close to all the downtown tourist stuff. It was really neat.
This town has a chapel with a real Michelangelo statue of "Mother and Child." We got to see it first hand, but alas no photo.
There were tours to take you up to the top of this tower, but we didn't want to wait. Robin's fear of height had NOTHING to do with this decision.
Most of the buildings had this boxy triangle look to them. ( I am sorry but I can't think of a better way to say it.)
Brugge is famous for handmade lace and homemade chocolate. We walked into many stores and it was fun. One store would be lace. The next a chocolate shop. Then a lace store. Followed by chocolate. Occasionally there would be a bakery with Belgium waffles and of course postcards.
The trip was a lot of fun and exhausting. It is amazing how much ground you can cover when there are not 2 strollers and 7 children in tow. What a weekend.
Thanks again to Cliff for sharing his photos!
