Cooling down in Bruges

We decided to hop on the Eurostar to Bruges for the weekend in late October - avoiding the mad rush out to the airport for once. We'd booked a 'cool down' hotel which we found a little mystifying - it turned out to be a little hotel in a 17th century building on the canals which was a bit hipper than the places we usually stay, but with no shower. I've never had so many baths as my weekend in the cool down hotel! (especially as it was so cold in Bruges- I had to have 'warm up' baths in the late afternoon).

Wandering around the city it really is beautiful - with very friendly locals and LOTS of chocolate - and canals of course! Although the tourists had died down from what are apparently thronging hordes all summer, there were still plenty around and the canal boat cruises were in full swing - albeit with us all rugged up against the cold.

Having not had any big Kiwi mussels for 9 months or so I had also been very keen to test some moules frites in their homeland. Not quite as big as green lipped mussels but certainly a lot better than the tiny little tiddlers that pass for mussels in the U.K...

On Sunday morning we got up and hired some bikes to have a bit of a wider explore - to the Netherlands. Bruges is only about 15km from Sluis - a random little Dutch town on the border - along the canals, with a pancake-flat towpath running the whole way.

Having reached Sluis we only had a window of about half an hour in which to buy a hunk of token Dutch cheese and get back on the bikes for a rendezvous with the train back to London. However, trains, boats and bikes all in all it was a very civilised weekend - we will definitely be investigating the Eurostar's other destinations for more ideas (although I might try and make sure there is a shower on offer at the other end).

M