Houses

Bruges is officially one of my favorite towns in Europe. It is small, old, clean, well maintained, has windmills and easy access to the sea, and is smack in the middle of a huge area of farm land. We were there for three nights, and I felt that was plenty. On our first full day we rented bicycles from the nearby hostel and rode northwest to Damme on small farm roads. We stopped for lunch on the back patio of a local restaurant, and then rode back into town through the tree tunnels.

On our second day, we walked around town, went on a brewery tour, had lunch in town, and then walked around some more. It was the perfect escape town, and if I lived in Brussels or Amsterdam or even Paris, I can imagine going there for a weekend getaway.

Cool Nik

Our lunch spot

Farmers

Trees & Canals

Tree Tunnel with grassy path

Tree Tunnel with Canal

Tree Tunnel with bike lane and Nik

Our B&B for the weekend

Cast Iron Pots?

Cityscape

A monastery with tree houses

Bruges

Shopping Street

City Market

The most ornate elevated train I have ever seen

We went to Antwerp without knowing much about the city, so everything was unexpectedly pleasant! The people were nice. The buildings were beautiful. The food was decent. Basically, it was exactly what I hoped a mid-sized European city would be with the highlight of Art Deco additions to many of the older stone houses.

Turrets

Wrought Iron

Grand corner buildings

Window detail

Brick & stone

The street of art deco

Favorite color

Stone

Shapely

Pedestrian Tunnel

It seems like this should be more than a car park

North

East

South

West

Museum Ann de Stroom

Grote Markt

Grote Markt

Seeking shade

The Cathedral

Old shopping center

The tunnel at the end of the tram line

Cemetery building

Antwerp Train Station