In Bruges...

So a few weeks ago we spent the weekend in Bruges. It really did deserve a blog post before now but (insert excuse here).

Last night I got re-inspired. The movie "In Bruges" was on Dutch TV. Dutch TV is pretty cool. They subtitle everything.  Sometimes even the dutch.  I can't figure that out, but it might be because the speaker speaking Flemish and the Dutch need some help. I know sometimes when I watch the BBC, I could use subtitles.

Anyway, Bruges is like a frikkin' fairytale.

It really is! The town is built around canals which always seem to impart a magical feel to a place. Then, its heyday was the 17th century and most of its buildings stem from that era. So the architecture is spectacular. It's a lot like Venice in a lot of ways. There's nothing in particular to do, so the thing is just to walk around. It seems every second store sells chocolate and being it's Belgium they all look pretty good.

I'm pretty sure you could "do Bruges" in a day, but MC and I decided to spend the night. Turned out to be a good choice. Bruges was celebrating the 500th anniversary of their bell tower, an the event that only happens once every 500 years, it seems. They had a big party on the central square with musical groups from near (a Dutch choir) far, (a group from Spain) and then some apparently really big stars. 'Scala' is a teen girls choir that covers pop & rock tunes. They have started to hit it big with themes for Hollywood movies. They apparently did the music for the trailer for 'the Social Network'. They put on a good show but after a while the next song starts to sound a lot like the last one. I think I liked the local group that did a Dutch version of 'City of New Orleans' much better.

Scott & MC at 'the Lake of LOVE'

Bruges is like a frikkin' fairytale. There is no corner you turn without a spectacular view. We took a tour by boat, ate at a café on the horse taxi route where dinner was punctuated by the constant clip clops of hooves on cobble stones...

Even in October it was full of tourists. That you wonder what it's like in July.  Probably a lot like Disneyland in July. I'm glad we were there in October.