But the trip almost didn't happen. The weekend before we were supposed to leave, one of the Eurostar trains got stuck in the channel tunnel (the people actually had to walk out) which stopped all trains for a couple days. Because of the backlog, they had pushed all scheduled trains back a day which was a problem for us since we had non refundable reservations for everything. 10pm the night before we were originally scheduled to leave, I checked my email and saw one from Eurostar saying we could now go on our scheduled day but it was a first come first serve basis. We had to quickly pack and layed down for 1 hour of sleep before we had to catch our 3:30am bus to go into London. We made it and lucky for us, because we had a child with us, they put us on the first train out. Everything went perfect from there.
This city holds many fond memories for me. The summer before Jacob and I got married, I returned home to Holland to visit my family. While there my mom and I decided to take one last trip to Brugge before I got married, so we set off for a day trip into the city (a few hours away from our home).
The whole innercity of Brugge has cobble stone streets and horse carriages trot along.
Many of the Chocolate shops (which were on every corner) had impressive window displays made of chocolate.
The day we got there it was absolutely freezing! You can see some of the iced over canals, but luckily it warmed up slightly the rest of our stay.
The market square by night was beautiful with lights lining the buildings, emphasizing the beautiful architecture.
On Christmas Eve, we took a horse carriage ride around the oldest part of the city to kill a little time before our dinner reservations. 
One of the canals on the "Venice of the North".
We were able to just wander around the streets, visit the museums and churches, and eat lots of good food...frites, belgium waffles (different than I've ever had), hot chocolate, and lots and lots of chocolate!
One of the many churches
My two loves...Ave kept warm in her bear suite!
When we were in one of the museums, we heard a band coming down the street, so we ran outside to see this little parade.
Avery enjoyed it!
There was even a nativity
We took a boat cruise through the canals. Midway through it started pouring rain, so they handed out umbrellas in the very crowded boat and Avery screamed through the rest of the trip.
Sharing a hotel room with an 8 month old and trying to get her to sleep was a challenge. Avery learned to stand up in her cot, which she thought was great since she could then see mommy and daddy.
Brugge by night is gorgeous! Everything takes on this warm glow and is so calm.
This is the view from the top of the bell tower.
On our last day there, we walked to the edge of town to see the windmills.
Have I said how much I love this city! If you have a chance, you have to go...we have lots of recommendations.
some of the most ornate buildings in the city.
Outside the train station before we left, we saw these racks of bikes...hundreds of bikes and it reminds me of "home", Holland.
3 comments:
holy sac! what an awesome trip!! i love all your pictures!
the only word that comes to my mind is JEALOUS. i know i shouldn't think that but i am really SO jealous you guys have had these amazing experiences!! I can't believe all the beautiful things. How depressing to come back to Maryland :)
Where did you get that adorable warm bear suit? I need one of those.
Looks like you had a great time!
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