Short trip to Brugge

I have just got back from a short trip to Brugge which I throughly enjoyed, it was good to see the other side of the Euro life. I found it very calming as the pace of life there was very easy. I was amazed at, like the dutch, just how many people actually cycled on "Proper bikes" not like those in the UK where, unless your a*se is in the air and your teeth are being jarred out of your head, you are not "in". The security as well , most bikes were not locked and all of them had lights fitted that worked.

It was however a bit daunting when you stepped out into a one way street to cross, having made sure that there was no traffic coming and a bycycle shot past you from behind going the wrong way (which I now believe they are allowed to do) Phewww ! Wipes brow!that was close. The cobblestones must make cycling in the wet a nightmare but they don`t seem to slow down at all.

I just loved the horses on the carriages they were so well behaved and well looked after. As for the restaurants the food was brilliant and the service second to none, local Belgium beef stew, I recommend most highly (you have to try a local dish) . The absence of vegetables on the menues was a little surprising too. We ate in a restaurant that had lobster in a tank at the door and I felt so very sorry for them! (I just can`t help it!) as we passed them, (so sad! funny, lamb doesn`t bother me, but lobster?????)