Brussels - Brugge - 28Sep-30Sep

Now we are in Brussels, it was a 90 minute train ride from Paris to Brussels. We took a cab to the hotel, checked in. Talked with the concierge about a map and recommendations of things to see. He suggested the sightseeing bus, which we could get on around the corner and he sold us our tickets, so that worked. As it was already late afternoon, we took the bus for the entire tour so that we could see it all, nice city, lots of old building. We picked out the places that we wanted to return to on Tuesday. Had dinner and then back to hotel. Tried the Belgium beer called "Maas, was very good, we both liked it, I also had a Flemish dish at dinner which was excellent. On Monday we took the train to Brugge, an hour ride, took the bus to the visitors center, picked up some maps and information on the city. It was raining when we arrived, but cleared off and we had another sunny day. What a quaint city, the square was huge, with massive old building all the way around, cobblestone streets which lead off of it, to bridges that went over the various canals. Brugge is called "Venice of the North". We walked most of the city according to one of the walks recommended at the visitors center. Oh course we kept getting off track by the many cool shops and of course all the chocolate shops. Not sure that I have ever seen that many or that much chocolate ever. They smelled so good when you went in.
We tried a Belgium waffle as a snack, as they aren't breakfast food there, they are more like a dessert served with chocolate, strawberries, sugar and various other toppings. We had a great day exploring, shopping and spending money. Headed back to Brussels around 6pm, had a lite snack upon returning then back to the hotel to rest.
Tuesday morning we woke to a rainy, cold day, but didn't stop us. We went to breakfast then walked thru the main square and shopping areas, say the statue of the little boy peeing which you have to see if your in Brussels. We check out some shops and found some chocolate covered strawberries that we had to have. Then headed back as it was not a very nice day weatherwise, so headed back to London a little early. Gave us time to relax here and go out to dinner, as Phyllis was leaving on Wednesday and I had to go back to work.
Really enjoyed having her here and we had a great time.