Brugge/Bruges

Cassie: This is a seriously pretty city. Again, we’re staying smack in the middle of it living in fear of our car getting towed away. The parking machine didn’t work so we couldn’t buy a ticket for it. Oh well, we have no choice but to leave it where it is and see what happens because there’s hardly anywhere to park it. Hopefully it’s too heavy for them to tow away with any tow truck that could fit down these tiny, narrow streets. We’ve been told by the hotel reception that they don’t clamp cars around here. I think I’d rather the threat of a clamp than have the car disappear on a tow truck! Anyway, we’ll walk around to it tomorrow morning holding our breath and will hopefully be able to let it out with relief when we see the car still there. We’re really not that worried, I’m just dramatising!

Our hotel for tonight. You can just see part of the city canals on the right side of the picture

Today has felt like a real taste of how a European holiday should be. We started out our stay in Brugge by visiting a chocolate museum (when in Rome…or I should say Belgium). How could we leave Belgium with not having done something chocolate related!? At the end of the museum a chocolatier gave us a demonstration on how they make their basic chocolates and then we got the all important, much anticipated taste! We got to sample a hazelnut ganache-filled milk chocolate delight. Oh yes, it was gooOood. There are heaps and heaps of chocolatiers around this joint. It was hilarious to see a lady unashamedly stuffing her face with one chocolate after another right outside a chocolate shop. I question whether or not she was breathing she was stuffing them in that fast. She must’ve had some mad craving!

This was the chocolate we got after the demonstration by the chocolatier. The little fella didn’t last long!

This is the demonstration area

After that we simply strolled around, had some lunch, I bought some new shoes (I just had to because they’re so cool!), and coffee at a funky cafe.

A quote inside a chocolate wrapper

We have already booked a spot at a caravan park outside of Paris for a few nights. We think it’s unrealistic to have the car in Paris. Not only do we not fit into any parking garages because the Troopie is too high, we’ve heard that Paris is fairly limited when it comes to parking. So, we’re taking a different approach this time, staying outside of Paris for about 16.50 Euros a night which apparently also includes free wi-fi (not bad for a caravan park - you beautie!) and a metro station is about 700m down the road and it takes only 20mins to get into the city. Umm, awesome! It’ll be nice to know the car is somewhere safe and not potentially parked illegally while we’re out exploring.

Here is our photo album too: https://picasaweb.google.com/twomagadan/PragueToBrugge?authkey=Gv1sRgCObI8JmSiKawpAE