Bruges

WHERE: Bruges, Belgium

WHEN: April 2013

HOW LONG FOR: 3 days

A couple of years ago, my sisters and I took a trip to Bruges. It was the perfect place for a girly weekend – pretty walks and lots of chocolate! Bruges really was all about the chocolate for us. We were a little cheeky and worked our way along the shops eating their free samples! We also took a trip to the Choco Story Museum which was actually really interesting. We learnt all about the history of chocolate, where it came from and how it’s made (with free samples, obviously). I came away with the biggest bag of chocolate buttons I had ever seen!

I found that the best way to explore Bruges was to wander around and just enjoy the picturesque squares and streets. My favourite, prettiest parts were actually not the main landmarks, but little bridges or residential streets. The Basilica of the Holy Blood, so-named because it is home to a vial of Jesus’s blood, was really interesting to me – it was sort of subtly tucked away in the corner of a square rather than being the most obvious building in sight which I thought was quite unusual. I also really loved walking alongside the Bruges Windmills, they were really cute and picturesque.

FOOD

As I said, it was all about the chocolate. We had some amazing hot chocolates where you pour the melted chocolate into the milk yourself. We also had a Belgian Waffle with SO much chocolate sauce which was incredible. The other street food in Bruges we loved was…. chips. You might think “I can get chips/fries at home… they’re not new and interesting at all!”, but Bruges INVENTED the chip, so it would have been rude of us not to try them… and they were delish.

For dinner, without a doubt, the best place we ate was Ribs ‘n Beer. Obviously if you aren’t a fan of ribs, this place isn’t for you, but they were the BEST ribs I have ever eaten.