Our small hotel served a great breakfast this morning of a variety of breads and jams. I think we are hooked on the the whole tea with milk thing...Jane will be so proud.
The owner was very happy to show us his bike that was made by a local company.
Achielle makes frames right up the road from the hotel and everything on it is made in western europe. (nothing from asia)
There is a place for the bike pump to attach to the down tube and I love the saddle and bag!
After breakfast, we set off to the monastery. It was lovely and peaceful. There were small groups of school kids there on field trips, but they were all well behaved and having a grand time. Most were unaccompanied (immediately, anyway) by adults. (wow! unheard of in the U.S. right now)
The locals gave us the scoop on the history of the cathedrals and each place of worship had pamplets and placards with the history and significance of each piece in English.
I love visiting the European cathedrals. And the art is dark enough and detailed enough to be of great interest to teenage boys, as well!
We had no idea there was a Madonna and Child by Michelangelo here in the town. The gentleman in the cafe explained it is rare to find outside of Italy. We were lucky enough to have the piece to ourselves for a few minutes before a tour group swarmed the area. (ugh, tour groups in a cathedral.....you cannot whisper when speaking to a group of 15+, I guess)
Madonna and Child
The square was beautiful.
There is lace to be had at every corner and it is interesting watching how it is made.
We had local chocolate and local beer and frites (with mayo of course) and now we HAD to have the waffles. (with cherries and creme)
We rented bikes for 6 euros a day. They have a cool lock that doesn't allow the rear wheel to turn, when you need to leave the bike.
Waiting for the bridge over the canal to come down.
Riding along the canal to see the wind mills.
Riding in a skirt, just like a Belgian.
Wind mill in Brugge.
A LONG ride along the canal. (over 50 miles round trip, I think) The tiny towns along the way were very cool. It felt very good to both of us to get in a workout and it was so much fun, too! You could tell how far we had gone after we had ridden for an hour and noticed we saw more and more riding "kits" and less and less street clothes on the riders.
We rode along the canal for 20+ miles each way, to Oostende, which is the next large town, to see what was there. We picked up some groceries and loaded them up to bring back for dinner.
Parking.
Ah, the gnomes in Flanders have a sense of humor!
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