A cold and rainy day today. Off to Brügges today. Bruges, the capital of West Flanders in northwest Belgium, is distinguished by its canals, cobbled streets and medieval buildings. Its port, Zeebrugge, is an important center for fishing and European trade. In the city center’s Burg square, the 14th-century Stadhuis (City Hall) has an ornate carved ceiling. Nearby, Markt square features a 13th-century belfry with a 47-bell carillon and 83m tower with panoramic views.

Caught the 9:16am IC train to Brugge (58 Euro return for 2). It took just over an hour through green countryside and farmlands. We went through Ghent, another beautiful city recommended to visit. We picked up a free self guided walking tour from the Railway Station Tourist Information.

The first thing we noticed were the large number of tourist groups mainly Japanese and German. We started our tour and stopped for breakfast at Carpe diem Tea Room, in Wungaardstraat.

More touring then lunch at Le Pain Quotidien an organic bakery restaurant. Ron ordered Curry Pot Pie and I ordered Avocado, seaweed, tomato, cilantro, superseed tartines.

Time to find local beer breweries. We headed back to Rozenhoedkaai Canal. We stopped at 2Be (1721 bottled beers) and Bourgognes des Flandres. Amazing range of beers brewed and also kept on tap and in bottles. We then moved onto St Salvadors Cathedral to listen to the Symphony Orchestra TH Keulen. Beautiful.

It was very cold with an icy wind when we exited from the concert at 4.15pm so we took the train back to Brussels.