Day 19 Sunday, April 28th Brugge

 It was an overcast day but hopefully was going to stay dry for our trip to the wonderful city of Bruges.  After a very healthy but substantial breakfast we were set up for the fairly short journey to this famous city.  We took waterproof jackets but as we were assured the temperature was going to be quite mild we did not 

the belltower 

take our warmest available clothes.  We arrived and Ian expertly found an underground car park close to the city centre.  We were then ready to

the central square

 explore and soon saw the bell tower which dominates the city square.  Ian and Ruth's daughter, Michelle-Hannah, and her young son were coming to meet us from their home in Frankfurt (5 hours train journey) and we were looking forward to meeting them.

We mooched around for a while and then found a cafe to sit out of the drizzle which had intermittently started.  We consumed our coffees etc and waited as Michelle made her way from the nearby train station.  She soon arrived with welcome greetings all round with Joel especially pleased to see his grandparents. 

We walked around a bit more admiring the ancient buildings and squares.  It truly is a place worth visiting.  It was then time for lunch and we were near a good restaurant we had visited when we had a long weekend in Brugge and so that was our venue.  We all had good hot meal as the weather was quite cold and then 

the canal with boats

swans on the canal

explored some more.  We

on the canal boat

 went for a canal boat ride which proved to be a good decision all round as we saw some swans towards the end and went under some very low bridges.  After this we returned to the belltower square and as it was still very cold we went into a cafe to have Belgian waffles etc.  There was much laughing and catching up with Michelle, we all warmed up and the waffles were very good, some relaxing and the time flew by.  We went outside and were able to touch one of the horses of the pony and traps in the square which was a good experience before it became time to say sad goodbyes to Michelle and Joel.  It had been so good of her to come all that way to meet us and it was much appreciated all round.  We have now seen both Ian and Ruth's daughters on our holiday.    

We then made our back to the car park via the fairground which was literally in full swing. Ian again expertly made our way back to Nieuwpoort and we had a short recovery period before it was time to  find dinner.  We went to restaurant along the seafront in Nieuwpoort and enjoyed a snacky type meal.  It had been a terrific day, the highlight being the meeting up in Brugge and at the end we returned and retired to our hotel.