Brugge...Charming Before the Crowds!

Of all the travel days we had, I was most nervous about this. We had to a 630am flight from Stockholm to Brussels which meant that we had to get the kids up at 3:30am. They were troopers though and got up excitedly in their travel pajamas that we had put on them the night previously. If anything can make a 630am flight, it would be flying business class. We flew Brussels Airlines and at the time at which I purchased tickets, business class was a fraction of economy, so business class it was! The looks that the twins were getting in their row 1 seats was pretty entertaining by all the passerby's.

We arrived to a sunny Brussels airport and then took a direct train to Brugge. An hour later, we arrived to an equally sunny Brugge. We reserved an apartment hotel room at the Hotel Aragon and the kids were going nuts playing with all the doors and cabinet doors. Word to the wise, bring your own childproofing! Our hotel wasn't ready yet and so we dropped off our luggage and headed for lunch at the markt square. We spent the rest of the day on a self walking tour of Brugge which we found to be entirely too crowded for our liking when it's prime time. Another observation that we had of Brugge, it's not nearly as kid friendly as Stockholm was. 

The next day, it was rainy but we managed to make it out to breakfast at what turned out to be one of our favorite places, That's Toast. We got to enjoy quiet and serene Brugge before the day trip crowds came in. With the sprinkles, we found it to the perfect opportunity to take a covered horse carriage ride which the kids had been asking about since we arrived. If anyone is thinking of doing a horse carriage ride in Brugge, it's cash only and they expect a tip above the 70 euros. 

On Day 3 and our last day in Brugge, we once again headed to That's Toast which we found to be one of the more kid friendly places to dine at. We then walked out to the charming outskirts of Brugge to the moat and windmills before rounding back inland to a playground called, Astridpark. Just before 3pm, it was time to take the train to Brussels where we would overnight before an early journey on the Eurostar to the UK.

We arrived in Brussels and checked into our transit hotel. Shortly after, we uber'ed to the Palace square for a quick tour before having dinner at Chez Leon where coincidentally, kids under 12 eat free. I don't know that we have to return to Brugge again although their waffles were quite tasty and we definitely don't have to return to Brussels but there are a couple of cities in Belgium that I'd like to visit in the future. One big learning that I had was that not all Uber XL's are the same. In Stockholm, when you reserve an Uber XL, it's a 6 passenger vehicle with room for luggage. In Brussels and the UK for that matter, it's just a vehicle for 6 passengers and no luggage or vice versa. 

Next up, onto the Eurostar to Alnmouth!