Enchanting Brugges

Ah, what a fantastic Easter vacation it was - five days of beauty, relaxation and fascination at Amsterdam, Brugges and Brussels. I'm back home with lots and lots to tell you. It was that time of the year, where the Sun peeps out more often pushing away the winds and greys. 

With the weather prediction as winds and thunderstorms, and our plans to roam around in the nights too - We simply carried costumes of all weather. Summer shades, running shoes, Autumn boots, scarves, umbrellas, gloves, thermalwears, hoodies and ofcourse the Winter jackets - and oh, the swim costumes too. You know - just incase we found time to swim in our pool at the Apartments we stayed.

Romantic Get-away:

Of all the places we went this Easter, I thought I'll write of my favorite first - the mesmerizing Bruges.

Actually, I'd heard of Bruges through S mostly, as the 'Venice of the West'. Since I'd been to Venice last year, I was more than excited to visit Bruges - just to compare and contrast. It was till now never in my list of to-go places. We were 12 of us, this time - pretty huge group na? Huff, I'm so glad we came back without a split in the group - lol.  Oh my goodness, I was simply spellbound (yes, that would be the perfect word) the minute S parked the car and we stepped down. The old-style streets, high brick buildings with step-like roofs and clinging of bicycles - wow, it was perfect. I had always liked this kind of a city, as in - old towns with brilliant architecture - till now Prague has been my all-time favorite. Bruges simply kicked it off the window !

People compare this with Venice, with canals in common - but somehow Bruges is completely different, with a magic magnetism that draws you in it. So we then walked town to have a better view of the Grote Markt, or the Market square. 

The Market Square:

Horse-carriages and the sound of the horses' hooves, distant slow European music, Live concert playing music, spectacular weather - and these vintage style buildings - How beautiful! I was secretly so proud of this photograph when I saw the same angle and picture as one of the souvenir items in the shop! La la la .. Seems the horse rides also is a bliss in Bruges. They take you a guided tour with the look and feel in the cobblestone streets - is a must try if you have time.

The Market square itself was simply spectacular. 

And there was some parade going on - or a rehearsal for the parade I guess. People were dressed in dark blue and white costumes with trumpets and walking in boots. The city itself was so overcrowded - people walking around gazing at the architecture, riding bicycles, strolling arm in arm around the narrow lanes, enjoying the Belgian beer and Fries, watching live concert - all in the background of the Bells from the Belfry tower.  The Belfry tower -is one of the prominent buildings right in the middle of the ancient Bruges - Here you can climb 366 steps and get a full panaromic view of Bruges, Ghent and Oostende (Yes, the entry is free). We somehow decided not to climb as we were rushing to catch the last boat of the day for the canal- ride. To the left is the Provincial court, which stands towering the sky.

The Famous Canal- Ride:

We had just one evening in Bruges, so we took the famous Canal ride to take us around the highlights of the city. After plenty of internet research, and with people suggesting it was worth the 8 Euros per person, we hoped on to this guided tour. It was 17:30 when the information center- lady informed us that the last canal ride for the day was to start at 17:45 from two streets away from where we were talking to her. With a puzzling maze of Bruges' map on one hand and running like crazy (we were 12 of us you see? We had to stop every few mins just to check if no one gets lost - lol). The first few minutes the last seven of us had no clue why we were rushing - No time to detail! Huffing and puffing we all caught the last boat.  It was absolutely worth the run, it takes only 30 seconds to fall in love with this city! The 30-minute boat ride swayed us away in the scintillating beauty of Bruges. Here are some of the moments I looked off away - into the camera's lenses, just for you.

Psst .. And for the movie-buffs, Pk's portion of Anushka Sharma and the Pakistani boyfriend in the song Chaar Kadam is shot here - I watched the song to relish the moments once more.

Stroll through the lanes, eat and drink!

With the major part covered, we were all relaxed totally now. We walked lazily along the narrow lanes, buying souvenirs and checking out the Belgian chocolates. One of the shops caught my eyes - it had these cute bicycles - Nice way to depict Bruges and cycles I thought > Voila! It was a pizza cutter itseems - Wth! What an idea setji :)

What more than not trying the staples of Belgium - Beer, chocolates, fries and waffles. We stored the chocolates, fries and waffles for the next day at Brussels - for a full city-action mode. They called this one of the traditional Belgian beers - it was with honey, the shopkeeper said. It was sweet and more like fruit extract - just that it was with malt flavor.

On the whole, the city was so wonderful - so beautiful - so peaceful. If you're looking for a romantic get away, just to enjoy the evening with a handful of tasty waffles and delicious chocolates, Bruges is something you should never ever miss!