After a brief stop in Liege (the 13:01 to Bruges was cancelled and we had to take the 14:01) we made it to Bruges in time for dinner. We were again happy with our choice of hotel – 4 star and surrounded by several nice restaurants. And not far from the train station and Bargeplein (where we meet our day tour to Flanders Fields and where our barge docks).


Once settled we took a little tour of the area around our hotel then chose Bistro Delice for our first Belgian dinner. It was delicious! I had the Belgian stew (stoofvles) and frites, while Kathy chose mussels and frites! And beer. Must have Belgian beer.

Then an after-dinner walk around Bruges capturing the lit up bridges and buildings. Swans were still awake.

The next day we had booked a tour of Flanders Fields WW1 sites. We waited in the drizzle to catch the Quasimodo Tours mini-bus that would take us around the region and allow us to see that, though WW1 ended more than 100 years ago, it still has a real impact on Belgium today.



Unearthed bombs are still found regularly in farmers’ fields and they are often just placed along the side of the road. Belgium still pays around 750,000 Euros per year to deal with this problem.





The Menin Gate at Ieper is a monument to the nearly 55,000 people who died in WW1 in the area who were never found and have no burial site. They came from all over the world including Canada. Every night since 1929 at 8:00 the hold a Last Post ceremony. Kathy and I stayed at the end of the tour to watch it.

Now here it is, your moment of mousse…
