So Spym and i got up at 4:45am in order to get to St Pancras for our 6:30am check in…. after so little sleep this was not good! We made it on time though, only to find that Eurostar had double booked almost every seat in our coach 🙁 not a good start!

In the end the train manager found us some other seats – after my travel sickness tabs i was knocked out for the whole journey….we changed trains in Brussels and headed on out to Brugges.

It was lovely and sunny when we arrived in Brugges, and just a short 15 min walk around the picturesque canal, small streets and around the Beguine convent till we got to our hotel. After checking in, Spym and I went on a hunt for food, and found a lovely little deli bar we visited more than once on our trip!

First tourist attraction was the Brelfort (bealfry) in the Market Square, which was built in across 13th-15th centuries. At one point it also housed important city documents and the treasury. It was 366 steps up a winding staircase to the top [which wasn’t as claustrophobic as Prague cathedral]. We stopped off in the gears room at 2pm just when all the bells started – i took some cool videos of all the massive cogs rotating and turning to make the bells ring and the time to change. We climbed up to the top and looked across the whole city. Its a strange view with modern housing spotted with random pockets of Gothic and (later) architecture.

We moved onto The Burg, a market square east of the main one, and full of beautiful decorative buildings. We first went to the Basilica of the Holy Blood and went to the shrine of a crusader that supposedly brought back a vial of Christ’s blood during the 2nd crusade. The vial was even on show, you could touch it if you donated some money. The inside of the upper chapel was stunning with brightly painted walls and ceiling and unusual stain glass windows.

Next on our list was the 14th c. Townhall, which we toured with a very good audioguide. It was fascinating, covering the history of the town, key residents and the building. The most amazing sight was the vaulted ceiling inside the Townhall….photography was prohibited, but i took some sneaky shots on my cameraphone. The ceiling was full of gold hanging arches, something i have never seen before! Pics will be posted in the photos section. Finally we popped next door and had a look in the 16th c. Renaissance hall, it was used as a treasury and a place for law officials to meet to discuss cases.

Spym and I ended the day with a leisurly 3h long dinner, sampling traditional cuisine and beer 😛 which sent us to sleep quite nicely!