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Bruges
Weather: Dry but cloudy
When we awoke the next day, we had already docked in Zeebrugge and the early risers were disembarking for tours and trips into Bruges. By the time we got into the buffet for breakfast, it was pretty quiet and no trouble at all to find tables. Callum thoroughly enjoyed tucking into his sausage, bacon and toast and the rest of us had the full English we’d selected.
We eventually wandered off the ship and onto the shuttle bus to catch the train into Blankenberge. Train journey in was pretty smooth – a double-decker train – a first for Margaret, Ray and Callum!!
Bruges town centre was a 15 mins walk from the station as only cars, taxis and local buses can enter the city limits. It was a very picturesque walk in with the old buildings and spires in the distance. The St Salvatore Cathedral was the first major landmark we stumbled across. We turned right here, and walked down the main shopping street into the Platz.
Dad’s advice before we left was to have a beer and moules frites in the market place … and since when have we ignored Dad’s advice!! Jon and Ray had the local beer (served in a mini “yard of ale” glass and I had a Leffe-blonde. Jon and I shared a bowl of Musselen Frites, Callum had a waffle and the rest baguettes.
By the time we’d been served and paid the bill, there was barely enough time to buy some chocolates and head back to catch the penultimate train back to Blankenberge. We were pushing it time-wise, so I grabbed Callum and we were the last two passengers allowed on the train with literally seconds to spare. The others weren’t quite so lucky as the guard stopped everyone else from boarding and we left Dad, Gran, Granda, Aunty Nic and Uncle Aly behind on the platform at Bruges!! At least with Callum and I out of the way (Callum especially), I hoped it would be easier for the others to catch a taxi back. After all, there was a taxi rank outside the station.
Callum was pretty concerned how Daddy and the others were going to make it back to the ship … I told him they would catch a taxi and would probably be back on board before us. Callum was soon distracted with Toy Box (especially as they were playing in Jumping Jacks) and I was left wondering if I’d be dining alone that night!!
I headed up onto the Prom Deck above the embarkation ramp and watch the last handful of coaches arrive back. I needn’t have worried. There were no taxis in sight but the bus station was also next to the train station … and rather than wait the hour until the next train, they decided to catch the bus back to Blankenberge (which stopped at every village in between!) and arrived a couple of minutes before the final train from Bruges did and so were just ahead of the game on the shuttle buses back. It was a really shame we had to leave Bruges so early – another couple of hours would have been great.
Once everyone was safely back onboard, we headed up to The Orangery for Afternoon Tea, followed by drinks out at Pennants Bar. As the weather was so good, space was at a premium until people started to leave to get ready for dinner.
Callum had had another great time in Toy Box. They’d made some very scrummy chocolate crispy cakes and when we arrived, the staff captain was there having his photo taken with the kids.
Tonight was the formal night so our opportunity to get dressed up! Everyone had really gone to a lot of effort and everyone looked fabulous. The menu did not disappoint either (and Jon and I were relieved to see Lobster Thermidor on the menu as we’d raved about it previously). Jon and I choose the same menu – smoked salmon followed by vegetable consommé and champagne sorbet. Lobster Thermidor was then followed by cheese and biscuits.
We opted not to see Derren Brown (must be the only people on board not wanting to see the show) so we decided to take part in the Syndicate Quiz. We finished on 10 points but it would have been 12 if we’d listened to Nic’s suggestion of weather forecasts first appearing in the London paper in 1848, and hadn’t been so hasty in accepting Jon’s answer for which airport has the motto “above us only skies”. Jon said Denver as it’s the world’s highest airport, but after he’d headed off with the answer, we knew it was really Liverpool John Lennon airport. We did strike lucky on one question … what do they call the human leading a husky sledge – we put “Musher” as we couldn’t think of anything else – and it turned out to be right!! It was actually a pretty good fun way to spend the evening though.
Afterwards, we headed into Raffles to catch last orders before I headed off to collect Callum and the cabin whilst the others ended up in Champions Bar.
Tomorrow, Le Havre!
