Day 3 Final Day in Bruges

What a wonderful day we had today! We had breakfast and at 11:30 am we met Natalie. She was our Foodie tour guide from Tours By Locals. If you ever visit Bruges let me know I will give you her contact information. She was wonderful. 

We started out in nice sunshine. Our first stop was to sample the best fries in Bruges. 

They are fried in Beef Tallow served with curry mayonnaise or beef gravy. They were delicious. They don’t use ketchup for dipping much to the dismay of some. 😉 

When we came out the rain had started so umbrellas and hoods up for the walk to our next stop to try the Cuberdon. 

A cuberdon is a cone-shaped Belgiancandy and a popular local delicacy in Ghent. In Dutch it is also known as a neus("nose"), Gentse neus ("Ghent nose"), or neuzeke ("little nose") for its likeness to a human nose. In French, cuberdons are also called chapeau-de-curé and chapeau-de-prêtre (priest's hat).

Next we were off to Neuhaus for our first chocolate treat. 

We all got to pick our own flavor. I got the Salted Carmel. 


Our next stop for more chocolate was the Chocolate Line. Some info on this chocolatiers. https://www.thechocolateline.be/en/p/our-story

We sampled a piece of their chocolate. Mine was 

LAC D'AMOUR 

Almond praliné – Caramelized coconut

So yummy 😋 

Now the rain was not as bad and we headed off to have our tasting of waffles. Now I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of where we ate these. 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

Sweet Waffle was nice and crispy and very tasty!  😋

Savory Waffle not as crispy but still good. 

After this we headed to an Irish Pub, Delaney’s, for a “sit down”! We had an assortment of beverages- hot chocolate, hot coffee, cappuccino, and hot tea! 

After a bit of rest we head to our next adventures. 1st up was the museum! 

Michael hanging with the bunny before we started the museum tour. 

Next up with the best part of the day. Making our own chocolates. 

Our chocolatier has been doing this for 10 years. He really doesn’t look like he is old enough to be doing this that long. 😉




He showed us how to make things and let us use our own creativity. 🙃


We could focus on quantity or creativity to make bigger treats. 

Michael and I were not very creative. But we have some good chocolates. 




Others understood the challenge better 😎















All smiles and happy with their chocolate creations. 


We had a wonderful tour today and exceeded our expectations. 

We shopped a bit and had dinner before returning to hotel. 

Greek Salad 


Chicken


Croque monsieur

Fish & Chips 



A little less walking today although we were gone all day. 

We have all the information for tomorrow and transfer to ship. We will leave about 10 am for a 3 to 4 hour bus ride to our Ship outside of Amsterdam. 

Stay tuned for more of our adventures from the Viking Venus. 

Bruges Day 2

We got a great night sleep and woke up feeling much more refreshed and ready to go this morning. 

Michael tasting Pickled Herring Salad 🤔 He said he really enjoyed his taste. 

After a very good breakfast we gathered outside just as the rain ended and joined the Viking representative for a walking tour of the city to learn about its history. 

There was a very large market set up in the square. Fruits, veggies, cheeses, breads and flowers and food trucks with delicious looking foods. 

Some of the pictures from our tour today. 


















Canal Boat tours 












Bicycles every where even outside the schools. 





Our guide explained how the term “Stinkin Rich” came about…the intention was supposed to be that the wealthy occupants of the tombs were above ground inside the church and the tombs didn’t seal well and thus as the body decomposed the smell would permeate the church - hence the term “stinkin rich”! 

After our tour we did a little shopping before lunchtime. 

A few pictures of lunchtime 😉

Delicious tomato soup 

Yep he had mussels again…anyone surprised 🤣


Chicken stew 


Flemish Beef Stew 


Ham and cheese sandwich. 


Cream Brûlée 


Yea my first Belgium Waffle with cherries so good 😊 





We have seen all 3 the first one we saw was in St Petersburg Russia at the Hermitage, the second one was in Paris at the Louvre. This one in Bruges had been taken by Napoleon and the Nazi’s during WW2. 

 November 12, 1945, the sculpture of the 'Madonna and Child' was brought back to the city solemnly and returned to its place in the Church of Our Lady, where it still stands today.

After viewing the Madonna and Child we found a Harp Concert to attend. 






Then we were off to shop some more. The guys hanging out while we shopped. 

Back to hotel to catch up with the others then off to dinner. It’s all about the food 🙃

Vegetarian Nachos 

Leek Soup 


Cheese Bowl 


Cheese Plate

“Bread in a bag” was very interesting to all of us 


It was a fun day with a lot of walking!! 

Stay tuned for more of our  fun!