Bruges was only a few hour car ride from home. I have to say it was challenging trying to entertain Arya, our 6.5 month old who hates being restrained in her car seat. She slept for less than an hour and when she was crying for 30 minutes, it seemed like 5 hours have passed.
It was still quite chilly at the time of the year, so jackets and long sleeve t-shirts we had to pack.
As we reached, we checked into our hotel, and I highly recommend staying here – Hotel Academie. Check in was quick and fast, and our room was lovely and spacious. We needed some space for our baby stroller and our travel cot. We were welcomed with a piece of chocolate on the bed which was a nice touch to the check in process. The hotel smells wonderful! It is a walking distance to the city center and a lot of restaurants, gift shops and chocolatiers.
First thing’s first, food! We did get some take out on our first night because it was getting too late for Arya and it was her bed time.
We had Arya in a baby carrier most of the time as it was the easiest along the narrow streets filled with people and the cobblestone was not going to be comfy ride for her at all.
Walking to breakfast, we can’t help but look into all the different chocolatiers, and they all look amazing! We stopped by The Chocolate Line to pick out a few for our sweet cravings (although I am a savoury person).
I looked up a few things to try while we were in Belgium. I like to delve into each country’s cuisine. There were the Mussel, French Fries, Meatball, Stoemp, Stew, Grey Shrimp Croquette and of course the famous Belgian Waffle. We did not get to try a a few but we did the Mussel, Stew, Potato Croquette and the Belgian Waffle. I highly recommend the Flemish stew, it is the BOMB! We did not try any fries, since it’s only just fries. Also the Mussels was nothing great, but I haven’t had mussels in a while so I decided why not.
One of the days’ dinner, we went to Cambrinus, another amazing well rated restaurant. Most of the restaurants are family friendly and they had baby chairs in almost all of them we visited or dined in at. Here, I had the Fish Stew with Salmon, Sole Filets, and North Sea Shrimps. It was just absolutely delicious.
We did some sightseeing as well as we needed to digest our eating spree here in Belgium. We decided to go to something more interesting than museums… the Torture Museum. Before you read on or think about going to it, DON’T! It is a waste of your time and money, but if you are full of both, why not. It is very tiny and not worth the €8 per adult we paid for. It took us about 15 minutes (plus toilet break) to walk through the whole museum and reading briefly a few boards. I have been to a few torture museums in the world, so there are so many devices that I have seen. The museum did not really impress me.
One thing that we did not get on was the Boat Trip along the canals. It would cost us €10 per adult, however the boats were small and there were a lot of people on one boat. We did not know how Arya was going to react or if she would feel restless throughout the whole 30 minutes. So we decided we would come back another time (IF we do). If you guys would like to, here is the website to the prices and they even offer private boat tours. Click here!
And of course, we had to make a stop at The Old Chocolate House. For those of you who absolutely adores and love chocolate and everything sweet, this place is for you! But to add a little to my taste, they do have savoury hot chocolates you can choose from. I supposed it is still a lot too sweet for me. Felt like I was drinking sugar, but to a sweet loving person, it is amazing!
The store is downstairs, but once you enter the store, walk a little bit further and you would find a steep wooden staircase to the second floor where the cafe is. Have a seat and they will serve you well and sweet. Definitely an experience.
We did end our journey by heading out one last time to the city center to grab a few souvenirs for friends back in Germany.
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