Biking, Beaches, and Bruges!

I am writing from our last location - Amsterdam. Our week in Bruges flew by! We relaxed a lot, caught up with dear friends, and did some exploring around the region. The days kind of blend together but I'll try to use pictures to remember what happened when.

Day 28 - The weather improves!

We began our day slowly. Feeding rabbits and donkeys, riding various bike vehicles, and drinking coffee seemed to be the order of the morning. We are in the habit of staying up late and sleeping in. Oh well.

We went to an indoor pool with a slide. The pool wasn't very busy in the morning so we had fun sliding, swimming, and floating in the lazy river. We didn't take any pictures of swimming. Little J loves the water! I'm quite sure he's going to be an early swimmer.

Everyone was feeling lazy except for me and DD#2. The two of us went into the city of Bruges for the afternoon. We couldn't stop taking pictures of the stunning architecture. We had a quick drink at an outdoor cafe, shared some frites, and finally met up with the rest of the crew for dinner.

I spotted a can of these goodies at the frite stand. Hmmm...

Random - another culinary miss from our trip. I thought these would be BBQ chips. Nope. They really were meat flavored. Gross.

I love how DD#2 can still stop everything and entertain herself with a mud puddle and a stick. She lives in her own little world sometimes.

We met up with friends and found an outdoor cafe for a casual dinner. Prices in Belgium are so expensive! We decided to make more dinners at the farm after spending too much on really simple food. Many restaurants I had researched were closed either due to vacations or because they simply shut down a couple days per week.

After dinner, we went to Astrid Park to play and run off some energy. We wandered along some of the pretty canals in Bruges, found some yummy gelato, and called it a day.

Belgian park and ride.

Good night ladies.

Day 29 - Bike ride to Damme (20+ miles) and BBQ!

DD#1 and I began our day with a bike ride to the nearby bakery - about 4 kilometers away. We found a small cafe on the Oedelem town square (the closest village) where we had cappuccino and hot chocolate. I love getting one on one time with my girls! Everyone else was happy when we returned with fresh pastries.

We decided today was the day to hop on our bikes and head to picturesque Damme. Thank goodness DH had navigation on his phone. He helped us get through some interesting roads and trails. Little J rode on a bike seat right behind his dad. It was his first bike ride! The bumpy cobbled roads put him right to sleep. Tons of people bike in Belgium. Little old ladies in their dresses, children, business people, etc... The only ones wearing helmets were the racers.

We stopped part way for waffles and beverages.

The ride took us by windmills, along canals, and through forests. I loved it!

The guys got back and got to work lighting charcoal for our BBQ. We had grilled veggies, skewered meat, sausages, and more! Yum. There was time for a quick swim too.

A pretty night on the farm.

Day 30 - Bruges beer tour and Knokke-Heist beach

After a short run, we slowly made our way to Bruges for a quick lunch and a brewery tour. Lunch was on a on a pretty square where we could watch the horses rush by with carriages full of tourists.

The best part of the brew tour was the view from the roof-top. Perfect!

Next, we drove around 20 kilometers to the beach town of Knokke-Heist. Parking was aggravating, but we finally found a spot. We all enjoyed chilling out on the beach for a couple of hours. The water was surprisingly tolerable!

We drove back to the farm where we rode some fun bike-cars and ate somewhat disgusting take-out from the local frite place. Every little town in Belgium seems to have a frite place serving burgers and pretty much anything that can be fried.

After dinner, the very kind owner of the farm treated us to some special beer - Westvleteren 12! This is one of the most rare beers in the world. It is sometimes voted the best beer in the world! It is brewed by monks who have created an elaborate phone order system. The owner called in during the short available hours after trying many times. Once the order is placed, he drove about an hour to pick up the precious case. It is nearly impossible to find this beer in the US. Delicious!

To top that off, we ended the day with donkey rides for the kids.

I am still a few days behind on the blog but it is 12:30 am and I need sleep! I will try for another entry tomorrow to cap off our time in Bruges.

Cheers from Amsterdam!