LOCATION: Visiting friends in Ghent, Belgium

WEATHER: Even a bit cooler. Highs 50s. Cloudy

Today we were off to Bruges for the day, only 35 kilometers away. Our friends have a rental car, so we can do a lot of exploring.

Bruges is a very old, historic city. The old part is surrounded by a canal.

The fronts of the buildings are so picturesque. Here are George, Tony and Jenny consulting a map to decide where to go next.

We walked all around the old part of the city. The crowds weren’t too bad, but there were a lot of tour groups. I can’t imagine what it will be like in the summer.

LOTS of chocolate shops….

And beautiful lace…

And Belgian waffles with Belgian chocolate – a 2fer!

Bruges even has a frites (French fry) museum…

And of course, Belgian beer. We went to a brewery that supplies the pubs in town with beer via underground pipes!

From Bruges, we drove a short distance to the coast. We went through cute, upscale beach towns. And, finally to our destination…..a Musselhuis (mussels restaurant).

We ate fairly late in the day – 2:00 PM. We ordered our mussels, and were told sadly that they had sold out for the day. Crushed, we started thinking of Plan B – maybe a bowl of soup? Then, the cook called out that “Yes, we can get mussels”. They called the local mussels supplier and 10 minutes later a delivery man came with a box of them, fresh off the boat. Yay! They were delicious. We shared 2 pots – one cooked in white wine and one cooked in beer.

DINNER: It was Tony’s turn to cook tonight. We had porkshops and a very nice salad.