Day 6: Bruges on Bikes

After breakfast our hotel owner told us that the old lady down the street was selling some fine Bruges art. Her husband was quite skilled at many media and had recently passed away. Stephanie and I paid a visit and ended up buying 2 of his paintings for much cheaper than they should have been. Downside, Thad has to figure out how to carry around 2 framed pieces of art for the rest of the trip. Stephanie tried to ship them from the post office but was unsuccessful.

Today is Saturday, so the markets were open. We headed to town and wandered around for some shopping. Stephanie did not think she looked French enough, so she bought several additions to her wardrobe including giant boots. (I think she forgot we have limited space in our luggage). Thad ate chocolate waffles while Stephanie shopped.

After the markets, we hopped on the bikes and headed to the outskirts of town. There we found 4 windmills and the city gates from the early days in Bruges. We encircled the town on bike and stopped off at the Lake of love for some relaxing ice cream. We also paid a visit to the Beginjhof (convent) and the Church of Our Lady. This church houses Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child, and is said to be the only one of his works ever to leave Italy in his lifetime. We spent some time just wandering the streets of Bruges to admire the amazing architecture. Pictures will not do this place justice. We had some Italian food at pili pili for dinner before bed. Both nights here we slept with the window open too the sounds of the canals. Our best 2 nights of sleep on the trip.