The most beautiful city of Bruges.....

Bruges is the capital city of West Flanders. It is also the largest city in this area, situated in the north-west of Belgium. Bruges (Brugge in Dutch) includes a section off the coast known to Belgians as Zeebrugge, Bruges on sea. The city of Bruges first became known as Bruges at around 850AD, receiving its city charter in 1128. New walls and canals were built, beautiful features of the city today. Once a most important trading post in Europe, it was the hub of the wool, lace and diamond industries.

Our friends Benny and Sonja took us on a tour of this lovely place, proud Belgian citizens and rightly so. We love Belgium too.

Bruges' nickname is "The Venice of the North" for its many canals and its proximity to the sea.

Belgian chocolate is to die for, and I took time out to visit buildings where Belgian lace (also known as Brussels Lace) was being made and/or sold. Look at all these lace-making bobbins attached to this one piece of work!

It is not advisable to drive cars in the city reaches of Bruges. Narrow laneways, ancient cobbles and canals with walking-only bridges prevent that anyway. There are many other modes of transport. A constant sound is one of horse and carriage rides clip clopping on the cobbles all around the streets.

Benny took us to his favourite cafe, an extremely old building here in this little congested laneway.....

(Bicycles are the favoured way to travel quickly in the city.)

.....and up the steps.

We had an amazing lunch with the best coffee, unrivaled by any we have ever had before or since.

More canals and more extremely old buildings...these originals built 800 to 1000 years ago. They needed to be right on the canal for ease of transport for their heavier industries back then.