A Day out for Cathy

Having done all the touristy things, we decided to fend for ourselves today. But first, we had to get through the local market.

 Peter O'L likes cherries, so we send him this photograph.

 Down a run-down little street, to get our .......

..... BIKE! Actually, this photo was taken after we'd learned to control the beast (it weighed just under 0.5t tonne) and had got back through the market and out of town.

A pleasant 10 km ride through the Belgian countryside

 Somewhere along here we encountered the only hill of the ride. You can see it if you look very closely.

 And the, OH ..........

Yes, we'd reached the town of Damme where the beast was promptly discarded for a large jug of local beer (or coffee for some)

Cathy in Damme

 The local church didn't look much used ........

 ..... and the edges were crumbling, ......

 .... but we were warned.

 Cathy in a Damme cemetery.

 Cathy trying to be two-faced.

 There was another bookshop in town, but we couldn't work out the marketing ploy being used here. Would it work in Wodonga?

 Back on the road again, just before the pilot got us hopelessly lost.

Pedalling along some minor road in deepest Belgium, we came across this yard full of RED CHOOKS!

 And MORE red chooks ........

 .... oh, and a wallaby.

 I'm thinking of buying a boat.
Much to our delight, we found that we could peddle faster than this boat could paddle.

 Back in Bruges again, sore but relieved to have found our way back.

 Cathy celebrated with a nice cup of tea ...................

 ....... and some pancakes.

 This remains the mystery dessert of our visit.

More Bruges

We did a boat cruise around the canals. So did everyone else!

 But it was very beautiful.

A tunnel. This was the first of about 20 such but you wouldn't have minded them, Anne, as they call them bridges.

A church - I think it is St Anne's

 Here is the low bridge ......

 ..... and here is the high bridge

 Old Brugse buildings.

 Old Brugsean visitor.

 A tin horse.

 Another.

 A real horse.

 Sorry, no wooden horses.

 The two major churches we looked at were under construction and there was little to be seen (or worship). Here is Cathy looking bemused and slightly blurred.

 A slightly more focussed Cathy.

 A bit of history. The family Beurze lived here in 1267 and set up a trading and exchange house. Because of their name, it became known as the bourse. Apparently the term bank was also used here for the first time.
WARNING: There could have been a family boorse in Antwerp, or a family bause in Ghent, giving rise to the same stories. But we're in Bruges, so we'll believe them.

 A gilded house in the town square.

 A guard dog (named Giky??) wearing a bling collar.

 A local brew before dinner.

 Cathy's vegetable dish ............

 ..... and her dessert!

 The tower in the square is supposed to lean 1.5 m. I don't know how Cathy arranged this, but it looks like its toppling.

Around Bruges

We went for a walk, and Cathy spied these doughy things ......

 ......... which were transformed before our eyes into waffles (or wafels as we say in Brugge). Cathy had chocolate and banana, and I had ......

 ............ cherries and cream. The vendor assured us that they were calorie- and sugar-free.

 Concentration.

 We're searching the town for Grace Green, Oliver Orange, Oskar Purple, Erik Red and Golden Lissy.

 All of which colours were in this window.

 A poor pun, we thought. (Or an Irish joke)

 A nice house in Bruges.

 A reflective photo by Cathy. View from our room window.

 More reflections by Cathy - chocolate, and more chocolate.

 Breakfast on a canal.

 And more bloody chocolate. This time with the original cocoa beans.