Autumn. In Bruges.
Our first visit to Bruges for almost 30 years - yet it's so close and easy to drive to! It was a last minute decision, based on having a free weekend coming up, that promised to be sunny and warm. So we hit the internet and booked our ferry and hotel! We drove to Dover, sailed to Dunkirk, and were in Bruges / Brugge less than an hour after docking. We stayed near the centre in a quaint hotel (Martin's Relais Hotel) which was perfect for the weekend - we had our own front door which led to the room above a small garage (possibly a former stable). On leaving the hotel's courtyard and turning left, we were a few steps from a couple of small cafés which faced Jan Van Eyck place, complete with statue and a bench that was featured in a scene in the film 'In Bruges'. The bench faces a canal which is now home to a large blue whale, made from recycled plastic rubbish (see the photographs at the end of this post). From here, we could walk along canal paths, taking ...