Monday, January 10, 2011

Brugge Conclusion

My giveaway ends tomorrow! 
Enter here. 

After the ice festival, we headed to the middle of town
to check out the two Christmas markets, 
have lunch and sightsee. 
It was a short walk, but it was so cold there! 




Restaurants like this lined the main street downtown. Most 
are hotel restaurants and the best places to eat.
We ate at three different ones and loved
them all. They were cozy and fully
decorated for the season. 
Plus, the food was delicious and the staff spoke English!



Since it was Belgium, chocolate stores were everywhere!
This was one of our favorites. They had some very interesting things, like:

Chocolate globes and ornaments

Chocolate Lipstick

And the weirdest thing of all:
Chocolate shooters. 
And by shooter, I mean sniffer. 
And by sniffer, I mean snorter. 
That's right folks, you actually snort the cocoa.
They provide you with very detailed instructions and 
pictures, so you know you'll get it right. 
(Um, what? Crazy right?) 

At one of the Christmas markets
The famous building seen in the movie "In Bruges".
It was a really good movie, by the way.

The center of town and another Christmas market.
I loved the way the buildings here looked. 
Mmm, sweet biscuits and chocolate covered almonds. 
The red building in the middle is where we stopped for hot chocolate and to warm up.
Hot chocolate here isnt just a drink.
It's an experience. 
It was exquisite. Definitely the best that
I've ever had. It even tops Angelina's, 
the famous hot chocolate of Paris. 
Brugge's hot chocolate was more milk chocolatey tasting 
and not as rich or dense. 
The real cream was a perfect topper. 

Trying to thaw out and very, very happy!
J LOVES churros! Every time we go back to his hometown by the beach in California,
we have to have a churro. We couldnt believe they were making and selling them here.

Wall O' Beer
Belgium is not only know for their chocolate, but for their beer as well.
These beer shops were everywhere and had more beer than you can imagine.
We were in Heaven in this store because they had beer AND chocolate!



One of the many canals
Gorgeous Winter scene
It started snowing HARD that night
 This trip was Reese's first time in a restaurant. She did
remarkably well. She either sat in my lap or the chair beside me
the entire time and didnt bother me while I was eating.
It didnt hurt that Id brought along some treats for her. 
This was my MAGNIFICENT meal! Lamb chops, salad and croquettes.
Croquettes are fried mashed potato sticks. YUM!
The restaurant we had dinner at that night
This is what the parking lot and our car looked like when we were ready to
leave the next day. It had snowed several inches since our arrival.
Reese is sporting one of her winter coats!

We loved Brugge and cant wait to go back. 
In warm weather next time. =) 

10 comments:

Angie said...

Hi! New follower here and reading this blog brought back so many memories. We've been to a few places in Europe and aside from Paris, Brugge was my favorite! I'm pretty sure we went to the same chocolate store! Recommended to us by a local, we were told that the owner travels the world for chocolate and he's the best in the world. I loved your post and look forward to more!

Amanda said...

Ohhh it looks so pretty there! You're lamb chops look DELICIOUS! I really want to visit Brugge before we leave Europe!

Michelle said...

Um, okay, you lost me. You snort the chocolate? Like cocaine? Not that I know that much about snorting cocaine, just from movies. Whoa, that's weird. You have to try it and blog about it. Seriously. Or interview someone who snorts chocolate. I'm so interested.

Anonymous said...

Mmm! All the chocolate and food pics made me want to lick the screen!

And, please tell me you will be snorting chocolate and reporting back to us about it!

Anonymous said...

Wait, so did you actually snort the chocolate?? How does this work! I don't understand!

Meanwhile, I NEED to have that hot chocolate in my mouth before I die!

Nicole said...

omg those lamb chops look AMAZING!!! and coffee, wine and travel?!?! you're my kind of girl!

Beckie said...

Found you from the roundup!

And ohhh we went to Brugge a few years ago and it was amazing. I need to go back one day! It looks like you had a great time :).

Athena said...

Note to self: Do not read this post when hungry!

Yum!

Wife on the Roller Coaster said...

Oh my gosh, this post made me hungry! Those pics are gorgeous. And snorting chocolate? I love me some chocolate, but I might pass on that one. ;)

Unknown said...

I love the look of all the little shops. There has been some talk of us being stationed in Belgium so it's neat to see the pictures. The Hubble would die for that wall of beer! And I'm with J...I LOVE churros!!!