When we moved to Europe 4 years ago in Jan 2007, we kicked off our travels in Brugges, Belgium for Scott’s birthday. With our move just days away we thought let’s end our traveling in Europe (for now) in Beligum. Since we have very few free days left before we move back to the USA, we decided to take a roadtrip to Ardennes, Belgium to escape to the countryside with our dog, Petra and find peace and quietness in the peaceful and beautiful mountainside. We stayed in a quaint village of Vencimont in a cottage tucked away in the woods. Our room was delicately decorated in French designs with french doors opening to the rolling hills. Since we arrived in the night time, I woke up to find the most peaceful views and found a warm spot in a window seat with a book. We spent the days on walks through villages and the forests and evenings in front of fireplaces either at the B&B or at a cozy restaurant. With it being very busy for us now and being 7 months pregnant, we thoroughly enjoyed the peacefulness and rest. We had snow showers making the beautiful region even more beautiful and cozy. We enjoyed a long day hike with Petra bouncing around the woods and trekking through the crunchy snow banks. The villages all around Ardennes are like a storybook towns with church steeples, stone homes smoking from roaring fireplaces and mountain people bundled up for walks to the local tavern (only thing open) past 5pm.
After 3 days in Ardennes we spent a night in yet again Brugges, Belgium. It was our 4th time visiting and was still as majestic. We dropped Petra off at the Sullivans where she played nonstop with her best bud, Gus and we ventured off to the fairytale town and actually felt like a king and queen for the night staying in a castle tucked away in the forest on a moat! Staying in a castle is pretty awesome and yet slightly spooky which makes it even more of an experience especially to be surrounded by water and the woods. Amazing.
Brugges was our first trip in Europe and our last one for this time around anyways :) At night, the castles and churches light up the sky and during the day, you see people peeking through the very old, wrinkled glass windows 150m up from the towers while hearing the horse and carriages trotting miles away.
Brugges is a medieval town dating back to 12th century and is known as ‘Venice of the North’ in Western Europe. We love the medieval city with spectacular picturesque canals, gothic castles, stay a-while cafes, and a chocoholics dream come true. Brugges is a fairytale town. At night, the castles and churches light up the sky and during the day, the market square is hopping, bells are chiming, and chocolate and lace shops are busy on every corner. The market square was filled with Christmas market stalls and the wooden huts serving gluwein (mulled cider) and hot chocolate. Oh and of course hot Belgium waffles!
Even though this was our 4th time to Brugges, the city still sparkles with majesty like the first time we stepped in the market square. In my opinion, it’s real life Disney World but real and historic. This time we knew our favorite hot spots to visit and having our first baby on the way, we had new goals…. To get little white handmade lace and embroidered outfits for a boy OR a girl. For now, they will be used to decorate the baby’s room but someday Baby T can wear the Flemish designs and hopefully not resent us someday for a cute photo shot of him/her in the cute little outfit :)
We also stopped in the ice sculpture exhibit of cities around the world that we learned was recently visited and highlighted by Katie Couric. We also just had to stop by our favorite shops getting chocolates and to just get warm! It was freeeezzzing cold this weekend so just had to get our share of Belgian bonbons and hot chocolates!
It was a really great trip for us to spend time together and reminiscing the 4 years in Europe all beginning and ending in Brugges and continuing on…
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