The month of sisters draws to a close. Allie and Evan were with us from New Year's Eve until the third week of January and then Inga came in and is leaving for her mission trip to the Ukraine on Sunday. We took advantage of Inga's presence and headed to the continent yesterday. Our destination was the Belgian city of Bruges/Brugge. We awoke at four a.m. in order to catch our six a.m. ferry across the channel. We ended up going with SeaFrance for our ferry service and it was easier, cheaper, and more enjoyable than our previous experience with Norfolk line. The big plus is that was arrived in Calais rather than Dunkirk; Calais being much prettier. We made it to Bruges by 9:30 (losing an hour somewhere in the water) and proceeded to wander around the historical center of the town. We stopped in a cafe almost immediately. The girls ordered tea while I ordered a hot chocolate. Now in the course of my life, I have learned to not be picky about my hot chocolate. Whether it is Swiss Miss mix, Hersey's syrup heated up, or something better, you just drink it. Well this hot chocolate came in its own pot with a bowl of sweetened whipped cream, and sugar rectangles (to be geometrically correct). It was fantastic! (And I suppose it should because it ended up that it cost €6/$8.22!) In the course of the day we covered all of the historical part of the town at least once. The highlight of the day was a thirty-minute boat ride on the canals. The town has some beautiful architecture and the buildings were designed with the canals in mind. Many buildings had tiny doors that opened directly onto the water. We will be posting pictures in the coming days.
