We thought it would rain this afternoon as predicted, but it didn't begin until 5 pm, giving us plenty of outdoor time for our last day here. We first walked to the edge of the old city, bordered by a canal with plenty of boat traffic, to see the windmills.
From there, we went to the Lace Museum & saw some beautiful examples of handiwork. We returned in the afternoon for a demonstration which appeared to be a class, but we could watch someone actually making lace---lots of tiny pins & other tools of the trade. I'm afraid both my mental health & dexterity would let me down if I tried! Here's a picture of some black lace which they called chantilly.
We passed this adornment on a corner wall of a building in a small alleyway. Notice, if it is supposed to be Mary, she's wearing an apron. The date on it was 1750.
The sun was shining, horses pulling carriages were clopping along on the cobblestones, people were smiling when we happened upon these beautiful cupcakes in a tea room window. The sun was hitting them just right, & they seem so cherry. All that said, we only took a picture & resisted temptation.
We discovered the outside fish market this morning. It's in a square we'd walked by lots of times, but its concrete countertops were always empty. Well, today, it was loaded with fish of all shapes & sizes. I smelled it before I saw it!
We took a hot chocolate break mid morning, & it was a great pick-me-up. 3 euros each.
The local brewery's logo is a crescent moon, one of my favorite symbols.
This big moon is also a crescent & on the patio of the brewery:
We didn't take the brewery tour since we took the Anchor Steam one in San Francisco not that long ago.
We opted to eat the way the locals do today---big lunch, light dinner. So we went to a restaurant advertised as authentic Flemish food. We could tell the Flemish beef stew was served in huge portions, so we ordered one & shared. We got a salad too & a small bowl of soup. Well, it was absolutely the best stew I've ever tasted. It had lean, tender beef pieces that cut with a fork like butter, & the gravy/sauce was a tad sweet, as though some fruit was in it although we detected none. And the interesting part was no potatoes in the stew itself. Remember, the Belgians invented french fries? So with a big production of lifting the lid off the stew,the server returned with a large hot funnel shaped pan with fries in it & using a long handled spoon, he put a big pile on the plate. They're proud of their fries everywhere we have eaten. Tonight? We're going to the oldest pub in Bruges, founded in 1515, for some pub grub, hopefully small portions! Here's the outside of theFlemish restaurant & then a picture of the stew with cooked chunky apples beside it:
The last picture of the day is this humorous statue of a naked woman in the back of a carriage, its driver & horse. All 3 figures look like they're laughing & having fun. I love the horse especially. The statue is just standing in the middle of a small square with no explanation necessary....
Before going off to the pub, I want to discuss showers/ baths, a delicate subject to be sure. I prefer to stand when showering & sit when bathing, but in this hotel it's necessary to sit for both. It's a beautiful gleaming clean tub with a hand held shower about 3" above the top of the tub. This makes for an awkward showering experience. We have come across these before, but we've been taking awkward showers for 3 days now!
We plan to drive the 60 miles to Brussels tomorrow with a stop in Ghent on the way.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: So many languages spoken by locals here: Flemish, Dutch, French & even English....
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