Monday, December 21st
Headed to Brugge to enjoy a few days of being a tourist and some last minute Christmas shopping. First stop was an early checkin at Hotel Prinsenhof, a delightful family run boutique hotel, followed by a stroll around the medieval town while dodging the rain.
For lunch we caught up with Mieke and Geert at Brouwerij De Halve Maan, where, besides lunch we enjoyed ‘Brugse Zot’ and ‘Straffe Hendrik’.
We had a lovely early dinner with Carlo and Siska and their two kids, Jasper and Lupine. Then headed briefly back to the hotel to meet up with Alison and Hamish who arrived from England by means of the Eurostar. Not much time was wasted before going in search of some Belgian beers. We were lucky to score a table at ‘De Garre’. Afterwards Hamish and Caroline went out for a few nightcaps at ‘t Brugs Beertje.
Tuesday, December 22nd
A day of sight seeing, eating and drinking.
After breakfast in our hotel we went for a walk to show Hamish and Alison the Historic Centre of Bruges, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The evening was topped off at De Karmeliet enjoying a winter degustation menu complete with mussels and goose liver.
Wednesday, December 23rd
On our way back to Eeklo we made a detour via Tyne Cot Cemetery and Memorial, before heading to Koekelare for lunch with Kristin and Jan.