The day after spending time in Amsterdam we were in Belgium: Brugge to be exact. There are definitely great things about traveling by cruise ship, but there are also certain downfalls. While I am getting to see a ton on this trip, traveling by cruise ship, one never gets to see any areas that are inland hardly at all. We were excited for a day to chow down on waffles and chocolate when we left the ship and heard that the actual town of Brugge was about a 30 minute drive inland (50 euro taxi ride) and that we had very few options.
Fortunately we stood around long enough and looked desperate enough that we were told we could have a spot at the back of one of the passengers coaches heading in to town that would allow us a couple hours to look around. I was so thrilled and the town did NOT disappoint. Brugge is a very old, medieval town that has been mostly restored to its former beauty. It is pretty flooded with tourists, but that didn’t matter. We had a blast getting lost in all sorts of side streets and enjoying beautiful views along the canals and stone buildings that surrounded us.
I also had fun enjoying an AMAZING Belgian waffle with fresh strawberries on it and shopped at a beautiful chocolatier, The Chocolate Line. The workers there were really fun and made me a specialized box of chocolates made right in the shop. I was over the moon. These are truly pieces of little art and for the past few days now we have certainly been loving having our tiny dessert, wondering what chocolate we may bite into next! Ha ha!
We have started our next cruise now heading south and it’s really fun because we have a lot of guests who have been on and/or are staying on for weeks at a time now. I can walk around the ship now and know plenty of passengers to say “hey” to, making the ship feel more and more like home. The sad news of this cruise is that our band has left us. The bands on the ship are only on 3-month contracts, so they have gone and are headed to another ship in a few weeks. I am sure this next band (almost all Ukranian) are excellent musicians and we will learn to love them, but we have truly been spoiled with this past group. They were awesome players, but also were so much fun to hang out with. We all have become really good friends and have gained a great respect for one another. It is extremely sad to see them go, but hopefully our paths will cross again in the future!
Now we are heading to Portugal and Spain, eventually entering the Mediterranean and we are excited to hear about temperatures that have been reaching into the 90’s in the past few days!!! Hooray! Can’t wait to finally soak up some sun on the ship! Hope all is well back home. Haven’t heard from anyone in a while I’d love to know what’s going on in everyone’s life! Have a glass of sweet tea for me!
Love,
Tripp
2 comments:
So sorry to hear about the band leaving. I know you enjoyed working with them. Glad you're headed to warmer places! YAY! Just wish we could join you. Love you much. Oh- when you come home, we will for sure have sweet tea waiting!
it has barely reached 90 here this summer. Mostly, we're glad
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