Autumn in Bruges

I love summer, I love spring and though I always complain I hate winter, I did have an amazing time in the winter wonderland that is Lapland. But my all time favourite season is Autumn, when it gets chilly and I can convince myself to turn the radiator on, grab a blanket and a book and hopefully, relax with a cat on my lap, while autumn storms are raging outside. Isn’t that the best?

I do come outside sometimes though, leaving my blankets and books at home to go on a little citytrip, wandering through a new city, enjoying the crisp air and the trees that get this beautiful golden glow. Just last week, we were invited for dinner with my parents-in-law and some other relatives that had come to visit. We were heading to the Belgian border and we thought, why not go earlier and make a fun citytrip out of it? We decided to visit Bruges, a lovely little medieval town that I hadn’t visited before, but has been on my list for quite some time now.

It was a three hour drive, but well worth it when we drove underneath the medieval archway that was the way into the city. It felt like crossing the border to a fantasy town. Narrow, cobbled lanes, lovely little houses and adorable canals were waiting for us.

There are a couple of things you just have to do when visiting this city. One of them is eating waffles. You are not allowed to leave without having tasted them. We were quite hungry when we arrived so we decided to not waste another minute (though you can’t really waste time in a city as lovely as this one) and set afoot to one of the hundreds of waffle restaurants Bruges has to offer.

We ended up at the House of Waffles, a cute little restaurant where we had to wait a bit for a table. The place was small, but well worth waiting. I couldn’t choose what kind of waffle I was craving, so I opted for a ‘make your own waffle’ and decided on a topping from each category, namely vanilla icecream, hot chocolate sauce, strawberries and whipped cream. It. was. heavenly. Will someone please take me back to have another one? I really do have to come back someday, because they had savory waffles as well, which sounded very weird to me, but I’m curious enough to try one someday. BLT waffle, anyone?

We didn’t really have that much time in the city, only a couple of hours were left after our lunch, before we should head towards our family. So we decided to not really do anything, besides wandering around. We found some little markets that sold cute little souvenirs. Apperently, there’s a market every saturday so when you’re visiting in the weekend, make sure to check it out!

There are several ways you can explore the city. On foot, like we did, by boat along the canals, or by horsedrawn carriage. All three ways are perfectly romantic and great ways to view the city.

Another stop you will have to make when visiting Bruges, is one of the many chocolate stores. The city is known for its sweat treats and a must-visit when you have a sweettooth. And you’ll be happy to have bought some chocolates, when sitting at home with that blanket, book and cat. It’s the perfect snack!

By this time we had seen most of the city’s highlights; the market, the belfort and we had filled our bellies with waffles and bought some chocolate to take home. Before leaving, we did want a make a little detour to the Begijnhof, which is the only preserved beguinage in the city. It was built in 1240 and is currently being used as a convent.

I must say that the beguinage itself wasn’t that interesting to me, but the surroundings blew my mind. This is autumn on it’s best in this little medieval city. Old castlelike buildings, canals, parks with golden trees and white swans that are wandering around… Absolutely romantic and a great place to spend a saturday afternoon.