In Bruges

I convinced Joey to let me snooze until 7:30, when he finally decided it was time to start the day and indicated this by crawling back and forth across my face, giggling.

Breakfast of champions

We had breakfast in the hotel: all the toast we could eat with no line at the toaster suddenly felt princely. After they finished eating, we let the kids go back to one of our rooms, which was just next to the lobby.  So Dennis and I felt safe lingering over our breakfast and playing a few hands of cards while the kids happily watched old Garfield & Friends cartoons. We take our dates when and wherever we can get, these days.  


Dennis's parents were due to arrive in Bruges at 11:30, and we didn't see much point in taking the kids out of the hotel before them.  They needed to rest.  Our hotel is right next to the train station, so I took myself for a little walk to find the timetable and to make sure the trains were running on time.  People were pouring out of the station: we later learned that today was always one of the busiest tourist days of the year for Bruges, as it's a bank holiday in several nearby countries, and Bruges is made for mini-breaks.

One, two, three

We've been an island unto ourselves for quite some time, and I suspected that adding a few people to our mix, though it would be delightful, might just cause a little jealousy and strife among the kids.  So before Grandma and Grandpa showed up, I asked Ella and Alex to please not fight over their affection. The kids know themselves pretty well, and saw the wisdom in this: they solved the potential problem it by playing rock-paper-scissors to determine who would get the first hug.  


Ella won, and, honoring their deal, Alex hung back quietly, but he was quickly engulfed in hugs, too, by his loving grandparents.

Went to lunch in the brasserie across the street, whose main virtue was a quiet outdoor patio, with a menu including crêpes for the kids running a close second.  The crepes came plain, with little jars of different sugars for the kids to sprinkle on them: combination food and entertainment is always a good thing. Adding to the fun were little gifts sent from the kids' Aunt Stephanie. She sent two pairs of stripy leg warmers that put my Ella into ecstasies, and among other things, a set of little dreidels.  You might think this a strange gift, but Stephanie is wise in the ways of children, and those dreidels kept the children happy at the end of their table, which was silent for the rest of our lunch, except for the occasional, joyful "Gimmel!"  Joey quietly chuckled over a book at the opposite end, leaving the grownups to catch up at our leisure.

Joani and Dan had lugged about 50 pounds of supplies from the states for us: cartoons that I'd ordered for the kids, fresh packs of markers and construction paper, taco seasoning and Cleveland Stadium mustard and BW3 wing sauce, new comic books for ella...boundless joy, encased in a duffel bag. 

Instead of having their tires chalked,
drivers all have these cards, and we're
on our honor to mark the correct
hour of arrival and leave the card
on our front dash. 

We stashed that in our room and then packed all seven of us into our little car to take grandma and grandpa to their hotel.  Dennis and Grandpa Dan got a little twisted around, but Ella and Alex were happily watching Garfield and Joey was contentedly looking for Goldbug, so all was good. Finally, gratefully, we parked the car near the hotel and set off to walk around Bruges.  


The city is so sweet, with incredibly beautiful buildings, but we laughed at ourselves as we spent half of our time with our eyes on the cobblestones: the kids were obsessed with the treasure trove of scrap metal and other magical things hidden in the cracks.  We emerged from the alleys and into the courtyard by Bruges's famous clock tower. There we made a snack of the frites for which Bruges is so famous.

Fries and aioli in the Markt

In the interior courtyard of the clock tour, some children were putting on a fold dancing festival, and our kids settled down to watch a little.

In the courtyard of the Belfort en Hallen

And then we wove through more streets, stopping at many of those tourist shops that are so appealing to little kids, here to buy a little lace doily, there to get a tiny keychain, and then, finally, to pick up bags of chocolate.  

In the courtyard of the city hall, Joey gathered a few followers

The stunning city hall building

Crossing the bridges over the canals. 

We next stopped at a pretty park with a playground and gave the kids some exercise.

A very public urinal

Joey walked around, importantly brandishing a stick, while while Ella and Alex spent most of their time sifting through the sand, finding tiny, tiny seashells and sand dollars.  We're close to the sea, and the sand was fresh from the shore.  I think we must have stayed there for an hour and, as we headed back to the hotel, the kids were genuinely exhausted. Dennis piggy-backed Ella and Alex in turns, while I carried Joey (we didn't even consider bringing the stroller, what with all the cobblestones), except for the parts when he could walk along the edge of the canal and wave at the boats, filled with happy tourists who were glad to wave back.

This one is for Steph: Ella, wearing her new leg-warmers

A lovely close to a really idyllic day

We decided to keep dinner simple, and we grabbed the ingredients for a picnic at one of the little quick-marts: bread and cheese and sausage and grapes and Belgian beer, of course, and Belgian waffles for dessert.