There was a little bit of rain in the night and a few drops remained as we cycled out of camp this morning with jackets on. We’ve decided to leave the coast now and head for Brugge Belgium.

We took a short detour after sighting the impressive church spire of Middelburg, and almost stopped in the lovely square for a brew, but decided to continue a little further to the docks.

After passing another cool ‘lift up’ bridge over a canal, we had a brief rest at a quiet cafe for coffee and toilets, before catching a ferry

For 15 euros, the ferry transported us 6km across the water, saving us miles of extra riding to reach the next bridge. It was a scenic trip and well worth it. There was room for a couple of cars on board, but space for 80 or so bikes! And they came in all shapes and sizes.

Next stop was Sluis, where we had lunch in a bench outside the church.

There was a market on on the church square selling huge wheels of cheeses and a Mercedes with a glass bonnet was parked in front of us. After eating, we still felt a little tired to get riding, so had a coffee in a nearby cafe that looked out at the church.

Brugge is joined to Sluis by a large canal, which we followed pretty much in a straight line the whole way there. After a few hundred metres, we entered into Belgium, although there were no border checks or even a sign to mark the crossing.

The canal is tree lined and it was an impressive avenue to bike cycling through.

We had a rest at Damme before entering in the city of Brugge.

On the outskirts of Brugge we also passed a decent windmill…

The finally, as houses began to line the waters edge and we knew we were getting close.

The entrance into the city centre was fantastic (apart from the cobbled streets). The buildings were all grand and ornate and it was hard to take it all in, while concentrating on the road.

Then suddenly the main square was up ahead…

We rode straight into the main square, which was busy with tourists. We didn’t even get off the bikes, but stopped by the big central statue and looked around. Impressive stuff…

Around the corner behind the big church tower is ‘Martin’s Hotel’ – well we had to stay there didn’t we!

We parked the bikes in the underground garage then look the lift up to the room where a shower and a snooze set us up for some evening explorations of the city on foot.

We had enough time to explore some of the churches and town buildings before settling into a seat in the main square for some general building front appreciation while ordering the obligatory Belgium Beer and Frites, which we had been told were a ‘must do’.

It was quite a place to sit and watch…

Feeling slightly wobbly from the strong beer, we took a roughly circular walk around the town, following interesting looking streets between the major points of interest, including the Cathedral, Rosary Quay and Boniface Bridge.

After perusing the menus of the restaurants we passed, we settled on one near the Rosary Quay. There was a small sign in the crowded courtyard saying that there was a terrace, so we asked if we could sit there. The waiter shrugged his shoulders as if to say ‘if you really want to you can’ and led us through the old building. Amazingly, there was tiny terrace just above the water of the Rosary Quay, with a table to two laid out!

We couldn’t believe our luck at finding a private dining experience in one of the most viewed and visited areas of Brugge! We felt like millionaires, and ordered some chilled white wine followed by the set menu of the day, all of which was delicious. This was the view from the table!

Tucked away on our little balcony terrace, we watched the colours of the sunset on the water as the final tour boats moored up near us. The service was completely unhurried making the whole experience very relaxing. A very memorable and delightful evening.

Eventually, we strolled the streets back to the hotel and would have liked to have had a waffle on the way to complete the Belgium ’tick list’ but thought better of it – plenty of time for one of those another day…