Beautiful Bruges

Today we woke up to blue skies and sunshine through our little attic window!  We are staying at Gallery Yasmine - www.gallery-yasmine.be - which I selected because of it's location and the fact that the owner boasts of her beautiful breakfast.  Well, I'm pleased to say she was not understating her skills, which include making her own buttery croissants!  I didn't take any photos Di but I will try to remember to do it tomorrow, as today I was too busy eating - smoked salmon, creamy scrambled eggs, freshly baked croissants, fruit, yoghurt, juice and tea.  And then as we left Albina, the owner, insisted on us taking the left over croissants and chocolate nut bread (oh yes, I also managed a slice of that for breakfast!) with us for lunch!
Greg was feeling a bit stressed over some unfinished work he has to complete so the kids and I set off on a 4km walk from the guide book to discover Bruges.  We started at the Choco Story museum, secure in the knowledge that Greg would not feel he was missing out if we went there.  The reward is a freshly made chocolate filled with praline - we could just about fit it in on top of breakfast!  It was such a gorgeous day that we just enjoyed walking around (as per the guide book instructions!) and seeing the sights of Bruges.  When we reached the windmills (replicas that have been built to re-create the atmosphere of old Bruges!) Liam - encouraged by Bella! - decided he just had to roll down the hill.  Much to the amusement of  passing tourists who also took his photo!  Apparently it was a lot of fun but I was not impressed to see all the grass and mud stains on his jeans afterwards...  The walk ended at the oldest cafe in Bruges, opened in 1515.  Unfortunately, it's closed on Tuesdays!  Liam took a photo of Bella and I outside it!
We ate our lunch croissants in the market square and watched the mass of tourists go by.  It must be absolutely crazy here in the summer!  We found a baby shop - the first we've come across - and couldn't resist buying a little jacket and top for our soon to be born grandson/nephew.  Bella and I also found some gloves for 10 euro a pair - my ski gloves are quite warm but are also too big to fit in the pockets of my parka, meaning I tend to leave them behind - and miss them.  Despite the sun it was quite cool today.
We collected Greg in the afternoon and went op-shopping - Greg finally found the coat he has been searching for, and a hat (Thomas, you will like it when you see the photos!) - and some shoes!  Bella got a luxurious looking black fake fur swing coat for 25 euro, quite a steal, I can see I'll have to borrow it sometimes as it gives her quite a movie star look!  She didn't wear it out tonight as it was raining, and she didn't want to get it wet. We had a simple dinner in a cafe called En Cafe as honestly, we are still quite full from breakfast!