Beer, Beer, and More Beer

Wow, some of you just spent three days with Rob's parents, which is more than he can usually handle. (Just kidding, Rob's parents- we love you). But, while the rest of you were wondering what Rob was doing in that awesome blue suit, we took a little trip to Bruges, Belgium.

Bruges is mostly famous for being famous- it's always full of tourists. But it's still worth a visit as it's a very charming medieval city with a grand church and a beautiful bell tower that Never. Stops. Ringing. No, it's nice. Although, at one point the church decided to ring, too, and went off for about 30 minutes as we sat next to it, eating lunch... This is the bell tower:


More importantly, though, is the beer. Belgium has more brands of beer (over 600) than any other country and the beer is very flavorful and higher in alcohol content. We took a good shot at trying as much as we could, even touring the local brewery and enjoying a sample. Please note the delicate placement of the pinky finger:



In between beers, we wondered through the city and enjoyed another weekend of spectacular weather. The city has a few canals running through it that offer some stunning views of the neo-gothic buildings. Bruges is said to be 'more Gothic than Gothic,' but we didn't see a whole lot of kids dressed in all black. Well, there was the one lady, but she may have been a nun. A view:


Finally, a trip to Bruges wouldn't be complete without a giant bowl of mussels (polished off with more beer, of course):


Bruges was a beautiful city and we're looking forward to heading back there with some of our visitors. Notice how we always end these posts with plugs for visitors?