Brugge. July 2018.

Oh, lovely romantic Brugge. Andy and I took a day trip here while in Belgium. Brugge is a charming town with winding streets, quaint cafes and shops, and picturesque sights.

The romantic Lake of Love in Minnewater Park. Legand has it, Minna was in love with Stromberg, a warrior from a nearby tribe. Minna’s Father forbid their love and arranged for her to marry another. Minna ran away into the forest, and when her love, Stromberg, finally found her, she died in his arms. The lake was named after her, and the bridge considered to be the bridge of love. They say if you walk across the bridge with your partner, you will have eternal love.

Founded in 1245, the ‘Princely Beguinage Ten Wijngaarde’ aka Princely Beguinage of the Vineyard was a community of pious single or widowed women, who lived quietly and simply. In 1927 it became a convent for Benedictine nuns.

Lots of the legendary swans on and by the canals.

Brugge had all things chocolate too. I mean all things..

Brugge is full of canals, the Reien. Some call it the “Venice of the North.”

The Church of Our Lady. It took two centuries to build, 13th-15th.

The money shot, their most photographed place. The Quay of the Rosary. (Not a perfect angle but there are, obviously, a lot of tourists wanting to take the exact same picture.) This is where the Groenerei and Dijver canals meet. It used to be a salt port in the Middle Ages, when salt was as valuable as gold.