Bruges was beautiful, the weather not so much. We managed to get in a slightly chilly cruise of the canals, but as soon as the cruise was finished the skies opened up, and we retreated to the nearest café to warm up.

Some shots from our (highly-recommended) cruise of the canals:

view from the canal boat tour

Our warm-up started with a hot chocolate with speculoos cookies. Belgians are famous for their chocolate and the hot chocolate did not disappoint. The Speculoos cookie is mild and gingery, and the Belgians seem to add it to stews and even beer!

Hot Chocolate & Speculoos Cookies (plus sticks of chocolate) in Brugge, Belgium

While we were sitting there enjoying our hot chocolates, fragrant bowls of French Onion Soup kept wafting by. It was still raining so we decided to stay and order the soup.

French Onion Soup

The café (no name, sorry, but it has red tablecloths, if that helps) recommended the local brew, Brugse Zot, to go with our soup.

Our rainy day meal…

Bruges Zot and French Onion Soup

From Brussels:

• a 300 year-old bar in Brussels
• a la Becasse, a traditional pub in Brussels
• a la Mort Subite, a historic brasserie in Brussels

More on fairytale Bruges (Brugge):

• lunch at the Cambrinus
• tour of the Brewery in Bruges
• t’ Brugs Beertje in Bruges
• dinner at the Cambrinus
• shopping for a picnic in Bruges, Belgium
• warming up a chilly day in Bruges
• the Verdi B&B

On Ghent:

• beer and museums on our first day in Ghent
• beer, food and museums on our second day in Ghent – Part 1
• Ghent SMAK exhibit, the conceptual Bulgarian artist Nedko Solakov
• beer, food and museums on our second day in Ghent – Part 2