We gathered at 4:30 in front of the hotel to meet Hilbren, who led an orientation walk of Bruges on our way to tonight's group dinner. After taking us to the St. Anna district (an area behind our hotel) and recommending we enter the church during our free time, he walked us up one of the canals and past the same square where Sam and I had our treat upon arrival, the Jan Van Eyck Plein.
Hilbren pointed out Bruges' famous postcard canal view--which Sam and I remember from our last trip in 2002-- with the bell tower reflected in a quiet canal lined with old houses. This view reveals why Bruges was once called the Venice of the North. Supposedly, the tower leans nearly four feet; but it's been carefully monitored since 1740 and no change has been detected.
Those of our group obsessed with the Colin Farrell movie, "In Bruges," were excited to see the Hotel Bonifacius on this canal, one of the movie locations. A very expensive hotel, it was emptied of all its luxury furniture and features because in the movie, it represented a flop house \. It is the building on the left with the red-roofed twin peaks. (I have seen the movie and wasn't as impressed as some.)
Before arriving at Tom's Diner--yes, Tom's Diner--for dinner in the restaurants' upstairs loft, we walked through the Market Square, another "In Bruges" movie location. We would wander through here many times over the next two days.
Dinner was lovely, as usual. And so delicious, we forgot to take photos of the entrée!
And oh, that chocolate dessert with red currants. Yum, yum. As we wandered home afterwards--it was still light--we window-shopped and snapped some more photos. I got crazy taking photos of all the expensive cars we saw all the way back to the hotel. It was a fun day.
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