Lassen Peak Photography

As promised by a friend of ours, I have fallen madly in love with Bruges. The kids have too…they both enjoyed Paris, as one might enjoy visiting big cities like San Francisco or New York in the U.S., but we all agreed we prefer the more relaxed atmosphere and slower pace of Bruges. If only we had more time!

We started off the morning at a charming Belgian cafe, where I gamely agreed to an add of a soft-boiled egg and side of “ham and cheese”…boy was I happy I’d learned my Dutch grandfather’s way of using a spoon with shelled eggs, as it served me well. I’m always reluctant to order eggs not fully cooked because chefs in the U.S. tend to rush and send out undercooked eggs – I’m happy to report that my egg in Bruges was perfect and delicious. So was the thinly sliced prosciutto and sheep’s cheese, complimenting the cafe au chocolate and breads with numerous jams.

Here is the cafe:

Here was my meal before diving in:

And here was Marc’s bowl:

Next up was Choco-Story. Our daughter adores chocolate (who doesn’t?), so she found this fun local chocolatier for us to visit. While there are loads of chocolate shops in Bruges, I think she hit the mark with this choice. Just the right amount of character, information about origin and process for making chocolate, plus deliciousness characterize this establishment. I took much better photos with my other camera, but here’s what I can share now.

Here is Choco-Story:

(By the way, yes, those monkeys were carved out of chocolate!)

Afterward, we made our way to St. John’s Hospital, founded in the 12th century. Originally it offered a place to stay for weary travelers and those who’d fallen on hard times, and was later run for these people by monks and then nuns. It is one of Europe’s oldest surviving hospital buildings. It houses a treasure of art of historical importance, and was truly an honor to behold.

Here are some photos from St. John’s Hospital:

Here is a picture our son took of me taking photos of the apothecary:

We visited the local Chocolate Museum and then went on a boat ride through the canals around Bruges, but I didn’t get any photos of those with my iPhone…it’s been hard enough getting photos with my ‘real’ camera on this trip, as I’m shooting and running all day just to keep up.

Here are photos of other areas of Bruges: