Open the bridge

This morning, we arrived in Middleburg, Netherlands. Bill saw the draw bridge open at 7am to allow our Viking ship passage to our dock which was very close to town.

Paul and Beverly went on the Viking bus to tour Bruges, an hour and 45-minute drive from Middleburg (more later about their adventures). 

The Kelly’s had been to Bruges on another trip and decided to stay back and do a walking tour of Middleburg. Ric also joined them on the Middleburg walking tour while Vicki stayed back to relax. It was a cold, windy chilly day although the sun came out later – but no rain.

We first walked around the harbor area to hear about the history of Middleburg and its harbor.  Then we walked along many historic buildings and houses. 

After crossing the canal, we headed for the old town area where we found many row houses built with brick. Along the canal there were also several house boats.

 

We mostly walked on mostly cobblestone streets and through very narrow passageways before reaching a monastery.  The monastery was very large and is now a protestant church.  It has a large inner courtyard and a beautiful garden as well as several tall spires that can be seen from much of the town. 

 

 

The town was charming. In fact, at one point this cat decided to greet us and she decided to rub all over Ric’s leg.  This picture is for all the cat lovers out there.

 

We were back onboard at 11, relaxed until 12:30, had lunch then planned to go to a sister town, Veere, but after reading about the town, we decided to stay back. Later, the Kellys and Vicki toured the shopping area since the sun was out and Karen and Vicki enjoyed shopping while Bill just strolled around – see Vicki’s bag - and Karen made a purchase in the morning.

Bill managed to finally get a picture of a dad with a child in the basket and a son hanging on. He’d seen this often but never got his phone out quick enough to get a picture. He also saw this young girl playing the saxophone while mom watched at a distance, unlike kids in the U.S. who sell lemonade on their street. Of course he dropped some money in her case.

 

Now about the adventures of Paul and Beverly. Once they got to Bruges, they had a 2 mile walk into town since Bruges has regulations about where buses can park. The walk was enjoyable, and they learned a lot from their guide about Bruges and its history. The historic city centre is a prominent UNESCO World Heritage Site.  

We heard all about their day at dinner and here are their pictures so you can travel along with them to beautiful Bruges.

They had 2 hours in town to have lunch and browse around.  They enjoyed the canals and bridges all around town and learned that Bruges is known as ‘the second Venice’.

 

They got back to the ship at 5:30pm after a long day. Bev was hobbling up to dinner because her ankles were hurting after a long day and more than 5-miles of walking.