Venice of the North
Today, in addition to our walking tour, we took a boat ride along the canals.
Bruges was, for three centuries, a port. It's prosperity was founded on importing English wool and producing Flemish cloth. The access to the sea eventually silted up, but the canals around the city remain. Today they appear to be used only for tourism.
We stepped aboard, joining the waiting passengers, and continued waiting for the last two seats to be filled. Eventually we were complete, our captain/guide climbed aboard and we set off. The captain /guide informed us, in several languages, of the sights along the way: felt ashamed of my linguistic laziness, but then all the world speaks English !
Returning to terra firma, we resumed our exploration on foot. But, we didn't get far: the aroma wafting from out of the many chocolate shops slowed us down considerably as we stopped to press our noses against the window! Returning to the hotel, we came across an old lady demonstrating lace making, for which the city is famous.
