A few weekends ago, we spent a long weekend in Brugges. What a great town and the perfect time of year too. Just as Spring was pushing through the soft ground and before too many tourists arrived. This medieval town is incredibly well preserved and very tourist friendly.
We took the train from London. It took just under 4 hours including transfer waits, etc. Our hotel, Hotel de Goezeput, an old monastery was really nice. Historic, wood beam architecture, romantic roof top views, beautiful church bells in the mornings (not too early), a nice breakfast and a simple bar that was for an afternoon beer. 
Everyone was really friendly. While it was perfect for a place to sleep and shower, I might recommend something a little more upscale for a longer visit as the bed was a bit worn and the bath small. But we got much more than we paid for and would stay again.We arrived Thursday at midnight,
got settled and went to bed. Friday morning we met up with our friends Loreen and Mike who were on their own random travels. After a stop for coffee and then for some incredible Belgian frites, we headed over to Segway Brugge for a Segway tour. (The frites place had been recommneded to us as the best in Brugges...you'll find it at the corner of Geldmunststr. and St. Jakobsstr. -- the Segway tour place is on St. Jackobs, so you can stop on your way there or afterwards). I'd always wanted to ride one and was more interested in the Segway than the tour.The tour company own
ers were very friendly. They were just finishing lunch when we arrived and invited us to finish our frites in the kitchen. They also had a great dog that really took to Loreen - it probably had nothing to do with the frites she was feeding him. From the Netherlands, they had moved to Brugges last fall to start the business.After a brief training in the shop, our guide took us to a small courtyard where we were given some more training and were allowed to ride without a person standing next to us. It's interesting because you want to "control" the machine, but it really works best the more you relax and just let it be part of you. By the time we were done with the tour I really felt like I had robot wheels attached to my legs - totally cool.
Our guide understood that we were more interested in driving the Segways than taking the official tour, so our experience was more about seeing
the archictecture and riding the machines, than learning about the city. He did make sure we got to some amazing highlights including the inner garden of a 17th century almshouse, the swans at Minnewater and the most spectacular mom
ent of the entire weekend the Begijnhof. We took lots of pictures, but none of them conveys the beautfy of this "walled complex" for nuns that was over run with daffodils in bloom.The four of us then spent the rest of the day wandering around, tasting beers, munching and w
atching the world go by. A great start to the weekend.
