Celebration Weekend - Bruges and De Haan

We had a lot to celebrate last week at the Burgin home.  The week began with Jason's birthday on Tuesday.  We are new in town and do not have a long list of babysitters, so we decided to go out as a family for dinner.  We picked a place close to the house, then headed downtown to the Grand Place for dessert.  It was our first time downtown when it wasn't freezing out, so we enjoyed walking around a bit and sat to eat hot waffles with a variety of toppings including nutella, strawberries and whip cream! 

On Saturday, the 26th, Jason and I celebrated 11 years of marriage!  Can you believe that?!  I know I can't!  It seems impossible to believe that it has been over a decade now that we said our vows.  Time has gone by so quickly, and God has blessed our lives in more ways than I can count. 

As our anniversary fell on the weekend this year, we decided to plan a small family trip to Bruges to celebrate.  After cold, rainy, nearly unbearable weather last weekend in Waterloo, we were blessed with a spectacular forecast and a beautiful city to explore for our anniversary weekend.

Bruges is an unbelievably preserved medieval town a little over an hour north-west of Brussels on the way to the Belgian coast.  In the 14th to 16th centuries, Bruges was one of the wealthiest cities in the world, profiting off the sea trade between northern and southern Europe.  It is filled with canals, much like Venice, and centuries of history to explore.

Here we are with one of our first views of the canals in the city. 

We walked through the cobble stone streets toward The Markt, the main town square.  It was interesting to note the differences between the French portions of Belgium and this city in the Dutch region.  One handy difference is that nearly all Dutch people speak English, which makes traveling for our family much easier!

Here is a photo of the house we rented for the weekend.  It was only two blocks from the main canal area, had two bedrooms and a full kitchen!  It was a huge blessing to be able to come back for a rest in the afternoon and also cook our own meals.  As much as sitting at cafes for hours on end is such a fixed part of the European culture, it is anything BUT relaxing for me with our three crazy kids!  We prefer to grab an ice cream or waffle on the go for a little treat and eat our main meals at home. 

This is the crazy staircase inside the house we rented!  It seriously felt like you were climing a ladder.  The stairs to the third floor were even smaller and more narrow!

This is a photo of the Stadhuis in the Burg, one of the main squares in the city and noted as one of the oldest and finest town halls in all of Belgium.  It was constructed between 1376 and 1420 - nearly a century before America was even discovered by the Europeans!!

This interesting building pictured to the left is the Belfort, located in the Markt, or main town sqaure.  Honestly, it is really an odd looking building!  Apperantly, the top third portion of the tower was added several hundred hears after the bottom two thirds.  I told Jason it looks as if the builders looked at about 50 different buildings and decided to include a little of everything all in this one "masterpiece"!

After walking around the city for a bit on Friday evening, the children enjoyed time at a park located near our house. 

Certainly, the main attraction to Bruges is the extensive canal system beautifully lined with centuries old intricate, charming buildings.  We were trying to explain to the children the dozens of generations of families that had passed through the very roads, waterways, and bridges that we were using!  It is difficult to get your mind around such things, but it is a great reminder of the brevity of the lives we are given here and a gentle urging to use your time purposefully! 

These are a few shots Jason took our first night in Bruges.  He had to go back out after the kids were in bed to get these night shots.  It doesn't get this dark until almost 11 p.m.!  We were only 2 or 3 blocks from this spot, so thankfully he did not have too far to walk.

On Saturday, we began the day in typically toursit style with a canal boat tour with an authentic Irish tourguide, crammed on a small boat with about 30 other people for our own "personal" tour of the city!  Seriously, it was a great way to cover a lot of ground in the city.  It was amazing to me because many of the bridges we went under were 500-600 years old!  Do you think our bridges and houses will still be standing in half a milenium? 

Here are a few shots from the boat excursion.

Happy Anniversary!  Here is the happy couple on their 11 year wedding anniversary.  Photo courtesy of our extraordinary 7 year old photographer, Jenna!

Another bonus in Bruges is the chance to see an authentic Michelangelo sculpture - Madonna and Child.  Jason read that he worked on this piece when he took breaks from carving his masterpiece - David. 

This is a photo of the Begijnhof.  It is similar to an abbey and currently inhabited by Benedictine nuns.  However, the buildings were originally constructed in the Middle Ages for the many women who were left single or widowed by the Crusades.  They banded together and vowed not to live in poverty, worked hard to sell various goods and were allowed to leave and remarry if they desired. 

Jason enjoying a little time with the kids during our picnic lunch!

View of the city as we walked back toward the town center from our picnic spot in the Minnewater Park.

The children  have become quite fond of collecting feathers from all over Europe.  Here Ethan is showing off a feather he found from one of the enormous pigeons that are ever present!

I loved all the winding roads and narrow passages that we explored in Bruges.  They were always very clean and we felt completely safe through the entire city. 

Jason and Drew passing the time on the back patio while I prepared dinner.  Drew is in a phase where he enjoys wearing backpacks, apperantly, it doesn't matter if the bag is as tall as he is!

Our anniversary dinner.  Maybe not candles and roses, but we had a special evening and a wondeful weekend together as a family!

After dinner we walked back downtown in search of ice cream and chocolates for dessert.  Here the children munched on their bubblegum flavored ice cream while I shopped for Belgium chocolates for me and Jason!

Family photo.

We headed out of Bruges on Sunday morning and left for De Haan, a family friendly beach recommended by the B&B owner we rented from in Bruges.  Here are a few pics from our first real taste of the coast of the North Sea!

LOTS of people!  When we first arrive the tide was out and the beach was huge.  However, as the tide continued to come in, all the people kept crowding back and it was getting a bit tight.

Jason and Drew checking out the Belgian coast!

Honestly, Jason and I hadn't given much thought to our beach excursion and didn't plan to stay on the sand very long. However, it was such a beautiful day and we were able to rent two chairs and an umbrella pretty cheap so we stayed for several hours.  Only one problem...no swim suits!  That didn't stop these guys.  They were waist deep in the water as soon as they were given permission.

 

The next three pictures show Drew's enthusiasm for the sand.

To say the least, he was COVERED in wet sand, but he loved it.

We ended the trip with ice cream.  Here the kids and I are standing in line and you can see the promanade that runs down the entire beach as far as we could see. 

We are so thankful that God has blessed our family with this amazing experience.  We are all learning so much and growing closer as a family.  It was a joy to find two beautiful cities in Belgium, so close by, and we will definitely return soon!