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Brugge, Belgium

The day started off true to forecast with light rain, which was ok for us as it was a transfer day and we would use it to research Paris which looks rather complicated, and also rest and make the most of our splurge hotel.

The new hotel was about 10 minutes walk which was fine and the rain had pretty much eased to a light spit by the time we arrived. It is a restored grand house, with rich wood, fabrics and chandeliers and when I went to check in the professional young male staff said he had good news and bad news. First the bad news was they had a computer glitch and were overbooked, the good news was he had rung around and got us into a 5 star hotel on the other side of the square with no extra cost, and gave me a taxi chit to get there. How lovely I thought, but hoped it was as nice as this one which had excellent ratings and was carefully picked by us for some key features.

The hotel we transferred to is called the Hotel Grand Duke and was a place that aristocracy stayed once upon a time. It looks like a mini castle. We were upgraded to a superior garden view room and were allowed to check in straight away instead of the usual European time of 3pm. Being the queen Marsha I am I was beginning to feel quite regal until we got to our room and smelt stale smoke. Yuk. I went down to reception and asked if we could be moved, “sorry no we are full but we will send up housekeeping to see what they can do”. The duty manager came up and confirmed the problem and said we could shift tomorrow if the spray the housekeeping provided did not work. Much apology and that was that. We opened windows and the spray helped a bit, however if you are sensitive to these things it is not what you want when paying for non smoking 5 star room.

Our other hotel had in room tea and coffee facilities and was more period furnished, this one was roomy, had some nice paintings but no more character than a modern hotel, and was a little tired. Our room also was a mobility access one and had extra equipment in the bathroom and did not have a bath or as nice appointments in view of space – accessibility. And to top it off no tea and coffee which should be available in this level of accommodation. Simple as it may be, us Kiwis and the Brits and Australians are particularly used to having this simple feature and it was what we wanted for staying in and doing our office work.

A bit of a let down, but without independent internet and more precious time spent looking for something else we decided to settled in. We did some planning and blogging and then headed off for lunch at a place recommended on Tripadvisor called “Books and Brunch”. It was a little out of the market square central region, but only around 10 minutes walk and any walking through back streets is an adventure here to be enjoyed. It was a small two storey cafe with books lining the walls in neat sections and a simple organic menu. You could read the books whilst you ate or drunk a coffee or wine/beer, and if you wished purchase them. They had an English section too and prices were around 3 euro. I was tempted but don’t have the room or time to read, as much as I would love to curl up with a book.

Our lunch was delicious; carrot soup and tasty organic bread, followed by a mega toast with chicken, bacon, ham, cheese, and tomato. I say lunch as it was 3:30 pm by the time we got there to eat. They had nice cafe jazz music playing and it was the most delightful relaxing atmosphere. We also had one of the best coffees we have had for a long time too, creamy smooth and rich in its black state – like velvet.

Many have suggested that I should have my own cafe or such, and I said to Vern that if I ever did take the plunge I would model it on this; good wholesome, perfectly prepared food with an uber cool atmosphere (and no late evenings).

We headed back to the hotel via some shops and a supermarket to get a light picnic dinner for later on. There are lots of sales and nice shops but prices are still OTT so it was more a little look in the windows.

When we got back to the palace we went for a big swim in the indoor pool which was nice and I had 5 minutes in the Hamman (steam hot box). We enjoyed our picnic tea and settled in the super King bed before midnight for a change.

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