Ghent, Belgium

Day two of Belgium we traveled to Ghent.  

   It was not as crowded as Bruges was.
It still had the Charm of the cute Trapezoid stepped front facade architect

This area was across the 

Getting ready to go on our boat tour.  

We got to take a ride on the winding canals of Ghent.

Brooklyn and Che on the boat in front of St. Bravo's Cathedral

Tina and Kendly loving  our boat tour on the canals of Ghent. 

Today we got to explore a 12th Century Medieval Castle.
 The Gravensteen Castle, Castle of the counts.   This Medieval castle once belonging to the count of Floanders. 

Gavensteen Castle is in the middle of Ghent's old town.
The Castle has had many uses over the years.  It was a Courthouse, A factory, and even a Prison.
On the second floor you could experience the Torture Museum.  Under medieval law people had to confess before they were found guilty.  So torture played an important role.  Some of the torture devices made our skin crawl.  I just can imagine  inflicting that kind of pain on others.  

Brooklyn found love with her knight in the Medieval Museum on the first floor of the Castle.

This is the view of Ghent from on top of the Castle. 

Me and my Baby girl.
We love going back in time exploring this Medieval Castle. 

After exploring both the Museum of Medieval Weapons, and The Torture Museum we got to spend some time outside
exploring the turrets, moats, 

Che and Tina at The Gavensteen Castle. 

.  We asked the People at the Castle where we should eat and they directed us to the Old Town area.  We at some turkish food.   Brooklyn ordered the special it was a special shrimp dish an salad. 

I'm not sure what I ordered but it was delicious and we had plenty of leftovers. 

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Holy Smokes Diving home from Belgium tonight was CRAZY! We were kicked off the autobahn not once but twice. We had to take two different detours, several u-turns and finally had to pull over and talk to the polizei. It was so crazy. We got home an Two hours later because of all the detours.  

Bruges Belgium with Che and Kendyl

While the boys were at the Westweg  (Week long Boy Scout camp)  Che, Kendyl, Brooklyn and I headed on a girls weekend to Belgium for 2 nights 3 days.  One of my goals while living in Germany was visiting all 9 Countries that surround Germany.  We have never explored Belgium before so I was so excited to spend the weekend there.  Our hotel was in Brussels it's about a 4 hour drive.  We had some awesome conversations with our girls.  We may have learned a lot from each other some might even say TMI.  Ha!  We  definitely laughed and made so many memories driving to Belgium.  After we slept some we got up ate breakfast at the hotel and drove the 1 1/2 hours to Bruges. 

Bruges is a Fairytale looking Mid-evil town.  

Tina and Che ready to explore Bruges. 

I fell in love with the Architecture in Bruges.  The Trapezoid Stepped Front Facade.
Most of the roofs were this step roof,  Super fascinating.   

Modern Street in Brugge.

The Markt Square With the Cloth Hall (City Hall) and Belfry Tower. 

Che and Tina in The Markt Square

The Beautiful Belfry Tower
We got to climb the 366 steps to the top of this tower.  It is 83 Meters tall and has 47 Bells
As you hike up the very narrow stairs there are different platforms that have all kinds of interesting information and history about the Belfry tower. 

A Lot of these house were turned into hotels, stores, or restaurants.
Can you imagine living this close to your neighbor?

We got to take a 45 minute tour of Bruges in a horse drawn' carriage. Kendyl (14) Brooklyn (14) Tina and Che
It was MAGICAL!

We took a little picture break at the  Brugge-Zeebrugge Canal
Kendyl, Tina, and Brooklyn. We had the best weather. 

We stopped so the horse could have a drink and a treat.  

The views from ontop the tower were breathtaking.  

We had Panoramic views of Bruges and surrounding areas. 

We had to try the Famous Belgian Pommes Frites.
French fries served in a cone.  They had 9 different dipping sauces.
We of course had katchup.  Ha! super adventurous I know, 

Love these girls

While we waited for our Boat tour we stopped at a choclate store
and got this Dark Chocolate rice crispy treat.  It was so delicious.

Brooklyn (14) Kendyl (14) and Che.
Look at these cute girls.  

Brooklyn needed to use the bathroom and was not about to go into this little room.

Beautiful Bruges, Belgium

Che, found us this yummy restaurant  She looked up cheap eats places college students go.
We ate at Bocca.  it was super cheap dinner was 10 Euro for Brooklyn and I to eat and it was delicious.   

My Baby Girl and I eating Ice Cream.
I love making memories with my girl.  I love that she is old enough to come on girls trips with me.