A Little Picasso and Then Some

NOTE:  New pictures in "In Bruges" album

Took our time getting out of bed and down to breakfast.  Speaking of down, we climb 52 stairs to get up to our room and then go down the same way.  You don't want to forget anything when you leave.  It was cloudy then sunny then cloudy then rain, etc, etc.  Another good day to stay inside the museums.  This being Sunday a lot of shops were closed and the tourism didn't seem as heavy.  We would have liked to climb the bell tower but it is very tight up there and I don't do good in close spaces.  Anyway, we figured we get in our 366 steps just getting to our room!

Heading into town, we passed by the famous Dumon Chocolatier.  Had a peek around and watched as the chocolate was being made but it was a bit too early for sweets.  Grabbed the tourist pictures. Maybe we will be back for the chocolate later.

Retracing yesterday's steps, I got some pictures of all the outside of the museums, so we will remember the names.  It looked like it might start raining so we popped into the Picasso exhibit -- this was really terrific.  We got the audio guide and learned everything there is to know Picasso and his techniques - along with some other masters, Dali, Matisse  to name a few.  This is a private collection and not usually seen by the general public.  It was extremely well done.

From Picasso it was down the street to another museum housing Flemish masters. This ticket was also good for the neighboring museum -- more walking, more art -- most of which centered around religious figures.  We packed up a lunch from breakfast and ate on a bench in between art museums.  Next stop was back to the antique fair for a real Belgium wafel.  Tres yummy, but one will last us a lifetime.

Decided to walk to the extreme other end of town to take a look at the Jerusalem Church and the lace museum - both of which were closed.  Finally got back at around 3:30 and we are now resting up before meeting Cora for dinner.

Just back from a terrific Bruges dinner.  We ate at outside at Poules Moules and ordered a serving of mussels for the three of us plus a goat cheese salad.  The mussels come in this giant pot and the salad was huge, and of course, you get frites with everything.  Good thing we only ordered one serving.  It was a very fitting meal for our last night in Belgium.  Said our farewells to Cora - I do hope she keeps in touch.  She is a gem and I am so glad we met and have remained friends.

The bells were ringing again on the walk back.  It seems like there are always bells going off in this town. Before going to our suite, we decided to go across the street from our B&B and take an after dinner walk through the park along the canal. It turned out to be a lovely evening, although there is a definite chill in the air. We are now back in our room.  We leave for Paris tomorrow taking the 11am local train to Brussels and then the big train to Paris.

Next time... The Left Bank