Sunday in Bruges
Hello there , we are alongside in Bruges as planned and the ship is very quiet as the majority of crew have wandered ashore. We arrived a little later than planned , having had to " hover " at the locks to let freight ships out. The morning was sunny and the canals very pretty , with several bridges to pass under , that looked impossibly narrow from the bridge ! Helen was calm on the helm and Captain John got us alongside in time for a shower of rain as we heaved the gangway onto the berth.
Luckily this was short lived and after a delicious lasagne , or pesto and pasta lunch , it was time for most to step ashore,
Bruges is very quiet in comparison to the lights of Amsterdam , and very clean and attractive, As we are only here until 07.30 tomorrow morning , there isn’t time to explore much , but it is worth a longer visit in the future, Cookie Dave and I went for a wander into the main square and found a delicious chocolate shop ! Everyone was so friendly and helpful , we felt that we could have spent hours here.
However , there are fifteen crew who prize Dave's cookong over eating out and so it was back to the ship to prepare supper.
The European atmosphere is great , especially the card sharks and guitar strummers in the bar ! We plan to use our first " sailing friendly " winds tomorrow , after a fairly roly-poly night , motoring last night. The night watches caught the odd shower too , then it was harbour stations for the locks and again for coming alongside , so I think that people will be early to bed tonight .
Will be in touch when we next get a signal , Jane.