By far the best thing to do in Bruges is just walking around admiring the marvelous buildings, especially at night when the bulk of the tourists leave. We check out the surrounding area by car, notably Dam, where we hike around a bit, but the real magic remains the Bruges nights.

After a couple days in Bruges, Mike drops Tony and me off in Bruxelles before racing back to the airport. I haven't been back to Bruxelles since my first trip to Europe, about a dozen years back, and it seems nicer than I'd remembered it. The cathedral and Grand Place (despite this not being a flower display year as during my first visit) are both superb. The museums are good, although they are no longer free. Wandering around the streets and frequenting the active outdoor cafes makes for great people watching.

Tony scouted out a great place for dinner at the ornate Metropole Hotel. We have a gourmet meal at a not unreasonable price. In both Bruges and Bruxelles we are extremely fortunate with our accomodation. The paraphernalia decor at the B&B run by Marjan Degraeve in Bruges is fascinating, while the Pacific Hotel in Bruxelles has one of the friendliest owners I've ever come across in Europe.

While in the City Museum, Tony and I see a strange exhibit on public urinals, from old times until the present. One picture shows a urinal stall of guys pissing against a church. Now, it is not too uncommon for European churches to have urinal stalls outside of them, but this is literally up against the wall of the church itself. I figured this was something they had long ago, but Tony surprises me by saying that he'd seen this while walking around. I go there later and confess that I couldn't resist trying it out.