A tale of two cities



My husband and I had a recent city break where we got the chance to take in two cities; London and Bruges.  Travel was by train and we worked out that Blackpool to London, and London to Bruges (via the Euro Tunnel) took about the same travel time, based on transfers, etc.

A sunny London was as you would expect, fast-paced, busy and hot,hot, hot!  We mooched about our capital like the rest of the tourists.  On Sunday, we visited Camden Market, having lunch at Porky's and a cold beer at the World's End pub. We ended our day with a couple of drinks near our hotel including Japanese lager at Mabel's Tavern. The next day we hit the 'high street' with a trip down Oxford Street, visiting the Liberty store, Selfridges and the Primark flagship store to experience shopping at both ends of the scale.  Then it was lunch and a stroll down the Southbank, ending with a meal and cocktails at the Arch Duke near Royal Festival Hall watching the world go by.

We had soul food for lunch at the famous Borough Market
After two days in London, we traveled to Bruges, another city, but a more relaxed pace.  A beautiful place, with cobbled streets, canals and medieval towers.  We stayed at the lovely Hotel Boterhuis, less than five minutes from the main square.  Worth paying £8 for a 30 minute canal trip with the guides providing nice tidbits of information about the city they truly love and where everyone seems to know each other. Rather than write, let me show you a couple of things we did during our 48 hours in Bruges...
We took a walk around the Belfort Tower...

... but we didn't take a walk up the 366 steps!

Bruge is a beautiful city whether you are strolling through the city or on a boat trip on the canals weaving around the city

You have to try the beer, with cheese of course!

De Garre is definitely a place you must visit for a cold beer 


The book of beer in Cambrinus, 100's to choose from. Top tip - ask for a recomendation.

Gorgeous food at the brasserie souffleur, cooked by two lady chefs (girl power) with amazing homemade chocalate mousse

We even found a quirky bar with goldfish in the sink

Goldfish!!

No trip to Bruges would be right without some belgian chocalate from The Chocolate Line

Converse, most used accessory for the holiday
I have to mention shoes, somewhere in this post. I could not have done this without my new Converse trainers.  Perfect for navigating the London underground and the cobbled streets of Bruges. 

I've now got an Instagram account - Clarejve - so have managed to add some more pictures there, mainly shoes, cocktails, food and my two Jack Russells.  If you have a spare few minutes, take a look and let me know if you are instagramming too!

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