Well, we've shown pictures of Brugge from the ground and then from the water, so now on our third day in the city, we took pictures from above. We climbed the 13th century bell tower which has been peeking up in various pictures from the past two days. The stairs are what one might call challenging and ropes are strung across the spiral staircase to help reduce the chance of falling (whee). This picture is looking east and you can see one of the little lagoons that connect the canals, as well as the major guild halls (left near the bottom).

To the north, you can see two of the windmills that lie on the edge of Brugge. Everything beyond the windmills constitutes the suburbs of Brugge and beyond that, a few miles into the fields, lies the border with the Netherlands.

Looking the other direction, to the south, Brugge's oldest church dominates the view. While we were in the bell tower the carillon went off, playing some random minuet. The bells are suspended all around the observation area, so it was quite certainly one of the loudest experiences of my life.

And finally, we have the view to the west, and down. This is actually an aerial view of the other side of the Markt, showing (rather nicely I might say) the brightly colored guild houses, the restaurants in front of them, and the flags of the various provinces of Belgium that surround the center of the square. On our way back from the bell tower we visited the Lace Museum featuring the various types of lace and some historical examples (mostly really old cuffs). After the lace museum we visited Brugge's local art museum, at least until we were kicked out at 5:00 for closing time.

That night we ate at yet another cute little restaurant. After an interesting variety on vegetable soup we had steaks and salads and after dinner David tried genever (the Dutch form of gin), while Melanie stuck with kir. This picture was taken just before dinner on a rather misty evening. The restaurant in the foreground is where we ate the very first night.