Beautiful city with Beer and Chocolate... Bruges!

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Today we had our first day in Bruges, arrived yesterday and had some time to walk around.

Last night we ended up at a great little pub that served every belgian beer available, they literally had a menu of beers that went for a couple of pages.  We only managed to sample two each, as the alcohol content of most of them was up around 10 and 11%, and for some reason Ross didn't feel like carrying me home!

The one thing that amazes us is the quantity of chocolate sellers here.  Bruges is a very touristy city, and everything is geared towards the tourist, but the amount of chocolate shops is just ridiculous.  Obviously we had to go into every one and buy a couple of pieces (which amounted to about a kilo worth!).  We also went on a boat cruise through the canals, which was very nice.  The entire city is very pretty, with heaps of old bridges and houses.

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Just before lunch we went to the Chocolate museum, which was well done, although quite small.  The museum just went through the history of chocolate and finished off with a demonstration on how to make pralines, the chocolate that Belgium is famous for.

We finished the day with a tour of the only remaining brewery in Bruges.  Many of the little breweries have closed due to many reasons, and this one only brews enough to supply the local pubs.  Our poor tour guide had to say everything in English, Dutch and French, as Belgium has two main languages, being Dutch and French, and even has an area that speaks German.