Found it!

Church of Our Lady

On Sunday we explored the other end of the city of Bruges including a nunnery, brewery, lake, church, and hospital museum that was mostly religious art. Back in the 12th century not much was known about healing the body so the emphasis in hospitals was on healing the soul.

Minnewater Lake or "Lake of Love"

We walked past the picturesque house across the lake to check it out. It is an abandoned restaurant now. Sad.

Courtyard of the nunnery house

Someone has a sense of humor

We even stumbled upon a miniature rail village. My dad would be pleased we got to see a miniature train, sample a beer, and visit a nun's house all in one day.

A toast of Zot beer after the brewery tour

Dinner on our last night was a steaming pot of mussels with frites and mayo on the side:

Monday was our last day in Bruges and we successfully ticked off our list the remaining items of what we wanted to do:

• Basilica of the Holy Blood of Christ (small but beautiful)
• Chocolate Museum (complete with a sample at the end)
• Climb to the top of the bell tower
• Enjoy a Belgian waffle
• Find that darn bridge in our painting (see previous posts)

After ascending the 365 steps in the Belfry tower, we saw nice views of the city in each direction and we got to see and hear the bells chiming.

Belfry Tower

While on the spiral staircase I thought of Ryan counting steps in times past when we would climb towers. Moments later, a lady passed us counting each step out loud. The tradition lives on.

View from the tower

After our trek up the tower, we rewarded ourselves with fresh Belgian waffles and chocolate sauce:

Finally, I'm happy to report that we did find our bridge scene:

Our weekend was complete and the "winging it" strategy worked out just fine.

Here is the Eurostar train I took back to London at the end of the line in St. Pancras station:

Eurostar

And it's almost the "end of the line" for our time abroad as ex-pats.