Next stop: Brugge

Peering through the curtains the next morning we discovered that Aurora had already docked in Zeebrugge and the early risers were disembarking for their tours.  By the time we got into Breakfast, it was pretty quiet and it wasn’t long before Callum was tucking into his sausage, bacon, tomato and toast!

We’d decided to get the train into Brugge – Callum was really excited when he saw it was a double-decker train. Brugge town centre was a 15 mins walk from the station as only cars, taxis and local buses can enter the city limits. It was very picturesque wandering around amongst the old buildings. St Salvator’s Cathedral was the first major landmark we stumbled across. We turned right here, and walked down the main shopping street into the Platz.

My Dad’s advice before we left was to have a beer and moules frites in the market place ... and since when have we ignored Dad’s advice!! Jon and Ray had the local beer (served in a mini “yard of ale” glass and I had a Leffe. We also shared a bowl of wonderful Musselen Frites, whilst Callum had a waffle and the rest baguettes. By the time we’d been served and paid the bill, there was barely enough time to buy some chocolates and head back for the penultimate train.

We were pushing it and it was a brisk quick march back to the train.  I grabbed Callum and we just made the train with literally seconds to spare. Alas, the rest of the gang weren’t quite so lucky and we left them behind in Brugge!! At least with Callum and I out of the way (Callum especially), I hoped it would be easier for the others to catch a taxi back or just be less hassle without Callum moaning and generally being bored.

All the way back on the train, Callum (bless him) was pretty concerned how Daddy and Gran/Granda were going to make it back to the ship ... I told him we were having a race and they were catching a taxi back and were seeing who would get back to the ship quickest. Callum thankfully was soon distracted with Toy Box (especially as they were playing in Jumping Jacks) whilst I was left wondering if I’d be dining alone that night!!

I headed up onto the Prom Deck above the embarkation ramp and watched the last handful of coaches arrive back. I needn’t have worried. In the end, as taxis were few and far between, they decided to catch a bus back to Blankenberg which arrived a couple of mins before the final train from Brugge did. It was a really shame we had to leave Brugge so early – another couple of hours in port would have been great.

Once everyone was safely back onboard, we headed up to The Orangery for Afternoon Tea, followed by drinks out on Pennants Bar. As the weather was so good, space was at a premium until people started to leave to get ready for dinner.

Callum had loads of fun in Toy Box. They’d made some very scrummy chocolate crispy cakes and when we arrived, the staff captain was there meeting all the kids.

Tonight was the formal night so our opportunity to get dolled up! People had gone to a lot of effort and everyone looked fabulous. The menu did not disappoint either - Jon and I were relieved to see Lobster Thermador on the menu as we’d raved about it.  Thankfully everyone really enjoyed it too.

We opted not to see Derren Brown (must be the only people on board not wanting to see the show) and we took part in the Syndicate Quiz. We finished mid-table on 10 points and it was actually a pretty good way to spend an hour or so in the evening though.