Brugges, Belgium was on the top of my list for ports that I was the most excited about. Believe me it didn't disappoint. However it was a bit of an effort to get there. We had lots of sleepy passengers on the train early that morning. But it was a gorgeous Sunday morning and the town was just as sleepy slowly waking up. The streets were quiet, cobblestone, and lined with lovely stone buildings. It was kind of a short port day so we focused on the important things to do in Belgium. GET WAFFLES! Found a great spot where we could all sit out on the patio and enjoy and off the ship breakfast with real coffee. The town was preparing for a parade or something that afternoon. All of the store owners were lining up 20+ chairs in front of their shops. Not sure what it was but wish that we could have stayed to find out.
Can you tell we are in the entertainment department??? A little AcroYoga at the train station on the way back.
Does anyone have a clue as to what Finland is supposed to look like? I had no idea what to do in Helsinki so I signed up for a shore excursion. It was okay, we stopped at a few interesting spots and I got a little bit of history of the city. Did you know that both Sweden and Russia owned Finland previously? Also because it was owned by Russia many of the buildings here are yellow and orange. I saw a lot of museums on the bus tour and I think that if I went back I would find myself in one of those. Helsinki also won the 2012 European Design Awards (or something like that).
There was a cool exhibit of modern wooden furniture and textiles in the city hall. Suzanne and I met up and meandered through the market area there. I love the print styles in Sweden and Finland - I had to take a picture of this cute girl's booth. We found a glass store too (iittala) with sweet glass birds. I had never heard of this guy who makes them but I thought they were neat. Market food always looks delicious and I usually find myself getting fruit to sneak back onto the ship. It is so weird not having a kitchen to cook when you are in lots of food markets and see amazing veggies, jared and pickled goods, honey etc.
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