From Ghent, back to Bruges (August into September)
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After a few days in Ghent with Lucy (at the end of which she presented me with an early birthday present from all children of a new Log Book complete with a ‘Shensi’ plaque, fantastic) it was time to say goodbye and on the Wednesday we took her to the station to head home.
Nicki and I then had a day to sort everything out on the boat ready for our next guests – Lesley and Mike were due to arrive on Thursday evening. Just to be sure they got to us, I caught the train up to the airport to escort them back to the station close to our mooring. A short walk later and we arrived, Lesley and Mike very tired after an extremely early start. Still, we managed a walk around the town before stopping off at the Holy Food Market for a drink and then it was back to the boat and a good nights sleep.
A couple of days were spent in Ghent, visiting the flea markets and the main markets, and walking around the city to see its sights, and then on the Saturday we headed off towards Bruges via the river Leie and Deinze. We had booked a table in Brunos for an evening meal on Saturday (partly for my birthday, but also because it is a great place to eat), and that was really all we had time for in Deinze as the next morning we were off again to Bruges, which was set to be a long, long day of travelling. Mike took over the wheel at various points and seemed to enjoy himself, whilst Lesley relaxed on the bow, the stern, in the wheelhouse, inside the boat ……. everywhere she could really, but we think she enjoyed herself too.
On arriving in Bruges we headed for Coupure (one of its two yachthavens,) and secured a berth for just over a week in a nice little spot near a grassy area (for the dogs) and not too far from the town centre (for the walking). Eddy, the harbour master, was extremely helpful and very friendly, and we quickly felt very at home there. 
We went for a stroll around the town to give Lesley and Mike a feel for where they were, and then it was back again for food and bed. 
Lesley had arranged during her stay for a visit from her penfriend (of 50 years!), Gaby, and her twin sister, Heidi, and they arrived mid-day-ish along with Heidi’s husband, and after a brief stop for lunch we went back into town with them all to show them the beautiful city of Bruges (although Nicki stayed at the boat and prepared our evening meal …. what would we do without the staff?). It was lovely seeing them again and we had a great time before they left to return to Aachen that evening. We then had just the one day left in Bruges with Lesley and Mike and explored a few of the smaller local streets, only to find a couple of second-hand shops – bliss for all of us. That, along with brunch in a little bagel cafe, passed a few happy hours. Next day was home day for our visitors, and we caught a taxi over to the train station around mid-day which would take them directly to the airport. Now that they have gone, we are once again tidying up, getting ready for Stuart and his friend who will be visiting on Friday until Sunday.
After a couple of days on our own, on Friday Stuart and Caroline arrived at Bruges train station at about mid-night – we decided to walk over with the dogs to meet them, and had a quiet, pleasant walk back to the barge.
Next morning we were up and ready to start our day with brunch in our favourite bagel cafe again, and then continued into the town itself to wander around Bruges’ market for a few hours. Stuart and Caroline went off to explore on their own, and we took some of the smaller back roads to return to the boat, all very interesting and pretty.
That evening we had booked a table for the four of us in a local restaurant so Stuart and Caroline came back early for an afternoon nap (long day Friday, late night and lots of walking on Saturday had done them in) and a short stroll later we were all sat in a lovely quirky little restaurant (Pomperlut) choosing our meals. It really was a lovely place, great food (not too expensive) and atmosphere, and the staff were great. Definitely one to recommend to others and to visit again. Sunday morning was a later start, and our guests went off for more exploring before coming back for a late lunch, and heading off back to the train station for their return home.
It was now time for us to get ready for our last trip of the summer season 2018.
Our plan is to travel down the Dender canal and Blaton-Ath canal and loop back to Bruges for the end of September and our winter mooring in Flandria.
This will be about 49 locks and a lot of lifting bridges in three weeks. Fingers crossed that there are no stoppages as a lot of the canal network shuts down in October!
