Family text chat, 11 October, 2020
Me: We’re spending the night in Brugge since we have a five day weekend and can’t leave the country (which extends about 90 minutes in any direction)
Mom: Beautiful picture!
Me: This is the view from our hotel room!
I only sent this one in the family chat so everyone wouldn’t be annoyed with too many photos
Mom: Really nice!
My brother Luke: You should watch the movie ‘In Brugge’
Me: I watched it with mama and daddy 😂All I remember is mama going “ugh!” The whole time. That building in my photo, across the canal from our hotel, is the one in the movie!
Mom: It was HORRIBLE. Have you seen it, Luke?
Chris: And then she watched it AGAIN with me…didn’t learn her lesson the first time😂
Dad: I’d say it was bizarre.
Mom: Verdict? Bizarre or horrible? Dark and depressing
Chris: It wasn’t the worst hallmark movie I’ve seen…………
Everyone: …
So here I’m dying laughing, because:
The movie I watched with my parents 
The movie I watched with Chris
Chris: Never mind, guess we’re talking about different Brugge movies…🤷♂️
Mom: Love Romance and Chocolate is not = “In Bruges”…
Me: I’m dying 😂😂😂
Mom: I had to do a quick look up… “Hallmark movie???!”
Me: Imagining a world where In Brugge is a hallmark movie almost made me wet my pants
Here my mom sent everyone a photo of my dad standing on top of a rock that looks like a butt from their recent hike. Then I sent everyone the above movie posters.
My sister, Hannah: Those seem basically the same. Not sure which one I would rather sit through.
“The best part,” I giggled to Chris as we got on our bikes to ride over to the windmills, “the BEST part is that you admitted to watching multiple Hallmark movies!”
“Oh my gosh, I did,” said Chris.
So there you have it. My mom does not recommend “In Bruge.” Chris, however, can vouch for “Love, Romance and Chocolate.”
Me: “I just got hit in the face with a leaf!” Isaac: “it’s still on your face.” 
Town hall interior 
OLD MAP MY FAVORITE 
Tapestry 
Hannah, remember when I tried to convince you to help me catch a baby swan to cuddle and the mom tried to peck us to death the first time we went to England?
The Historium was so dumb I felt bad for teasing Chris about making us go. We never spoke of it again 
Isaac pretended the telescope was a cannon 
Eloise in her natural habitat… observe how her markings help her blend in to her environment 
This square used to be the toll house stop on the way to the covered port in the Grot Markt. There’s still water running underneath 
Hot chocolate 
Coffee 
Can nine-year-olds make sounds other than fart sounds? We may never know
We’ve been to Brugge a couple times (and it’s Bruge in the movie and Bruges in French and Brugge in Dutch, so really I think you can’t spell Brugge wrong) and never quite loved it. We went MLK day when it was cold, and we went a Friday or two before lockdown, but this time we were there at night! This time we found whole parts of the city we had never seen! This time it was autumn!
And this time my friend Alexis recommended we stay in the family room at the Hotel Duc de Bourgogne. It’s in the middle of everything, right on the water, tres charming, huge windows, swans a-swimming by day and night, and breakfast in the fancy restaurant is included. So fantastic. We saw a bunch of stuff we hadn’t seen before and found more stuff we want to do when we go back! What is your favorite thing to do or see in Bruge??
There’s a beer pipeline running under the city from the brewery to the bottling factory visible from the rooftop 
I am Eloise. I am six.
Up the Mountain
The Biggest Japanese Garden in Europe
Road Trip to Garmisch Again!
Such a cute post! I love everything about it. And your wit. <3