What to do while in Bruges

1) The Halve Maan brewery tour was undoubtedly our favorite stop. The informative, funny, English tour through their newly renovated brewery includes one free beer and a view that trumps that of the Belfort 10 times over. €7.50, tours leave hourly. Times and information here. My full tour review here.  

2) Church of Our Lady (Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk) is currently under construction; however, you can still see Michelangelo's Madonna and Child up close in a separate section for a small fee. We watched Monuments Men the day before and appreciated the statue, and the sacrifices made to save it, even more. Church entrance is free, but €2 to enter the section with Madonna and Child (fee is currently reduced due to construction). Website with address here and opening times here. 

3) The food in this city is amazing. How can you pick between Belgian chocolates, waffles, beer, and French fries? Don't! Sample them all. Though our waffles were not as good as the ones we had in Brussels, they let me eat just the dough. Weird, I know, but delicious. I was validated to hear that I am not even close to the first person to enjoy the waffle this way.



4) We were lucky enough to visit the Basilica of the Holy Blood (Basiliek van het Heilig Bloed) on a day they were offering adoration of the Relic containing Jesus' blood. This meant we were actually able to walk up to it, place our hand on it and say a prayer. The blood was collected as Joseph of Arimathea washed the dead body of Christ. It made its way to Bruges in the 12th century after the King of Jerusalem gave it to the Count of Flanders for his heroism during the 2nd Crusade. If you're lucky enough to visit Bruges on a Ascension Day (May 14 in 2015),  you can catch the Procession of the Holy Blood (Heilig Bloedprocessie), during which the Relic is taken through the city as part of a large procession. Entrance to the church (including the relic) is free. Opening times available here. Adoration is offered every Wednesday from 10:00 - 11:00 and during the Week of Prayers (May 10-17 in 2015).

5) The Markt is the beautiful market square in the the center of Bruges, and home to the Belfry (bell tower), Provincial Court, great architecture, and boat loads of tourists. Try to make out there early to avoid the latter. Skip the long lines and €8 fee at the Belfry - we waited for an hour and regretted it after seeing the included view during the tour of the Halve Maan Brewery. The view from the Belfry is obstructed by caged in windows.

6) Walk around! The city couldn't be more perfect if I plucked it out of my imagination. The canals are beautiful, there is interesting architecture everywhere, and the food is amazing. Find a place to take some pictures, but don't feel pressured to do so at the locations recommended by the guidebooks. Those were filled with tourists and not worth the struggle. Minnewater Lake is a beautiful stop, or peruse one of the markets around the city.

Kusadasi Bazaar

What should you do in Kusadasi if you do not want to go to Ephesus? We were recently faced with this question - not only was it a rainy, cold day, but we had both been fortunate enough to see the ruins in Ephesus before. So we decided to explore the port of Kusadasi with our day in Turkey. We were both pleasantly surprised!

Evil eyes in the sidewalk

Though there were a few ruins, museums, and other traditional sights, we focused our time on the bazaar since our cruise did not stop at any other Turkish destinations. Don't be fooled by the vendors in the port building - that is not the bazaar. The real Kusadasi bazaar (complete with bazaar prices) is just a 10 minute walk from the dock. At first we were skeptical: it appeared as though the bazaar was just one short arcade of traditional Turkish vendors. But as we neared the end, we could see that there was actually a network of several bazaars linked together. Though some were nicer than the others, we found scarves, rugs, pottery, Turkish delights, jewelry, and pretty much everything else you can imagine one would find at a street market (i.e. Counterfeit products of all shapes and sizes). 

True to tradition, everything is negotiable. The vendors are pushy, yet courteous, and speak perfect English. I was focused on the gorgeous, ornate Turkish pottery pieces. I held out until the end when we stumbled upon a pottery factory with the best variety in the bazaar - the Hacivat Ceramic Shop. Needless to say, we came home with a few treasures. If you check this store out, don't miss the room in the back that contains pieces with glow-in-the-dark detailing. It was a pretty neat sight to be surrounded by intricate designs on pottery pieces from floor to ceiling. Though they said they did not negotiate, of course they did; however, either my skills are a little rusty or they are less willing to come down on the price than the other vendors.

Though the bazaar is not a reason to go to Kusadasi alone, it does offer a great alternative to the Ephesus ruins. The prices and variety were slightly poorer than the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul; however, it was a more manageable size and there were practically no other tourists around, despite the three large ships docked that day. If you have even an extra 30 minutes in port, it is absolutely worth the trip!