"Tot Ziens" - Goodbye Bruges (but we'll be back tonight!)
Some pics on the way to Sluis:
En route to Sluis, we encountered a bike ferry to get us across the canal! We were given the heads up that morning at breakfast from Dave and Lara to look out for it. When they encountered it the day prior, the ferry was at the other end so it took them some figuring it out to get it back to the other side. There is a wheel at the dock and on the ferry that needs to be turned to move it along the cable. Pretty cool.
Video of Trix getting us across the ferry (with some words of "encouragement" from Abe):
We made it to Sluis pas de probleme. A beautiful day in a cool city. Unbeknown to us at the time, we had traveled across the border and into Holland. I guess I should've known with all the Heineken signs.
Sluis was a unique little shopping town. We think the taxes must be lower there because a ton of Belgians make the trip to this little town to do their shopping. It is only closed twice a year (Christmas and Thanksgiving) and is filled with all sorts of clothing, perfume, souvenir, art, etc. shops. There are also a ton of cafes lining the streets on both sides of the main road which hugs a canal. We stopped at one for lunch. Trix tried a tomato and mushroom omelet (with frites of course!) and Abe had a half rotisserie chicken with a local Sluis malt beverage. It was all good. We cycled around town, checked out a huge windmill, and then decided to move on to the coast.
We arrived in Knokke in the afternoon and took a long ride down the boardwalk. Hotels line the beach behind the boardwalk and each has their own cafe on the other side along the sand. Along the entire expanse of beach there were hundreds (if not thousands) of these little beach shacks which held beach chairs, towels, storage, etc. for individuals and families to pull out and use on sunny days.
We stopped in Cedric's Waikiki for an afternoon cafe for Trix and a Hoegaarden for Abe, as well as a brief rest and the chance to stick our toes in the sand.
Before leaving Cedric's, we had to use the WC (toilettes). Did you know that in most (if not all) public restrooms in Belgium you must pay?! Make sure to always have coin Euro ready.
After riding down the path, we found some interesting nose statues.
We cycled back to Bruges along a new path, got lost, and somehow found a shortcut back. A trip to the local supermarket produced a loaf of bread along with a few fish, crab, and shrimp salads. Tomorrow would be our trip back to Roeselare where we started a week ago.
Bruges belfry at dusk upon our return from Knokke:
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