The Epic Journey

The next stop on the adventure was to take mom and Tony to the most magical place in Europe - Bruges (or Brugge). Matt and I fell in love with it instantaneously when we where there last fall and I was excited for them to see the fairytale land of canals, Gothic buildings, chocolate, beer, and fries. Hey, even the crappy movie In Bruges did not diminish the beauty and allure of the city.

Unfortunately, we were in Domburg - at the edge of the sea, on a long peninsula - and we needed to get to Bruges - just 50 km south as the crow flies but a 4 hour bus/train ride away. We decided to skip the trains and venture out using buses and ferries. Mind you, this is no easy task because the bus schedules at one stop are only good for that stop and are useless in determining a multi-step journey - not to mention this trip was going to take us across two countries, with two different bus systems. Have I mentioned I forgot my passport at home?

So here's the journey, in all its glory:

1. Walk from Kasteel Westhoven to Domburg Windmill (2.5 km, 25 minutes)
2. Bus from Domburg Windmill to Middelburg Train Station (20 minutes)
3. Train from Middelburg to Vlissingen is running 30 minutes late - hop on a bus from Middlelburg to Vlissingen Center (20 minutes)
4. Bus from Vlissingen Center to Fast Ferry (5 minutes)
5. Ferry from Vlissingen to Breskens (15 minutes + loading and unloading)
6. Bus from Breskens to Brugge (1 hour 20 minutes)
7. Get off bus at first site of Brugge to avoid passing out, since it was at least 100 degrees on the bus (the heat was on and it was about 75 degrees outside)
8. Walk to B&B (3 km, 30 minutes)
   

View Trip to Bruges in a larger map

But then we were there -Brugge! And she was just as magical as I remembered!