Where is Bec and J?: In Brugge

Well its been a wonderfully festive weekend just gone. J and I made the mad dash across the channel and up into Belgium to live the good life of chocolate, sweet beer and waffles, as well as some beautiful Christmas markets. We left ye old London town at around 7am and arrived in Brussels (our first destination) a little after lunch. In Brussels we were treated to some pretty good chocolate, Frittes wrapped in paper (that's hot chips to those playing at home) and a rather cheeky little boy pissing in a fountain. We spent a few hours wandering around the Christmas markets and came away with some pretty ornaments and a major headache! It didn't take us long to deduct that the reason Belgium's created good beer and chocolate was too soothe themselves after a day shopping at their ridiculously stressful and crowded Christmas markets. We boarded our bus shortly after 7pm and headed for Brugge.

Brugge (in short) is AMAZING! We arrived in quite late but quickly dumped bags and made our way into town with 2 fellow couples. No sooner had we arrived in the main market square had J handed me my first (of many) Leffe beers - a traditional Belgium wheat beer. The late night quickly turned into early morning and we fell into bed at around 5am only to be awoken 4 hours later. Sunday was spent roaming the markets for more souvenirs and chocolate, hehe. We passed on the tranquil looking boat ride around Brugge's canals as (quite frankly) my stomach probably wouldn't have handled it well. We ended our day sharing a quiet hot chocolate and waffle before boarding the bus and ferry home.

Other than living it up in Brugge we have also been playing happy tourists here in London. We have done yet another ice-skating extravaganza, this time at the Tower of London. J is finding his feet and all this preparation seems to be paying off. By the time we hit Central Parks ice-rink in New York he should be able to land a triple axle.

We have also visited a number of museums, The London Transport Museum and The Imperial War Museum - both Jarratt's picks! As riveting as it was to find out about the omnibuses and creation of the underground *enter eye roll here* the saving grace was watching J reprimand a 9 year old for pushing in front of me when it was our turn for one of the interactive games.

Finally, London has truly turned on the festive spirit for us. Not only have we been lucky enough to wake to snow falling in the park opposite us one Sunday morning. We have also seen the Christmas lights of the most amazing tree (for 4 obvious reasons) be turned on by the Lord Mayor of Oslo and good old Borris.

Next up we have the Orphan's Christmas kindly organised by yours truly, a Christmas Panto (Hansel and Gretel) at the Barbician, The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House and of course the long awaited trip home!!!! 13 sleeps and counting.... love and kisses, Us.