Belgium

This March I spent about three weeks in England for work. After the three weeks, Matt and I took a trip to Europe, stopping in Paris, Brugge, and Amsterdam (briefly). 

Brugge is a beautiful, idyllic town in Belgium. During the middle ages Brugges was on of Europe's most prosperous cities. It has beautiful canals that at one time served as a great trade network through the Zwin channel. At around the 15th century this all changed, mostly due to the siltation of the main canal, and Brugges became a sleepy town compared to its past. Now it is designated as a World UNESCO site. There are three things that made Brugge so wonderful- 1) the beer, 2) the chocolate, and 3) the overall culture (I think officially it is lace, but hey I am not a tourist book). Matt and I had a great time there, we drank delicious beers (there are over 800 beers in Belgium), ate some wonderful meals (even the street frittas (fries) were delicious. 

(Tip: If you go try the fry stand on left when facing the bell tower, apparently they are the best).

My main point is not to make this a travel blog, but to showcase my thimbles. In this case the thimble from Brugge really has nothing to do with the city. I just like frogs and I also liked that on the thimble the Flemish spelling of Brugge was used. My other thimble was something I purchased not because I actually saw the statue, but because it was so iconic and I just found it amusing to see it as a thimble topper. It is a small porcelain replica of the Manneken Pis (Dutch for little man urinating). In order to get to Brugge from Paris, Matt and I had to take a train from Paris to Brussels, then from Brussels to Brugge. So I did spend a brief 2 hours in the Brussels train station. (An aside: I love the European rail system and only wish the US could have something as sophisticated).