…and there goes the horn signaling our departure from Zeebrugge!
Bruges, the so-called hidden gem of Belgium. As mentioned in the previous post, a taxi was necessary to transport us from the port of Zeebrugge into the centre. We chose to use a company called Hendricks Taxis (well they seem to be the only company in Bruges to have a wheelchair accessible taxi!!), however, little did we know that taxis are not allowed in the actual port area! After chatting to a very nice guy on the dock, he radioed through and allowed the driver to literally drive up to the ship, we were then all set for the short journey into the city…famous last words!!!
Now, when the taxi aka van left portside, the sat nav informed us that we would arrive at 10 13am. This time came and guess where we were…the middle of the Belgium countryside driving through little villages! I think the whole palaver was due to this brand new road linking the port to the city not registering on the system hence a very confused sat nav.
In terms of accessibility, Bruges reminded me a lot of Reykjavik in Iceland, your main chain shops and restaurants i.e. Carrefour are all level and accessible, however, if you are seeking something more local, bar the few odd buildings here and there, you have no chance! The majority of shops and restaurants have steps and even when there is level access, the doors are quite tight and much too narrow for Superbunny resulting in lunch at Burger King, that was another palaver! The seating area was upstairs so common sense prevails to install a passenger lift but no, the delivery lift in this BK is the preferred choice of elevation and, shock horror, it broke on the way back down meaning a swift trip to the kitchen was necessary for a reboot.
We were lucky enough to be dropped off in the main square meaning that all the sighs were within walking distance but beware, certainly the centre of Bruges is mainly cobble stones so a bumpy ride but definitely worth a visit!
Our taxi driver seemed to find the correct way back to the ship which took 20 minutes rather than an hour! Tomorrow we have a day at sea and then the next port of call on Tuesday is Copenhagen… Again! Hopefully we will see the little mermaid this time rather than being stuck on a tour bus trying to find it 😊