On Wednesday last night, since it had been sometime from when we last were up Telegraph Hill, Uns and myself decided to head up there after work and watch the sunset. Even though there was a low band of clouds and a fairly early sunset, it's always nice being up there watching it set over London.

Then this past weekend was yet another weekend away, this time in Bruges. So on Friday after work I headed over to Kings Cross and met up with Will and Mark at Simmons Bar then headed over to Wasabi inside Kings Cross to grab something to eat while we waited for everyone else to arrive. Once all 14 of us were accounted for, we headed through security and onto the Eurostar across to Belgium. The Eurostar goes only as far as Brussels where we had to change and take the train to Bruges. A quick taxi ride took us to Hotel Cordoeanier where we checked in, dropped our bags and then met up downstairs. Just around the corner from the hotel was a little pub down Kraanplein, perfect for a couple of beers outside to start the weekend. After a few there we headed down to Vlamingstraat which was just way too young and eurodisco for us, so grabbed one at Grand Cafe Du Theatre, followed by some chips, then back to the hotel for the night.

Saturday morning after breakfast we all took a walk through Markt, the centre of town and decided on a boat cruise which would be an easy way to see some of the sights of Bruges without having to make too many decisions. The boat cruise was only half an hour, but then Bruges really isn't very big.

After the boat cruise, the group split up and half of us (me, Uns, Will, Carol, Paul, Duncan, Laurie, Tom and Anna) decided on lunch at Brasserie Erasmus which wasn't quite on the canal, but was able to seat us all together. After eating, myself, Uns and Will headed over to the Beer Wall and landed up spending a good part of the afternoon there once we got started on the Kwaks!

After what turned into three Kwaks, we headed back to the hotel for grab a bit of a power nap before the evening. I think everyone else did much the same and then all met up later on over at the concert in the square where The Magic Numbers were playing. Unfortunately the weather had turned a bit so probably didn't get the crowd they were hoping for. So instead we decided on food, and stupidly landed up at some Italian place on the main square which undoubtedly served the worst pizza I've ever eaten. We really should've gone elsewhere but went with convenience instead of quality. Bad mistake! But anyway, from there we headed back to the concert then to Bierbrasserie Cambrinus for a night cap, where I decided to try a Black Albert, one of Belgium's finest and strongest :) After Cambrinus, most of us called it a night except for myself, Uns, Lorenzo, Laura and Mark who decided on one more before bed and landed up at De Vuurmolen which had an outside terrace so we could at least our drink outdoors. From there we called it a night and headed back to the hotel.

Yesterday morning Uns headed down for breakfast and I managed a bit of a sleep in before checking out and leaving our bags at the hotel for the day. The others were either going a city walking tour or were shopping, do Uns and myself stopped in at Le Pain Quotidien for a coffee and bite to eat, followed by a stroll around town. Si and Mark had picked out a decent spot for lunch so after all meeting up we headed to Restaurant 'T Oud Kanthuys for food where I eventually got my mussels. Other than chocolate, Bruges is known for their mussels and frites.

After lunch, Si, Loz, Mark, Paul and Carrol headed off to get the slightly earlier Eurostar back, while myself, Uns, Will, Duncs and Laurie headed to The Half Moon, home of the Zot, for a few hours outside in the courtyard. Later on we met up with Tom and Anna and decided to head back to Beer Wall, for old times sake :)

We landed up getting ourselves a decent spot at the Beer Wall and enjoyed a quick beer there before having a head back to the hotel, grab our bags and hop in a taxi back to the station. Unfortunately our train to Brussels landed up being standing room only (the only negative points to the weekend) but once on the Eurostar it was easy traveling back to London and then home. Definitely feeling knackered today, but an awesome weekend over in Bruges, and certainly on the list to go back to again!