Punting in Cambridge

After sleeping in to recover from our long day at Bruges, we took my parents to Cambridge for an afternoon.  We wandered through the open-air market, looked in some shops, checked out some of the historic college buildings, and admired the Corpus Clock.

Corpus Clock:

After all that walking, we relaxed on a punting boat.  It was a little chilly, but our boat driver/tour guide kept us dry and entertained us with stories and history of Cambridge University.

Punting Under the Mathematical Bridge:

Punting Under the Clare Bridge:

Punting Past Kings College:

Punting Under the Bridge of Sighs:

The Fam on the Boat:

We finished the day at our favorite Japanese restaurant; a great end to another great day in one of our favorite cities!

~Lindsay

Bruges, Belgium

While Lindsay’s parents were visiting, we decided to take a day-trip to Bruges, Belgium!  We used the Air Force’s Information Tickets and Travel (ITT) to book the trip, so we got a great price!  Early in the morning (or late at night for some folks), we boarded a bus outside the gate of RAF Alconbury and began our journey.  Our first stop was picking up more Americans from another nearby base; these were a rowdy bunch of people.  It was only 4am when we picked them up, but they were PUMPED, nonetheless.  Our next stop was at the England/France border (which is really the Chunnel station).  There our bus drove onto a train that took us through the Chunnel and onward to France.  The next stop was a chocolate factory some distance outside of Bruges, where the bus company had a deal with the locals to try to get Americans to buy all their chocolate before getting to Bruges.  We didn’t fall for that!

When our bus finally got to Bruges, it was already mid-morning, and our day just began; on foot from here!  Armed with nothing but our Rick Steve’s guide book, we took to the streets of Bruges.  We wanted to start far from where the bus parked, and slowly work our way back.  One of our first stops was at a little shop that sold Belgian waffles; Lindsay and I both got one.  They were delicious!  They were fluffy on the inside with crispy edges and covered in a caramelized sugar layer, which was the syrup substitute since these were sold to us in wax paper.
First view of historic Bruges when we arrived:

Throughout the day we stopped in numerous chocolate shops, historic buildings, and beautiful sites.  We bought some art and then strolled along the canals that meandered through the city.  We also stumbled across a gathering of the Belgian DeLorean Club where over 30 DeLoreans were parked at a city square; and yes, there was a Back to the Future model there too 
One of several interesting chocolate window displays:

Us at the Market Square:

Driving a DeLorean:

Boats on the canal:

We mostly ate chocolate all day long, but we did leave some space for some Belgian Frites (since Belgium is where fries were invented), which we ordered sans mayonnaise.   We had plenty of sweets for the bus ride home, which was brutally uncomfortable by this time of the day.  However, looking back on it now, it was one of our favorite European trips. 
All of us on a canal bridge:

~Blake