First of all, happy 2nd Christmas Day from the Netherlands...an official, national holiday! We're still full of yesterday's drive to Kinderdijk to see the sunrise between 8:15-9:15 a.m. But that's my next post.
Today it's a gift of WINTER from when we went to the Christmas market in Bruges, Belgium, on Saturday, November 29th. I wanted to make this a separate post because...well, just because.
Since our hotel was in Ostend for our 4 nights, we decided to take the train to Bruges,
only 15 minutes away. It was a no-brainer for the car and parking and hassle.
Ostend's train station from 1913 is gorgeous!
Astrid had already researched the Snow & Ice Sculpture Festival in Bruges before our trip.
It is literally just outside the Bruges train station.
It was a no-brainer to see it, even at €15/€13 each, because of the theme:
Ice Magic: The Land of the Hobs, based on JRR Tolkien's Hobbit stories.
Where do I start?! The Magic was everywhere.
Do you see a wizard?
Photography was challenging, not only because it was cold (-6° C = 21.2° F)
but because the lights kept changing color.
Do you recognize anything from the Hobbit stories?
The dwarves and trolls and goblins, for instance.
This archer was one of my favorites, even though he didn't come out well.
The detail was incredible. This is all ice, Folks...
...except for the chandelier, I assume
(300 tons of crystal-clear ice and 400 tons of snow in 12,000 sq. meters of space).
It was so C.O.L.D. we had to stop for some hot Glühwein midway through.
Seriously. It's been a long time since my hands have been that cold.
Have you ever been to an ice bar to get warm? HA!
It was easier to get chummy with the natives once we got warm(er).
But Astrid was the true hero when she was willing to do the ice slide.
The left image was one we bought for show-n-tell (why not!), since we're both in it.
And lucky for me, I actually caught her! You get the feel of it, don't you.
After the show (totally worth it) we then walked into Bruges for the Christmas market,
which I've already shown you here. It was such a beautiful day.
By 5p we were ready to go back to Ostend, catching the 5:29 train, from where we started.
Look how the tents were lit up for the snow and ice festival.
It all really was magical and we're so glad we did it.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
(300 tons of crystal-clear ice and 400 tons of snow in 12,000 sq. meters of space).
Seriously. It's been a long time since my hands have been that cold.
Have you ever been to an ice bar to get warm? HA!
The left image was one we bought for show-n-tell (why not!), since we're both in it.
And lucky for me, I actually caught her! You get the feel of it, don't you.
After the show (totally worth it) we then walked into Bruges for the Christmas market,
which I've already shown you here. It was such a beautiful day.
Look how the tents were lit up for the snow and ice festival.
It all really was magical and we're so glad we did it.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
