Brugge Trip: Segway Tour

One of the mantras I find myself repeating at some point during every week of our life in Europe is "Thank God for the internet. Thank God for the internet." I say it several times a day when we're planning a trip. Trying to find hotel rooms and arrange for any activities would be so much more difficult without it. My hat is off to everyone who lived the expat life before the internet. David and I did just that back in college, but when you're a college student, you just wing every trip you take anyway. Not so when you have kids in tow.

One of the sites I like to go to when planning a trip is Tripadvisor.com. Type in a city name and you get a ranking of things to do in that city from "Must do" down to "don't bother with this." At the top of almost every city I've checked are bike tours. For Brugges, the #3 ranked thing to do was a Segway tour. People raved about this unique way to tour the city. And the price was reasonable. Sounded like the perfect thing to surprise the kids with. And on the phone, I got the OK for a dad with a broken wrist to participate.

Right after breakfast at the hotel, we walked through town and arrived at the Segway tour office. We had told the kids we would be doing a city tour of some kind and they were not looking forward to it. When we arrived at the Segway Office, they asked with disbelief, "We're doing a tour on Segways?"

Micaela's big smile didn't fool me. David, Micaela and James first did a little training session inside and Micaela's glistening eyes and nervous demeanor betrayed her anxiety. The kids were not in the least bit excited. They were instead more than a little uncomfortable.

Outside for more practice with their eccentric tour guide Charles. At this point, Emilie, Rebecca and I left to do our own tour of the town. I didn't get to witness Charles' first order of business: sternly lecturing Micaela and James about the dangers of doing drugs. This only served to alienate the kids from him and, unfortunately, the tour wasn't as much fun as it could have been.

Micaela and James were not happy they had to wear the bright yellow vests and helmets.

You could also take boat tours of Brugge, but many reviews on Tripadvisor.com said that on a boat, you're seeing the town from its basement.

In front of the Beguinage. In the 13th century, some people became more attracted to a purer and more mystical form of religion separate from the regular clergy. These new religious orders were very often persecuted or forbidden. In the Low Countries, however, the female followers of the mystical movement were tolerated in the form of the Beguine movement. 

They were allowed to live in separate parts of the cities, in Beguinages so that religious authorities could control and supervise them. The beguines lived like regular nuns, but did not make the same binding vows that nuns normally made. Beguines usually made the vows of obedience and chastity, but not the vow of poverty. Moreover, they could at all times break their vows and leave the beguine community.

In the garden of the Beguinage.  In 1937 the beguinage became a monastery for the Benedictine sisters who still live here now.

Godshuis de Vos, a group of 8 Almhouses in Bruges. The town has 46 Almhouses, homes built by rich families so single women or poor people had a place to live. In return for the use of these houses, the tenants had to pray for the rich family three times a day. Some say that these rich families bought their way in to heaven.

Taking a peek at the church at the center of this group of Almhouses. It is the smallest church in Bruges. These particular Almhouses were for widows and were considered quite luxurious as each house had its own private outhouse.

Nieuwe Gentweg Almshouses

Individual pose.  At this point, the kids were comfortable on the Segways.

James did not like how much attention their private tour was attracting. He said he felt like everyone was laughing at them and no amount of David telling the kids that people were probably wishing they could take such a tour helped.

Charles giving some history of the town

Getting the history of the sculpture known as The Governor's Carwash, which cost $1.6 million.  It has not yet earned a place in the hearts of the citizens of Brugge.

Some pretty views of the Canals

Market Square, feeling conspicuous