2015 Bruges

Verwood Twinning Association coach trip to Bruges and the "Snow and Ice" Sculpture Festival on the 27th to the 29th November 2015.

At 06:00 hrs on Friday the 27th July a group of Twinners including friends left Pennine Way near Morrisons in Verwood on a visit to Bruges in Belgium. They were due to catch the 09:50 Eurotunnel shuttle but this had been re-scheduled to 10:20 for "Operational Reasons" according to Euroshuttle.

On arrival in Coquelles a lunch and shopping stop was made at Cite Europe followed by a visit to a Chocolate factory.

Due to the current issues in France (Nov/Dec 2015) delays on the motorway when crossing the French / Belgium border amounted to 45 minutes each way. A warning to anybody else who might be travelling this route.

The Party arrived at the N H Hotel in Bruges some time after 1600 hrs. For the rest of the free time in Bruges members of the party went their own way visiting the main square having Carriage Rides trips on the canals and shopping. The Christmas Market was in full swing and so was the Ice Skating in the main square but it is not thought that anybody took advantage of this.

At some time during the visit most people went to the in Bruges. Ice Magic takes you into the Belgium Cartoon world of Wanagogo Characters.

All the walls are ice and all the characters are carved out of ice. Although probably not well known in the UK the characters consist of Maya and Willy, Vic the Viking and all their friends. It is definitely a different and enjoyable experience but it is necessary to wrap up warm as of necessity it is extremely cold. (see http://www.icemagic.eu )

After an excellent breakfast members went on to discover more of Brugge and have some lunch before departing the hotell at 15:30. After the border delay we sailed through the Eurotunnel checks and though having a crossing of "Q", we were ushered onto the "O" crossing which was 1/2 an hour earlier, arriving back in Verwood at about 21:30 time.

Our last chairman organises these trips so why not look out for future trips. Join the association and they will be included in the newsletter or on this site.