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Bruges

Bruges at Christmas: the Belfort glowing over the market stalls, a wobbly lap of the ice rink, Brugse Zot at De Halve Maan and far too much chocolate.

In December 2012 we brought Dileep's brother along to Bruges, which is a bit like introducing someone to a film set and insisting it is a real, functioning town. Cobbles, gabled houses, a giant belfry, and a Christmas market wedged into the middle of it all.

The Markt in December

The main square does Christmas properly: stalls around the edges, an ice rink in the middle, and the Belfort floodlit above the whole production.

Inga in a pink knitted hat and scarf at the Bruges Christmas market at night, the illuminated Belfort tower rising behind the stalls — Inga at the Christmas market, with the Belfort lit up like the city means it.

A man and a woman holding on to each other for balance on an open-air ice rink at night, with lit trees and old facades behind — We held on to each other and called it technique.

Dileep's brother in a black leather jacket and flat cap smiling with a tray of tartiflette at a Christmas market food stall — Dileep's brother securing a tartiflette savoyarde, six euros of melted cheese and potatoes. The leather jacket approved.

The chocolate itinerary

Bruges has a chocolate shop roughly every third doorway, and we treated that as a schedule rather than a temptation.

Chocolate shop display in Bruges with trays of truffles, handwritten price cards, and rows of tins shaped like Flemish gabled houses — Truffles by the 200 grams, backed by tins shaped like the gabled houses outside. The X-mas collection came with tiny chocolate snowmen.

A couple leaning together at a cafe table set with three cupcakes, a latte macchiato and a coffee topped with cream — Three cupcakes for two people. No regrets were recorded.

The beer pilgrimage

The other great Bruges food group. We drank the city's own Brugse Zot at De Halve Maan, then kept finding beer wherever we pointed the camera.

Toasting two glasses of Brugse Zot beer in front of an open fireplace at the De Halve Maan brewery in Bruges — Brugse Zot at De Halve Maan, with a real fire crackling behind us. Drunk at the source, as intended.

Inga in a dark fur coat and pink knitted hat standing beside an old red wooden dray cart loaded with weathered beer kegs — Inga inspecting the old dray cart and its kegs. Quality control takes many forms.

Four vintage miniature beer kegs displayed on a red shelf in front of old Bruges brewery signs and labels — Veteran mini kegs lined up among old Bruges brewery signs.

Chalkboard beer menu outside a Bruges bar at night listing Leffe, Chimay, Rochefort and Westmalle with prices — Leffe, Chimay, Rochefort, Westmalle, and nothing over five euros. December 2012 prices, be gentle.

After dark

Two men standing under an illuminated brick archway in Bruges at night, one holding a DSLR camera and one in a black leather jacket — One last brick archway on the walk home, and one last photo stop to go with it.

Bruges in December was cold, golden and slightly too pretty to be believed. If you are doing the Belgian circuit, Brussels, Ghent and Antwerp are all an easy train ride away.