refuge from the thronging crowds

Brugge lives up to its reputation of being jam-packed with people on the weekend. You'd have needed a shoe horn to fit anyone else in yesterday. While wrestling our way onward we spotted a Kempinski Hotel down a narrow cobblestone laneway. A minute later we were in spacious air-conditioned luxury.

The building is a 15th century residence which has been refurbished beautifully. Fun art is a theme. The bar has a sculpture of a giant set of paintbrushes as well as several paintings of musicians which combine paint and brass. The most amusing though is the giant red poodle in the manicured gardens.