Sampling Belgian chocolate in Bruges COMPLETED 6/2 - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Here you go again, giving me many beautiful pictures to admire and chocolate to boot. I think I may just have to go to the store, even though I just got done at the denist for two fillings. Oh well, my mouth deserves a treat.
I agree - after all that, your mouth definitely deserves a treat!
As usual you TR is filled with great Architecture, Statues and wonderful information. I am trying to catch up with all the great TRs that I have missed for awhile. The chocolate Museum is really awesome. Looking for to the next update.
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Tuesday 20 May – part five: so why is Belgian chocolate so good?
Now the bit I really wanted to learn about is why Belgian chocolate is so good, and I was expecting to see that at the start of the museum, but they left it until the end, which was a bit frustrating to wait that long to get the answer to your question…
The first chocolateries appeared in Belgium at the end of the 1600s, when the country was under Spanish rule, and they introduced it. Stringent chocolate composition regulations were introduced in Belgium in 1884, with all products called chocolate needing to contain at least 35% pure cocoa or 45% for dark chocolate. They also grind their chocolate down more, which ensures you don’t get a grainy taste in your mouth when the chocolate melts on your tongue. Finally, Belgian chocolate makers use high-quality cocoa beans. So now you know!
Here we saw tin boxes. The first were produced in France in the canning industry, then over the years they became more highly decorated and then chocolate was put into them:
When we were done, we headed back down to the ground floor, where thankfully there was now no wait for the restrooms. The line when we arrived, with the various tour groups, was a joke, and we soon found out the reason why – there was only one restroom for women and one for men! We were both surprised they didn’t have more facilities.
We were both very disappointed by the shop. There just wasn’t much in it. Debbie quite liked the look of the cyclist moulds that she’d seen earlier, as her husband and son are keen cyclists, but there was no sign of the moulds or the shaped chocolate in here. Although we had a browse, we both left empty handed and felt they’d really missed a trick with this.
We decided to wander for a bit, and made our way through more of the city…
Eventually we found this lovely area, Jan van Eyckplein square.
We got some photos of each other…
We tried a selfie, but it really didn’t work well. I think, on my phone, the quality for selfies is really poor compared to the general camera, and it also needed a flash, but you can’t use a flash with a selfie, which is a shame.
We carried on wandering, and found an amazing chocolatier that had these in the window: D
Unfortunately, it was closed. We weren’t sure if it was closed for lunch, but I suspect it was closed for the day, as it was a Tuesday and it’s not peak season, and I guess if you’re a small business, you want some time off at some point. Sadly, I never saw these guys again, so I wasn’t able to get any…
Once again, we just wandered…
… and found another part of the canal network…
With that, we decided to head back towards the city centre…
Too bad the shop at the museum wasn't better. Then the double insult of not being able to buy some of those cute chocolate cows? No fair! I do think you mentioned having some chocolate left from this trip, so I'm relieved to know you eventually found an open shop with items you wanted!
Hoping it isn't about to rain on you!
The chocolate museum could make a fortune in souvenir sales if they had the right stuff for sale. They are definitely missing out. I love the Belgian architecture. And was noticing the changes in the sky as your pictures progressed with your walking.
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How disappointing that you left empty handed from the gift shop at the museum. And also disappointing that the shop with the chocolate cows was closed too!!
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How disappointing that must have been not having a shop filled with lots of chocolates. I noticed many bicycles in many pictures. Wish we had businesses that close to travel like that, sure would save lots of money on gas. Enjoying all the photos.
How disappointing that you left empty handed from the gift shop at the museum. And also disappointing that the shop with the chocolate cows was closed too!!
Fortunately we did have more luck with chocolate shopping later in the day...
How disappointing that must have been not having a shop filled with lots of chocolates. I noticed many bicycles in many pictures. Wish we had businesses that close to travel like that, sure would save lots of money on gas. Enjoying all the photos.
On the continent, they are very keen on cycling, particularly in Belgium and the Netherlands. We keep trying it over here, but it's not that safe on the roads here. They have a lot of bikes you can rent in London, but a couple of months ago, we had a spate of cyclist deaths which hit the headlines, highlighting how dangerous it can be on a bike here.
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chocolate, so a tour of any chocolate museum would be on my itinerary. 
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they left it until the end, which was a bit frustrating to wait that long to get the answer to your question… 
We were both surprised they didn’t have more facilities. 
Sorry you couldn't find any chocolate cows! 
At least I know where it is, so if we make it back later this year (I'd like to...) then I can try again... 
. I noticed many bicycles in many pictures. Wish we had businesses that close to travel like that, sure would save lots of money on gas.
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