We had left Norway behind but had one more stop on our cruise, Zeebrugge port, and a bus ride to the historic town of Bruges, Belgium. We boarded our coach which let us off near the so-called Donkey Gate (Ezelpoort), which was built in 1297 and redesigned in 1369 as part of the second ring of ramparts around the city. It is one of four remaining medieval city gates in Bruges although only the lower tower of this gate remains. Legend has it during the rebellion of Ghent against Louis II, warriors stole the golden dragon from St. Donovan's Cathedral and tried to transport it via donkey cart but the Bruggian donkey stopped at the gate and refused to advance until they blindfolded it.

Following the chill and rain of Norway, we were greeted with one of the hottest days on record in Bruges today so it made for a sweltering walk through the old town. We walked down Ezelstraat as our guide pointed out some of the oldest buildings in this area.

We turned onto Pottenmakersstraat and strolled along the river which was a bit cooler.

Our only stop on the tour was at the Chocolate Museum where the process of making Belgian chocolate was explained to us. The guide passed around samples of the different chocolates they used and showed us the molds and pouring methods before letting us sample the finished product. We then walked through their exhibits of various chocolate sculptures.

After chocolates, we wanted to De Burg, some of Belgium's most iconic and architecturally significant buildings, including the Gothic City Hall. Famous buildings here include City Hall, a Gothic structure dating back to the 14th century that houses the city's government offices, Provincial Court, built in the 16th century and still used as a courthouse today, and the Basilica of the Holy Blood, home to a relic of the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately our tour did not include any interiors.

We walked next to the Rozenhoedkaai (Quay of the Rosary), where the Dijver and Groenerei canals converge and walked along the canal festooned with fresh flowers.

We stopped near the Arents House and the Church of Our Lady to admire the courtyard, but for some reason, even though we were right there, the tour guide did not take us over to the Boniface Bridge, one of the famous views in the city. J. R. broke away from the tour to get a few photos near it before rushing to catch up.

Our final stop was the Gruuthusemuseum area, stopping at the mural depicting Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child, which resides inside the Church of Our Lady that towers over the area.

Our guide left us with an hour-and-a-half of free time. We headed to one of the chocolate shops, where we ran into the singer Andrew Derbyshire from the ship. We bought some white chocolate to give to Putu, our martini bartender and then went to find some lunch. We stopped at Bieratelier because it had indoor seating and a promise of air conditioning. Janie had a plate of chili cheese fries and J. R. had a Belgian hot dog and we had a couple of pints of their local Belgian beer.

We met back up with our guide who directed us towards where our bus was waiting and we made the long ride back to Zeebrugge. There was a long line getting back on the ship as we were nearing departure time by the time we got back.

Our laundry had arrived when we got back to the room so we finished sorting our clothes for our next few days in the UK and set our bags out in the hall to be picked up by Jayson. We had one last dinner in Blu with our dining team before going to the theater. The production cast put on their second show of the 14 day cruise, Rockumentary. This was probably the first Celebrity cruise where we have been disappointed overall with the entertainment choices. Usually there are three production shows, a variety act, magician, comedian and singers. This one was heavily loaded with piano singers and only two production shows and it was a 14 day cruise. We finished off our cruise as we began it with drinks at the martini bar then headed for one last sleep on the Apex.

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