From what I could see the traditional artisan craft in Bruges - aside from chocolate making - was embroidery. There were so many shops selling unique handmade pieces - the 2 above were my favourites as I love Art Nouveau!

Posing like a pedo. The daffodils were so beautiful :) there were families taking photos sitting in the middle of them and I could just imagine what those photos would look like and how pretty they would be. Mo & I attempted our own version but it was a selfie so yeah...not quite so artistic!

This bridge was so pretty! The pastel colours of the houses reflected the sun and made everything so bright and lovely.

Yay for pretty floors!

Grey jumper dress - Forever 21

Leather jacket - ZARA

High-waisted super-skinny jeans - New Look

Ballet-style pumps - Primark

OUTFIT 3

This bridge was so unexpected! Mo had been to Bruges twice before so he knew some cool places to pass by. We were on a main-ish street and there was a door in a wall at the side, through that door was a park that was almost empty. There was a huge old church to one side and a tiny ancient looking building to the far end in front of us - that was the buildings you see behind me in the pictures. As we approached the latter building I saw that there was a little nook which lead to a tiny bridge over a canal! I think I flapped my hands in true girl style when I came across it, PLUS there was a swan swimming there! We came just at the right moment alhamdulillah.

The first time we passed by there the door to the tiny building was closed, but the second time it was open, so we decided to explore. In there we discovered an artist's exhibition. His work was all over the walls and it was breathtaking and so inspiring that I have decided I want to start painting again. As we walked through we found the artist's cat asleep on a ledge next to one of the paintings, and in the back room the artist was working on a new piece, so we stayed and watch him sketch for a while. It was pretty awesome and really calming. I love finding strange hidden places and new unexpected experiences!

More pretty floors!

Chiffon dress - ZARA

Leather jacket, jeans & pumps all as above.

The food was also pretty amazing.

We had the traditional Belgian waffles...

The most AMAZING fries I have ever had - from the fries stand in the main square, with homemade tartar sauce (if you ever visit Bruges, pay them a visit & get a large.

And of course we had to have some Bruges chocolate since it's the chocolate capital of Belgium, and Belgian chocolate is renowned the world over.

I'm very grateful to have had the opportunity to have visited such a beautiful, cultured and historical place as Bruges. Until next time!

Peace x

There was also a child sleeping in a huge buggy covered in pink flowers, like a huge flower head with a child in the middle; and in amongst all the racket of drumming and music that I would use in a wedding and that was so loud I could feel it in the core of my being...she was SLEEPING.

We left the carnival about 2 hours later, eardrums mushed and stomachs rumbling. and went in search of that halal jerk chicken we'd eaten with our eyes earlier. Unfortunately none of us had the bright idea earlier save the location we'd found the stand of beauty in...so after searching for another half an hour or so, we gave up and went to Pret xP we were so hungry we literally didn't care what we put in our mouths...so it was amazing I have to say, alhamdulillah.

So my my train back home was in an hour and a half, and we wanted to go to Harrods, but by the time we got there we could literally only spend 10 minutes in there. But that 10 minutes was amazing...it was like entering into a different world! Nevermind the products that were being sold there, the Muslim women gliding around were what caught my eye. They were so elegant in their chic black abayas and their shaylas draped loosely around their heads...faces perfectly made up - they were just beautiful. Aside from the face full of makeup, women dressed like this and working it like bosses make me want to dress that way, with abayas and floaty garments and hijabs...they made me feel like such a hobo! But I guess that's the danger of those sorts of places - you're surrounded by riches and rich people, you compare yourself to them without even realising and as a Muslim I found myself wanting to dress in abaya but for a completely wrong reason. Anyway, it is a beautiful shop that I want to visit again but next time spend the day there - and next time I'll dress up! :D

Look at the price of those macarons! Speaking of which I went into Laduree for the first time - in Covent Garden - and cried because of all the yum :o

How crazy are these chandeliers!

And take a look at all these types of tea and all the beautiful tins :o I was in heaven to be honest. It was so pretty.

So that was the end of my little London trip. It was such a great weekend which was made 10 times better by the 4 hour train journey back up to Liverpool I had ahead of me *cryinglaughing*

There were also some pretty amazing pieces ... some fairly hilarious statues with whom we took photos of ourselves imitating them. They're too embarrassing to put on here though!

And then there was the Dior display <3 That mirror was so pretty ... I want it in my life!

Later On That day we paid a short visit to Covent Garden to take a nosy at a balloon Installation They had been going on at Apple Market. It was rather amazing I have to be honest.

That was about it for the first day. By the end I was fairly exhausted from the walking ... but nothing would prepare me for the next day xD