...Yet they grind exceedingly small

The girls probably don't appreciate this photo but this was the biking group yesterday throughout Bruges and Damme.

The windmill at Damme happened to be open this one day out of the year so we were able to tour it.The millstone hard at work. They actually had grain at the very top which made its way down to the bottom, pictured here.

The group with the millmaster, who kindly showed us around the windmill and explained all of the difference mechanisms. Apparently, he thought Randi (girl to the right of me) was cute.

Sunday was truly a Belgian day: replete with water. It was raining off and on all day. However, we biked along the canals that wind through Bruges (often called the Venice of the North) and finally followed the waterway from Bruges to Damme, where we stumbled upon a delicious meal, a book sale in the quaint town centre, and this wonderful windmill. The countryside was too perfect and a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of Bruxelles and the European Parliament, where everyone walks like they have OBS. I could go on and on about the time in Bruges and Damme because the entire day appealed to my sensibilities (crowned with my first taste of Belgian chocolates) but suffice it to say that I could easily pass the rest of my days in a similar place– quiet, rural, bursting with secret charm, yet still close to urbania and all of its options.