Words & Photo - Matthew Curtis
Thanks to some generosity from Visit Flanders I was able to spend a long weekend in Brugge, Belgium earlier this year. I love Brugge dearly, especially the fact that I first visited 23 years ago when I was just 11 years old and can still easily trace my steps from the Minnewater to the Belfort in the town square with relative ease. Of course my favourite thing about Brugge is its incredible selection of eclectic cafés, from the legendary Brugs Beartje to the cosy confines of De Garre.
My favourite of the lot though, is perhaps the charming Café Rose Red. It draws a slightly younger crowd than a few of the more traditional Brugge cafés and on this visit a group of would-be millennials were gathered at the bar enjoying a few bottles of Orval. It being the weekend of the Brugge Beer Festival there isn't an empty seat in the house but we do just about manage to squeeze ourselves in. I collect myself for a moment, admiring the red roses that hang from the ceiling from which the café takes its name before ordering a glass of Cantillon Mamouche and reinvesting my interest in the evening at hand.