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Christmas on the run... Sidekick In Bruges

Posted on 9th January 2012 by Lara Swansbury -

As all the fried chicken shops around Old Street were booked up, we decided to have our Christmas Dinner in Bruges last year. Score!

Well, that's the short version. The slightly longer version features such a busy 2011 (moving, growing, hiring, winning, failing and many more ings) that we never got around to any of the team celebrations planned. And, as Christmas approached, it was high time to put this right. So we pooled our resources, bargaining powers and web-trawling skills… to emerge triumphant with a group Eurostar ticket and a bunch of beds (and life jackets) aboard a retired boat. Sidekick was going to Bruges.

If Carlsberg did Christmas… you know the rest. Fully decked out with cobbled streets, picturesque waterways and dreamy architecture - it soon became clear that we'd hit a festive jackpot. Bruges felt like the most Christmassy sight-seeing mecca this side of the North Pole. Horse and carriage rides, ice rinks, cultural monuments and historic landmarks glistened on every corner.

Well, it was pouring with rain and no one had a map. So we didn't do many of those things. But we made friends with the city in our own special way. We discovered ancient alleyways and majestic town squares, warmed up with local beers and killer waffles, exchanged wooden swords and other secret santas over tasty local food. And then we danced it all off before the sun rose over ducks quacking (in Flemish) through our floating windows.

Some people bemoan our new hangout as being too picturesque and quaint. This house does not concur. Sidekick's Christmas 2011 just wouldn't have been the same without its twinkling lights and Eurodance.