We spent a day in Brugge, arriving from a Flixbus (£25.99, about 6 hours from London) at 5am, and walked to the city centre waiting for everything to open. It was a cold morning, but Le Pain Quotidien saved us, being apparently the only place open at 7am (apart from two bars that smelled of alcohol about 10m away). We indulged in fries and chocolate waffles, we visited the potato museum and we walked past canals and peaceful citizens transporting via bicycle.

It's a quaint city that operates so wonderfully and peacefully, with a village-feel to it. It has reminded me that not all beautiful things must shine with sparkles and gold. Brugge doesn’t have the label of Paris or New York, yet it shines so quietly and beautifully, and that it made it so much alluring after all. I'm learning to find the beauty in simplicity and realising that simple does not necessarily mean basic nor uninteresting. Maybe my life is not required to be the lights and fireworks I have been expecting, but rather can be beautiful in a much more soulful, raw and independent way… and in many ways, although it’s not what I’m used to, it really does make a lot more sense.