Beautiful, medieval Bruges! - Brugge, Belgium
Brugge, Belgium
Everyone says that one can't come to this area of the world and not visit Bruges (called that in the French speaking world and Brugge in the Dutch/Flemish speaking world). I am SO tired today that I fell asleep in the car and didn't wake until we entered the city of Antwerp (called Antwerpen by the Dutch). Because the roads are so congested, the Garmin sent us through the city. Well that was interesting! This is a very busy city--the second largest in Belgium. We drove through the older section with its winding streets and eclectic population! It was fascinating but a little unnerving as we had no idea where we were or how to get out of the city. But following our trusty "Daniel" the Garmin navigator we managed to wind our way through the streets and a tunnel under the Scheldt River and on toward Gent (spelled Ghent also depending on whether you are speaking to a Belgian or a Dutch person). We did not stop in Gent but pushed on to Brugge.
We entered the outskirts of the city about noon and found the train station. You may ask why the train station as we are in a car? All of these European cities seem to have wonderful parking garages right next to the station. I would imagine this is so people can park and ride (or in our case park and walk!). First thing on the agenda before we left the station was to find the WC (also known as the Toilette)--We have decided there are 2 things we like about the U.S. (well there are many but these are the 2 differences that are irritating here):it costs to use the toilet--50 cents per person almost everywhere (the only exceptions are in the restaurants when you are a customer) and the other is that in the majority of places you have to pay for water (no tap water only bottled is available in most places). Well there's my little rant for the day!
Anyway we found Bruges to be just wonderful! It is true that one should be sure to go here--even with all of the tourists it was an amazing place to see! Old buildings, beautiful green space, gorgeous Belgian horses with their hairy ankles trotting through the streets pulling open carriages, lots of fascinating shops with Belgian lace, chocolates, waffles, Dutch tiles, and tacky tourist stuff, canals with trees and flowers hanging in them, swans on the canals, ancient buildings, etc.! Wow what a wonderful place! We tried to see as much as we could in our short visit--so here's a brief synopsis. :)
First we visited a lace shop--think Belgian lace! Yep it is really amazing and while we were there we chatted with the owner of the shop. It turns out her grandmother (whose photo was on the wall with the typical Belgian costume) was a skilled lace maker whose work is hung on the walls of the Dutch embassy in the country of Belarusse. She showed us photos of her grandmother's lace and it was amazing! So of course we had to buy some of the lacework. As we walked we began to smell food and it was sprinkling--uh oh! that means rain so let's stop for lunch! We looked at a couple of menu boards and decided on the Gruuthusehof which had a nice selection. Becky had Kraaskroketten (which is cheese croquettes) with a salad and a glass of white wine, Peter had Vlaamse Stoverij (translates to beef stew) with a Belgian dark beer (Brugse Zot Bruin), while Mike and I chose the Toerist menu (no that's not a misspelling that's how it was written in the menu). This was what we would call a set menu: We both began with tomato soup (spelled tomatoe soep). I then had zalm (salmon) and Mike had steak and we both had frites (french fries). Mike had a Belgian light beer (Brugse zot blond) and I had a glass of white wine (witte wijn). Dessert also came with it and we chose profiteroles--we each had 3 covered in dark chocolate so we shared with Becky and Peter. Yummy! And this was a lot of food--which seems to be the story in this country!
Once the rain had stopped and we had eaten everything in sight, we are off to tour again. First stop is Onze-Lieve-Vrouwewerk (Church of Our Lady). This church is a rather somber large church built in the 1300s. It has a 1504 madonna and child carved by Michelangelo and is the only work of his to have left Italy during his lifetime. It is quite beautiful as it is white marble surrounded by black marble. The church is under massive renovation so the entry fee is very low. While there we also saw a statue of Joseph with Jesus as a child with his foot on what looks like a soccer ball. We laughed at that as this is the world cup time so everything is soccer around here these days.
As we headed to our next destination we walked through the Blinde Ezelstraat (the Blind Donkey street) which goes over a canal and under a building. Why it has this name nothing is written! Hmm. Next stop was the Heilig-Bloed Basiliek, or the Holy Blood Basilica. It takes its name from a vial of blood that is supposed to have come from Jesus and was brought here after the 12th century crusades. It is brought out for adoration at 2 p.m. daily and luckily we were there. So we got to walk up to it and see it closely--hmmm. It doesn't look like blood--just a large glass tube with some dark "stuff" in it--but then it is 8 centuries old!
Next to this church is the Stadhuis (City Hall). This is a beautiful building with a fanciful facade that was built in 1420. There are statues representing the counts and countesses of Flanders--replicas of the originals as the French soldiers tore them down in 1792. Although one can tour the inside to look at paintings, etc. our time is brief so we chose not to do this.
On to the next site--Belfort (a bell tower) which was built in the 13th century. Mike and I decided to climb the tower for the experience and the view. Becky and Peter had visited it when they were here a few years ago so decided not to do so again. This was somewhat scary for me--366 stairs in a twisting narrow staircase with uneven stone steps--my vision loss really made it a problem. Mike went first and with one hand I held to the rope that wrapped around one side of the tower (supposed to help you climb but too tight and large to get a good hold on it) and the other hand I held the back of Mike's belt (he was concerned about his pants being pulled down if I slipped! Ha Ha! Not me falling apparently!) Thank goodness we did get to stop at various levels--to look at the room where the iron boxes with the charters were kept, the room with examples of how the bells were made, an overlook of the box that plays the music, etc There was a great view of the city once we finally arrived near the top! As we climbed I kept thinking--I can do this as I have climbed higher in Peru!!!! and with less oxygen! :)
When we got down we stopped in a couple of shops along the way then decided that one cannot leave Belgium without having a waffle. So we headed into the Sweet Bruges Tearoom--the pictures and the aroma drew us to this place. Becky and Peter shared a sweet waffle with mocha ice cream and chocolate drizzle on top and Pete had an espresso while Becky had a café glacé (coffee with ice cream in it). Mike and I shared a sweet waffle with fresh strawberries, whipped cream, and dark chocolate syrup with Mike and I both having an espresso. This was SO good! I just wish I could eat more or even bring some home with me.
It is late so we headed back to the carpark. After some difficulty figuring out how to pay for parking--always interesting when the directions are pictures with another language (which none of us speak) providing the directions. But Peter managed to figure it out! Yay Pete! About 6:45 p.m. we headed out into the countryside. We decided to return through Zeeland and not Antwerpen because of the construction and traffic there. Well this was interesting--the Garming directed into the countryside through these teensy villages, farmland, roads on the dijks, etc. Then to the coast where we crossed over (actually under) through an estuary tunnel called the Westerschelde. We were surprised as there had been a ferry here for a long time and apparently this tunnel is fairly new. There were doors on the sides that were labeled exit--Becky wanted to know where one could exit as we are under a lot of sea water! Hmmm. Good point Becky but not one I want to consider--I didn't want to think that an arm of the North Sea is over my head as we travel.
But out we came into the province of Zeeland heading toward the town of Bergen Op Zoom (although we aren't actually going there I just love that name so had to include it here). We are traveling through sun drenched fields and tiny villages again--everything is so beautiful! Next we went through another tunnel called the Vlake tunnel which goes under a canal. We finally arrived home about 9:27 p.m. Of course the sun is still shining as we are so far north the sun does not set until about 11 p.m. All we can say is we had another marvelous day!