Friday September 15 thru early morning Monday September 19, 2016
I was in Brugge or Bruges -like the french and english call this place – for the weekend. My mom had told me how beautiful the town was and she had called it the Venice of the north. Bruges blew me away!! It was so much more than i expected. 🙂 I arrived late afternoon at the train station and took a cab into town. As we were getting to the town center I was delighted to discover how gorgeous this place was. I felt like Cinderella in a medieval town. No Prince Charming though! lol
Some fun facts about Bruges:
Did you know that in 2000 the city center was declared a World Heritage Site of UNESCO. That means the UN recognizes this is a place of importance for the world. Also Bruges was very important merchant town due to its port. This lasted thru the 1500s when this started to decline. Lace became a very important industry during the 1700s and Bruges was the place where Charles II of England and his court went when he was in exile. Also, in WWI and WWII Bruges was occupied by the Germans. In WWII it was liberated by the canadian forces. And that is all i remember from the notes i had. 🙂 You can find more info about Bruges here
Anyways, the taxi driver dropped me off at my hotel and after settling in I went out to explore. I highly recommend the hotel i stayed at – The Patritius. Smack in the middle of town but on a quiet street. It had the best bed I had slept on thru the trip. 🙂
It was Friday eve and i went for dinner at one of the million restaurants that border the Markt. Bruges is known for its beers, fries, waffles, chocolates and lace. Tonight i was trying the beers.
The waiter recommended a couple of them that i sampled. Beer in Europe is not served chilled like they do in the US. Is not bad, it just takes some getting used to. 🙂 Dinner was fantastic and after wandering around for a while i called it a day.
Saturday and Sunday were market days in Bruges. It was a lot of fun. Lots of people, music and a huge open market on a few streets.
On Saturday i decided to do the city walk that is in Rick Steves Belgium book. My first stop was at the Basilica of the Holy Blood. This church was built in the 12th century and it has a sample of Jesus blood shed on the cross. There is a short ceremony everyday at 11:30am to venerate this relic. I was lucky i walked in the church at 11:15am, with plenty of time to be part of this ceremony. Loved it!
After this, i started the city walk. Bruges has the most beautiful canals and architecture.As i was a walking the city i noticed these Madona statues that were at the entrance of some of the houses in the city. So I made it a game to take pics of all of the Madonas i encountered thru the city. I found 7, half of the time i was taking pics of other things and enjoying the views so i forgot to look and probably missed a few more!
My wanderings took me to this beautiful church, St.Giles. Did i tell you i love churches? 🙂 I believe they tell the history of the people that worshiped there better than a museum can. Someone – who will remain nameless- told me that I probably like churches so much because i have a lot of sins that need forgiving. Hahaha!
I continued wandering thru the city and found some beautiful canals and more of the amazing medieval architecture. Below are some of my favorites pics.
After a full afternoon of walking i had to stop and try the frites (fries) everyone talks about. Folks in Bruges love their frites; so much that they have a Frite Museum. No joke! I walked in to check it out and even Mr. Potato Head is in there. 🙂 Anyways, the fries were pretty good. They have different sauces that you can use – no ketchup unless you ask. I asked the lady that sold the fries to surprise me and put her favorite sauce on my frites. Not bad. As i was leaving the frites place i stumbled upon this bakery that sold the most AMAZING meringues! I LOVE meringues…So i bought 2 huge ones and ate them too…OMG! Needless to say i was not feeling very good after this. I have to admit i did go back to the meringue place the next day and got 1 more… sigh…
My walk brought me back to the Markt where i sat for a while to people watch.
Before i forget, i have to tell you about the Belfry. The Belfry is a very old building built in the middle ages – yep! – and it was used for storing and displaying flemish cloth. There are very few of these left and Bruges has one right in the middle of town. Again, Belfries are recognized by UNESCO for their historical value. At the Belfry there is a carillon that plays music every 15 min. I sat in one of the benches under the carillon and enjoyed a free concert. 🙂
From Wikipedia: “A poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, titled “The Belfry of Bruges,” refers to the building’s checkered history:
- In the market-place of Bruges stands the belfry old and brown;
- Thrice consumed and thrice rebuilded, still it watches o’er the town”
No dinner for me on Saturday due to my overindulgence on meringues. it was an early night for me that day.
Sunday was again market day. I decided to go explore in the opposite direction I went on Saturday. The market was even bigger on that other side of town. I found a couple of live bands and I became part of the locals dancing to the band music and enjoying the relaxing atmosphere. I met a couple of the local folks that came to town in their bikes. It was a sea of bikes that day- check out the pic below. I also found a couple of the old wind mills;you are not allowed to go in anymore.They are up on platforms and cordoned off. I also visited a few of the chocolate stores and bought a few pralines to bring back home for my kids. It was unfortunate that i got hungry and the pralines did not make it home. Sorry kids! They were delicious though.:-)
After a day of walking and sightseeing i chose this place – Cambrinus – for dinner. It had good reviews in Trip Advisor. I laughed when the guy brought me the menu. It was a freaking BOOK!. 90% of it was for all the 300 beers they have in house, pictures and all. So with so many choices, i decided to ask the waiter to bring me his favorite beer. Good choice, warm, but good. Dinner was good too. So i definitively recommend this place for dinner if you are in Bruges
It was Sunday and my Seahawks were playing that day so i decided to go to my hotel to take a nap so i could be awake for the game. There is that 9hr difference you know… Probably should not have bothered since the Seahawks offense that day was MIA. arghh!
I truly enjoyed my time in Bruges. It was beautiful and i took it easy that weekend after 2 weeks of whirlwind travel with the kids. This was the first time being on my own in this trip. Although i missed the kids, i had a really good time. I met some cool people, ate too much and was in control of 100% of my time. It gave me a lot of time to think and reflect and appreciate all i have and how blessed my life is and how much i love to travel.:-)
Monday was time to leave for London.
I took the train back to Brussels and then the channel train to King Cross Station in London. It was great and super fast! But that is a story for the next blog entry. Until next one!
Much love, Ana ❤
Adventuring and other travel musings... 