EU Trip Day 22 & 23 Bruges, Belgium

In Bruges ....

Barb was very excited to be going to Bruges, having never been there before. So we were up bright and early on Sunday morning to catch the train into London where we would board the Eurostar to Brussels. All went well and we settled down to the two hour trip with some snacks bought at St Pancras Station to tide us over for the journey. The Eurostar travels at very high speeds but is so smooth that Barb (who was engrossed in her cryptic crossword puzzle) didn't notice that she'd been through the chunnel until John announced "Welcome to France!" The train stopped briefly in Lille before terminating at Brussels. We transitioned to the local train to Bruges, arriving in the early afternoon.

Very comfy trip on the Eurostar

Well it's certainly warmer here than in Yorkshire! The heavy coats came off and we'd worked up a sweat and a thirst by the time we'd trudged the 900 metres from the station lugging our bags to our accommodation. Fortunately the Hotel Mariboe had provided very detailed instructions on how to get there as we had no map. The lovely lady who checked us in quickly remedied this, providing a map as well as a discount booklet for museums and other tourist venues.

The view from our hotel window - very scenic!

Barb waves from our hotel room

The square near the hotel

After dumping our bags we were keen to go off exploring. We didn't have to walk far to become completely entranced by this beautiful old city. We wandered into the first big market square containing the very stunning Belfry, the Provincial Palace and the statue of Breydel and Coninck (Flemish freedom fighters).It was definitely a Wow! moment. The Belfry dominates the skyline at 83m and is topped by a carillon of bells. It's a symbol of Bruges the way the Eiffel Tower is a symbol of Paris. The Neo-Gothic Provincial Palace is much newer than the 13th Century Belfry, but is ornate and amazing too. There was quite a crowd gathered in the square milling around having horse and carriage rides and taking photos.

The Provincial Palace

Horse and carriage rides

Barb in front of the Belfry

From there we wandered down Beidelstraat to the next big square. Time to gasp again. This time at the Basilica of the Holy Blood, the City Hall and Old Chambers. Gorgeous!
There were lots of restaurants around two sides of the square and we chose one to sit and have dinner as it was such a good place to people watch. We had a rather grumpy waiter but the food was good (if a tad over-priced). It was great to rest a while and consult the map to see how to get back to our hotel.

Entrance to the Basilica of the Holy Blood

Instead of going back to our room, however, we were rather intrigued by the number of people who disappeared down a lane behind the basilica. We must explore. What we found was the fish market. Tonight it was not in action as a fish market, it was being used as a venue for the latin American tango dancing festival. Couples were doing a very intricate slow tango dance accompanied by live music and it was enchanting. We stood watching for some time and then wandered on to where the canal meandered through the city.

The fish markets

Dancing a slow tango at the fish market

We followed the canal and ended up at St Salvator's cathedral. This 12th Century cathedral supports a parish that dates back to 850. It's huge. By this time it is getting quite late, even though it's still twilight, so we reluctantly headed back to our hotel.

St Salvator's  Cathedral

We were delighted with our choice of accommodation. The staff were lovely and friendly. The hotel was within easy walking distance to all the main sights. The continental breakfast was plentiful and delicious and best of all for John, they'd just installed a new coffee machine that made rather decent coffee. He is happy.

The second day in Bruges was spent re-tracing our steps but this time exploring more in depth as well as looking at some of the shops. Bruges is famous for its lace-making, its boutique beers, its chocolates and waffles and its ice-cream and of course frites. We tried them all. in the interests of research you understand.





Chocolate shop



Lace shops

MMMMmm cappuccino

Belgian waffles

Thin crust pizza

Gelato!

Barb had also spotted a Salvador Dali exhibition going on in one of the buildings in the main square. Although not a particular fan of this artist, she does love an art gallery. This exhibition contained a lot of his drawings, watercolours and some sculptures. It was shocking at times too. He seems to have a preoccupation with male and female genitalia bordering on pornography. Even a seasoned Urology nurse like Barb was a bit surprised.

Salvador Dali Exhibition

Today there were lots of tourists about taking boat trips on the canals and carriage rides around the streets. We very much enjoyed a relaxed stroll trough all this bustle, just happening upon things to interest us by chance such as the statues of the Four Horses of the Apocalypse.


Four Horseman of the Apocalypse

All the food we sampled was absolutely wonderful. The Belgian waffles drizzled with chocolate sauce and topped with cream were hard to beat. They've perfected their craft here! Our overall impression of Bruges was very favourable. Sure it is very busy and "touristy", but it is a place not to be missed. We had no trouble as English speakers (most people spoke at least a modicum of English). They were all very polite and friendly too, going out of their way to help us. We are so glad we took this little detour on our way to seeing Pammie and Pat in Maastricht.