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Published: February 13th 2008
"In the market-place of Bruges stands the belfry old and brown;
Thrice consumed and thrice rebuilded, still it watches o'er the town.
As the summer morn was breaking, on that lofty tower I stood,
And the world threw off the darkness, like the weeds of widowhood..."
- From the
Belfry of Bruges by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
After an exciting two weeks in Germany and Prague, what else was left to see? We decided to have a low-key weekend in Brugge (Brugge is the Flemish spelling. The English spelling is Bruges). We took advantage of the Eurostar-hotel package, hoping that our experience would be better than the one in Paris! Jason had the flu, but he had hopes that he would get better as the weekend progressed.
Travelling by Eurostar really is a joy, and this particular train ride, the cars weren't even full! The Eurostar goes to Brussels in about 2 hours, with one stop in Lille, France. From Brussels we caught the regular train to Brugge. A short taxi ride later, we were at a very nice hotel just near the centre.
Brugge became an important European city during the 12th century, when Flanders became
an important center of trade in the European world. Along with Antwerp and Ghent, Brugge became famous for lace, beer, chocolate, and wool throughout Europe. Flemish traders traded extensively with African and Arab traders. Brugge also became an important center of the arts. Notable Flemish painters with significant links to Brugge include Jan van Eyke and Jan Provoost.
We began our tour with a walk to the Markt. The Markt is home to the Belfry of Bruges, sculptures of Flemish heroes, a provincial palace, a post office, bars, and most importantly, waffle houses. We made our way to one of these waffle houses for a waffle with fruit and coffee.
After a walk through the Markt, the Burg, the grounds of the Groeninge Museum, we arrived at Minnewater Park. Minnewater Park is a park at the southern end of Brugge that is most notable for a Swan filled canals and the Lake of Love. The Prinselijk Begijnhof ten Wijngaarde sits on the banks of the Lake of Love. Begijns were women, similar to nuns, who accepted vows of chastity and obedience, but refused to live in poverty (sounds like a Republican). The Begijns earned money by looking after
sick people and making lace.
After visiting several chocolate shops (Felicia bought 1 sample at every place and is officially "truffled" out), Jason returned to bed to rest his flu. Felicia walked through the city, and discovered the Concertgebouw. The Concertgebouw is a square near the train station, the bus station, and the police station. A large fountain and avant garde statue sits in the middle of the square. In the moonlight, the fountain sparkled and covered the statues in a shadows similar to Prague's mysterious light.
Afterwards, we had a traditional Belgian dinner at an Argentinian steakhouse. Well, maybe the meal wasn't an authentic Belgian meal. But, after 4 months in Europe, we have been craving Mexican food. We settled for Argentinian food as the next best thing.
On Sunday morning, we walked a few blocks from our hotel to Sint-Walburgakerk, the only Baroque church in Brugge (the others are nearly all Gothic churches - as are nearly all of the churches that we have seen in Europe outside of Italy). Sint-Walburgakerk is covered in marble, curved architecture, and beautiful statues. Next to the church, the canal leads back to our hotel, the Jan van Eyke
Square, and Jan Van Eyke's statue. After a short stop at the Brouwerij De Halve Maan for a quick Belgian beer, we sprinted back to the train station to return home for the week.
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