“In Bruges” in Bruges

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We arrived in via train and instead of taking the bus we walked along the river and backstreets to our hotel for the night. Loads of bikes, scooters and motorbikes were zooming past us on the bike path but along the river was stunning and in the backstreets there was nobody in sight. There was a bit more action in town but not as much as we expected. Our guide book tells us Bruges is overcrowded and a tad fake, which we don’t believe is true. It definitely has character and is beautiful.

We went for a wander around town. It was a bit rainy so we saved most of our sightseeing for the following morning but we did see the Begijnhof where a religious community lived in the 13th century. Maybe it was the weather but it had a very strange vibe. We got to see another Michelangelo statue at the “Church of our lady” which was of Madonna and child. Apparently this is the only piece of his to leave Italy during his lifetime. We also enjoyed peering into all the chocolate shops. There are heaps where you can see the chocolates being made and there are very impressive sculptures in the windows. The thick Belgian hot chocolates are to die for!

Carrying our bags for the past month or so has taken its toll on our bodies, so Richie decided to go for a massage (whilst Lysh browsed through the shops). We came across a slightly dodgy looking salon with boxes of products (some looked like packages from the early 1990’s) all over the floor and a slightly eccentric masseuse inside but the sore muscles were calling so Richie went in. A couple of hours later we were both feeling super relaxed from our respective therapies!

We found a nice cosy spot for dinner. The lady was lovely and politely told Richie he had just said “thank you cow” in dutch instead of just “thank you” (of course). Thank you is Dank U but we think if you hold onto the U sound for too long it comes out a little differently. We’re still not really sure but think we were supposed to be saying “dank u well” instead.

After dinner we decided to hit the hay and watch a movie called “In Bruges” (hence the title of the blog). It was interesting to see the movie again and all the sights. Our room is just round the corner from the main Markt, and looking out of the window we could even see the tower (Lysh actually found this a little creepy)!

The following morning was sunny so we had a good walk around town (and made sure we said “dank u well” along the way)! We didn’t come across any movie sets or midgets (sorry if you haven’t seen the movie) but we did go up the Belfort (tower) and took in the view over the Markt. We also went into the “Basilica of the Holy Blood” where a drop of Christ’s blood is supposed to be held. It was a very unusual cathedral and not like any we had seen before!
Next was a canal cruise, we couldn’t leave without doing one and with the sun out we had to strike while the iron was hot! It was a lovely cruise past all of the old buildings and there were lots of swanlets (not sure if that’s the right word!) and ducklings. Very cute!

After a fun packed couple of hours of touring the streets, we had to say goodbye (but not before stocking up on chocolate!) as Amsterdam was calling!

To quote the movie “being in Bruges is like dreaming but being awake, it’s a fairytale”.

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