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Published: June 18th 2011
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This morning we managed to arrive at the Belfort by 9.20am. There was still a queue, but it wasn't as long as it was at 10.30am yesterday!!! Once the tower opened at 9.30am the queue started to move along reasonably steadily and before long we were climbing the 366 steps to see the bell in the Belfort. Because of the cramped conditions we didn't have to climb the 366 steps all at once - every so often we had to wedge ourselves into a corner to allow people on their way back down to get past! There were also some interesting rooms, for example the old treasury room, to explore at a couple of levels so the 366 steps didn't end up being as strenuous as might have been anticipated. At 83 metres tall, the Belfort provides some excellent views over Brugge and the surrounding countryside.
Our next stop was the Gruuthuse city palace - another of the Brugge Museums - which houses artefacts from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The house originally belonged to a family of merchants who gained their wealth as a result of having a monopoly on brewing beer in Brugge. Gruut was a blend
of herbs that were used to brew beer before hops.
With no more half day stoppages at St John's Hospital, we made that our next stop. This Brugge Museum houses an impressive collection of paintings, statues, silver work, furniture and medical instruments that help visitors to imagine what a hospital was like in the middle ages - NOT a place I would have wanted to be as some of the surgical instruments looked really gruesome.
We ate lunch at Salade Folle, a restaurant recommend by our hostess Anne at iRoom. Wow, plenty of green stuff today! I had the quiche and salad and Bernie opted for the chicken and salad. When it arrived we thought we has salad and quiche and salad with chicken as the salad component was substantial - way beyond being a token side salad!!
After lunch we walked around to the Beguine's houses. Beguines are communities of laywomen devoted to religion, but without having taken the vows of a nun.
From the Beguinage we walked along the canal to the old gun powder tower on the canal that encircles the city. We then walked along the canal to Gentpoort, one of the
city's gates. Heading back towards the centre of town, we ventured past the Church of the Holy Magdalen, through Astridpark and then along Langestraat to Kruispoort (another of the city's gates). We were able to see the two of Brugge's remaining windmills that are located adjacent to Kruisport.
On the was back to iRoom we passed by the house where famous Flemish author, Guido Gezelle was born so we popped in to see the garden. Finally we arrived back at iRoom after walking past Jerusalem Church and St Anne's Church.
For dinner we checked out another recommendation of Anne's and went to Cafe Vlissi where we decided to try the fondue. If we hadn't once enjoyed a fondue dinner party at Val and Wade's, I'm not sure if we would have been game to attempt fondue in public in a restaurant!! As coincidence would have it, the brand of the bottled water that we had with our dinner was 'Val'.
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