Bette and I had planned a pleasant trip to Brugge "Venice of the North" to add a little adventure for me during her two weeks here.I had done lots of homework, and Bette had read all the stuff that the Brugge Tourism office sent her -- but we weren't quite ready for two things!
I would caution you that Brugge is beautiful -- but they don't take American Express, Visa or really any kind of plastic, including my french debit card -- so if you are going - bring lots of Euros. The ATMs there don't even give cash if you aren't a customer .... unless you go to the ATM at the post office! That's right, as in France, the Post Office is in the banking business. I do wonder how the private banking industry feels about that, but never mind.
The second problem was the weather. This little village (really it's a pretty big town, but they have managed to preserve their old village center, which is large enough to feel like it's own town) is only about 40 minutes by bus from the North Sea and the English Channel, so when it's not warm --- IT WAS COLD! We were dressed in everything we had brought with us, but that wind would cut right through you. That said --- we did learn how to deal with all of that. We just bought another scarf or two, made sure we had our hats and gloves, and on a couple of days were pleased to need our sunglasses, though it was a bit premature to get too wild. We actually sat outside for lunch on the Friday before we left, it was in the sun, but I didn't get warm again for several hours after that.
But Brugge is a really delightful city. Most of the buildings of importance were built at the end of the middle ages (early 1600s) so it really is a lot more Renaissance in style than middle age, but the stone work was incredible. We stayed in a b&b that was built in the 1600s and is apparently run by a man who restores old artwork. He gave us some great sight seeing suggestions, including an exhibit where he was working. Brugge is known for it's lace working history, but that's not really my thing, I am more interested in the tapestries, and hoped to buy one there, where the prices are a lot more reasonable than those in France. The difference was though that the tapestries made in Belgium look different from the French ones, and I wasn't as excited about the
m as some that I had seen from Gobelins.
Our first evening there, we roamed in search of an order of nuns who still do their evening vespers in Gregorian chanting. Their church is just one of many buildings in their compound and the huge trees were surrounded by thousands of daffodils. It was really a beautiful sanctuary and the nuns in their traditional garb were mostly very old, but were strong in their voices.
There are many churches there, and several worth seeing. The Church of Our Lady has a Michelangelo sculpture of Mary and Jesus, reportedly the only one of Michelangelo's pieces to have left Italy in his lifetime. The other church is part of hospital north of the old town, and that's where our b&b owner was restoring a work for behind the altar. It's also where we found the best tapestries, and they were beautiful.
We bought a museum pass for €15 that allowed us to visit 5 museums (including the audio guides) which is about the price for one french museum and audio guide! So we saw the inside of City Hall, the former court house, and the museum that is affiliated with the old hospitals.
We found the cobblestone streets lined with 16-17th century storefronts to be very charming, and there were lots of horses and bicycles. I think there must be some kind of control on the number or use of cars, because there really weren't that many at all. We learned how to make sense of the bus routes, and actually had the same driver a couple of times one day, who was quite helpful, and dropped us off where he thought would be the most picturesque stroll as we went to another museum. We had chocolate every day in some form or another, which is ironic, given neither of us is a big chocoholic, but IT WAS EVERYWHERE!
We ate dinner on the narrowest street in Brugges at a place called Cookies, an old cookie storage warehouse that is now retrofitted for the restaurant. The fried calamari was to die for! We liked it so much that we went back for a second night, but had to wait for Thursday because they are closed on Wednesdays! While in Brugges, Bette tried a bunch of beers, but she and Pat are of the same opinion that Europeans don't really do beer the same way we do, and well, to each their own. One recurring flavor was cloves, which was kind of surprising, and explains why Pat isn't a big fan. The rest of the food there was plentiful and fresh. We bought a box of strawberries from the market on Wed. morning, and munched those all day.
The Bruges Bed & Breakfast provided us so much food for breakfast that we made sandwiches and each had a piece of fruit for lunch -- topped off by a KitKat bar, which we thought was hysterical. We had two attic rooms that shared a bathroom and shower and a little dining area where we had breakfast each morning together. That left more money and room for ...hot tea, hot chocolate, or just chocolate! One afternoon, we decided it was time for something warm so we spent a couple of hours in a beautiful old Tea House, sipping hot chocolate from fancy china, and chatting. We stopped one day in another tea store, Het Brugs Theehuis, and found a man who was the tea blender. He had been making tea for about 14 years, and seemed to really enjoy it. He gave me an excellent tea called smoky gray, and I will have to go back for more.
Brugges is definitely a town for bicycling, and there are some great routes around there to the neighboring towns, which I might go back and do sometime. Bette & I took a bus ride to Damme, where we met this really interesting sculptor, who is now in his 80s, but who has had a well received career, as is evident by his photos with famous people like the Pope, and the Prime Minister of Belgium. We also made it up to the North Sea one day. But it was too cold to stand out there for long. The beach was pretty though, and I bet it's a great summer spot. We spent most of the day on a bus, or the tram going up and down the coast, on what reminded me of those four lane highways through the coastal towns in Florida. The only difference was the sound of the town names: Knokke, Blankenberge and Ostendende!
The icing on the cake for me was that we took this entire trip via train from La Varenne to Brugge, and were quite comfortable the whole time. I can't tell you how much I think the US is missing out on having the capability of offering these high speed trains from big cities for tourists. It is really a great way to travel.
