Petersontravels

Since we were staying in Bruges for 5 days, and Bruges isn’t really all that big, we decided to see some of the countryside, which I had read was beautiful.  We hired a private guide, Xavier Meurisse, via Trip Advisor, and he led us on an all day bike ride.  We rented e-bikes, which was a really good idea since we biked about 22 miles overall.  Now bear in mind, e-bikes came with a little trepidation, as we have never used one, and neither of us have been on a bike in at least 10 years.  Suffice it to say, we are now big fans of e-bikes!

We started off in Bruges by the concert hall, and rode around the perimeter of what was once the ramparts of the city.  Here we are stopped at one of the city gates.  There are 4 original gates remaining. This one is called Kruispoort Gate, and dates back to 1401.  Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Napoleon and the German army all entered Bruges through this gate.  Not at the same time…wouldn’t that have been interesting though?  Kind of like a Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure moment!

Along the old rampart area are 4 historic windmills.  This is the last one that’s operational, and it was running while we were there.  It turned out to be a pretty windy day, which made us VERY glad to have e-bikes.

Our guide Xavier explained to us that the idea to build canals to Bruges dates back to 1134, when a huge storm pushed out tons of silt and opened up access to the ocean.  To maintain that access they ended up digging canals.  The original canals were not straight at all, but along came Napolean and some engineers and he straightened them out.  The canals are lined with trees, and make for a beautiful sight.

More windmills in the countryside.

We arrived at the city of Damme and parked the bikes for a walking tour.  Damme was the “port” for Bruges in the 13th century, where ships were unloaded onto small barges for trans-shipment to complete their journey.  Below is the town hall, with a statue of Jacob van Maerlant, an important 13th century poet and author who lived and wrote here.  Because of his influence the little town has become known as “book town”.  It might also have to do with the lack of internet access?

We visited the ruins of Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (say that 3 times fast…hell, I can’t say it once!) church, which started construction in 1225.  The portion that is in ruins was due to a lack of maintenance after Damme had a large population drop, requiring them to demolish a portion in 1725.

Xavier pointed out storks living in the middle of the town.  We saw no bundled up babies anywhere, so that rumor is officially debunked.

These guys love storks so much they build them their own nests!

The canal as it stretches away from Damme towards our lunch destination, Sluis, Holland.  Yes, we actually crossed the border into Holland!

Along the bike path are these cool Virtual Reality stations where you can view what the area looked like in the 13th century.  They are free of charge and very interesting and informative.

We crossed the border between Belgium and Holland numerous times.  You could see the border identified by these black and white markers.

Our ride ended up along the beach of Knokke-Heist, a coastal city with a lot of high end cars, even several Tesla’s.  We took the train from here back to Bruges.  I’d forgotten what it was like to be “saddle sore”!  Despite the pain in the ass, it was still an excellent trip with Xavier.  He led us on bike trails that we would not have found otherwise, and if we had found them we’d still be trying to figure our way out.

I can highly recommend this trip, particularly if you want to get away from the tourism for the day.  Rather than use Trip Advisor, I suggest you use his website.  Let him know Chris and Kim sent you!  I don’t think that will get you anything other than a blank stare, but it’s worth a try!

 

I mentioned previously we saw the movie “In Bruges” back in 2009 or so, and immediately said “we have to go there someday!”.  Someday has arrived!  First things first, Bruges is pronounced without the “s”, so don’t be a newb and say it wrong.

I highly suggest you see the movie, as it will make you want to come here as well, and it’s a pretty damn good dark comedy.

We stayed in the same hotel that the characters in the movie stayed in, Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce Luxe.

The room used in the movie is right next door to ours, but the view on the canal is just as stellar!

The only downside is the constant flow of boats filled with tourists, but at least they stop around 7:00 PM.  Every time I looked out the window somebody was taking my photo!  The hotel is a highlight on the boat tour as it’s also the oldest hotel in Bruges, built in the 16th century.

The photo below shows the exterior of the hotel, and this spot is the most photographed in all of Bruges, with the Belfort in the background.  Our room is in the center of the photo with white framed windows open on the 4th level above the water.  The terrace area in the front of the photo is a Belgian beer bar where you can try dozens of different beers.

Here is a shot at sunset.  Yes, I fed the swans from our window.

As the “gravity challenged” American mentions to Colin Farrell in the movie, the Belfort of Bruges is the number one attraction to visit.

As was reinforced to us by every boat that passed our room, it’s 366 steps to the top, and there are no elevators (the ADA definitely does not exist in Europe).  There are several floors where you can stop on the way up.  There are also these little signs to let you know how much farther you need to go.

Near the top is this music box type drum that plays the bells like it’s a huge player piano.  They change the music every two years…likely because changing that drum has to be a pain in the ass!  The current song is “Dance of the Hours” from the Opera “La Gioconda”.  You would know it better as the song “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh”.  We were pretty sick of it by the end of our time in Bruges.

The view from the top makes the 366 steps worthwhile.  If you click on the photo you can actually see the container cranes at the Port of Zeebrugge on the North Sea, 10 miles away.

The leaders of the city would make important announcements from the balcony at the lower part of the Belfort.  Something along the lines of “free beer and waffles tomorrow”.

Speaking of beer, one of the “must do’s” in Bruges is the Belgian beer tasting.  This sampler was from Bourgogne des Flandres, just 50 meters from our hotel.  The beers and the meatballs were delish!

These beers were from The Beer Experience, just off the main Grote Markt.  I didn’t mention it previously, but the Belgian people are super friendly.  It’s like being back in Portugal!  They nearly all speak excellent English, which is good, because my Flemish sucks.  I think I know “thank you” (Bedankt), but even then I am likely saying it incorrectly.  Anyway, on to the beer!

Even though we saw maybe 300 boats pass our hotel, we had to ride the boat at least once.  Here is the view of our hotel from the boat.  You can see we left a window open when we left for the day.

There is an area in the south of town called Minnewaterpark, which is considered to be the most romantic part of the city.  The water area is quite historic, as this was the area where all of the river barges unloaded their cargo for distribution throughout the region.  The views from here are excellent.  The below shot is the Church of our Lady Bruges.

The Basilica of the Holy Blood is free to visit.  There is a museum attached if you like religious art (yawn).  The building started construction in 1134, and the lower portion remains mostly unchanged, while the upper portion with the Basilica  has been modified numerous times over the years.

The Basilica is so named as they supposedly have some of Christ’s blood inside the church.  The blood is said to be on a piece of cloth that was brought to Bruges in 1150 after the 2nd Crusade.  It is stored inside this tabernacle.  I honestly didn’t know what a “tabernacle” was, but now I do….gaudy gold and marble statue thingy.  Looks like Trumps living room!

Here is a picture of the blood stained cloth inside a vial (from Wikipedia).  I don’t want to get gross and say what it looks like to me, but I’ve watched enough soap opera commercials to say this was more likely something from Mary Magdalene.

The church itself is quite beautiful, even if the blood story is a bit on the “Ripley’s Believe it or not” side of the ledger.  I’m curious if they sent a sample to 23 and Me?  Anyway, here is the church.

I really loved this basketball shaped platform for visiting NBA players to speak to the congregation.  Note Jesus playing a mean bass guitar on top of the basketball lid.  Yes, I already know I’m going to hell.  No need to remind me.

We visited the Chocolate Museum, and the coolest thing we saw there were these hot-chocolate cups for men with mustaches.  Oops…damn!  I suppose nowadays we have to call them “mustached humans”?  So sorry if I offended!

We did some more walking along the canals and ran across this statue of Jan Van Eyck.  He was one of the earliest Netherlandish painters, with some going so far as to say he invented oil painting.  He lived and worked in Bruges from 1429 until his death is 1441.

And now for something completely different, our last night in Bruges we ate at this fabulous Mexican restaurant called Wijnbar Est!  It was so good!  It was the 4th of July, and Mexico is a lot closer to the US than Belgium is, particularly nowadays, with no border whatsoever!

Two last night shots from near the hotel.

Next up, we took an adventure into the Bruges countryside on e-bikes, and we lived to tell the tale!