Fourth stop - Brugge!

We arrived in Brugge around 8:00 pm on Sunday, and I have to say that it is nice arriving in new cities when it is still light out! We headed to our bed and breakfast (the first of the trip), not knowing at all what to expect. We were anticipating a house somewhere with a big “BnB” sign, but as we were walking down a small, cobblestone street, we were greeted by a cute, sixty-something lady at an old, open door, welcoming us, “Hello!! Come in! Come in!”



















Roos immediately had us set our bags down in the entryway, escorting us to the kitchen table, where she served us a drink (no question about my choice of beverage!) and started telling us about the little town of Brugge. She laid a map on the table, with Steven and I on either side of her. As she was explaining the history, she would often get hung up on words, explaining that the only English training she has received has been from tourists staying at her home!





























Within a few minutes, Roos’ boisterous and smiling husband, Jaak, greeted us downstairs as well. She gladly handed off the pen, map, and explanation responsibilities to him, as his English was learned while working as an engineer. We learned many interesting facts about this fascinating, preserved town: in around 1400, Brugge was much larger (population) than Paris or London; its economy was based on textiles and tapestries, but as the waterways leading to the North Sea naturally closed off, so did the city. This left little Brugge to almost be preserved in time, when in the 1800s, political leaders realized that this city, maintained in its medieval state, would be a great tourist attraction. The rest is (quite literally) history!





























Monday morning we woke to have breakfast in Roos’ and Jaak’s sunroom, overlooking their tiny backyard, filled with a variety of beautiful flowers and shrubs. The mood was set with classical symphonic music playing on the radio.

We began our many hours of walking by taking a nice (misdirected) stroll along one of the many canals. We were surprise to find hundreds of swans, ducks, and geese feeding, sunbathing, and napping on the grass and in the water. It was an amazing site!! After being only a few feet from many swans, we noticed they were tagged with a small, metal band on their legs. We later discovered the story: in the 14th (15th?) century, an archduke was taken prisoner within the city by rebels, who had killed a close friend of his. He was set free, but he condemned the people of Bruges to keep watch over the city’s swans until the end of time. The swans now belong to the city.















We continued our walk, marveling at all the 15th century buildings, adjacent to the 16th/17th/18th century and modern buildings, as well as all the medieval city gates.



















It was quite the site! We took in too many sites to talk about them all, but there are certain memories that will surely stick with us forever…

Like our boat ride along the canals, where we saw the oldest 14th century house in the city (sells for a mere 1.3 million euro), the tiniest window in the city (used by spies), a dog napping in a window (same dog as in the movie “In Brugge”!!), a mother swan carrying four babies on her back, the walkways for ducks to climb out of the canal, and the lowest (passable) bridge, where we had to slow down and sit in the front of the boat in order to clear the headspace!






























































After enjoying an apple on the main square and visiting with an older couple from Chicago, we braved the 365 stair climb to the top of the bell tower, where much was closed off due to restoration. It opens up next week with a huge festival to celebrate! After making our way down (relatively unscathed!), we enjoyed a snack of frites (french fries) with mayo. Of course, Steven was the only one who ate the mayo!





















































For such a small town, Brugge has 22 churches! Among them, we visited the Basilica of the Holy Blood, where they have a relic of two drops of Christ’s blood. Very moving. (Relic is on an altar under the crucifix.)














The Church of Our Lady has Michelangelo’s sculpture the Madonna and Child, which is said to be the only sculpture of his to leave Italy.



















In the evening, we also stopped in to the local Begijnhof (Beguinage/nunnery) to stroll the courtyard and visit the chapel, where we listened to the nuns sing (every night at 6 pm).

Brugge is a huge producer of very intricate lace, and we spent a couple minutes watching one of these old ladies at work. For someone who has never seen lace-making (or who doesn’t even know how it’s made, like me!) this was very cool, and they are so fast at it! For lace experts, this is bobbin lace, pinned to the workspace, not needlepoint lace! We even saw a huge, lace map of the city!






































Chocolate is, of course, a hot commodity in Belgium, especially Bruges, where there are a couple hundred chocolate shops! Every few stores, there is another sweet aroma and intricate window displays to take in. Eighty of the city’s chocolatiers are currently in China teaching the skill.

























































Thus far, we have only been spending a single night in locations, but we enjoyed our hosts so much and the warm, cozy, homey environment that we decided to spend a second night and head to Paris in the morning. Leaving was very hard because, even after only two nights, it was starting to feel like home.















Bye bye waffles! Off to Paris!