The city hall
The canals, buildings, and bridges were just so beautiful and old!
The most famous/pretty point in Bruges. Canals and buildings and my Mom! A girl can't ask for much more...... I had downloaded a walking tour of the city so we set off on our destinations and tourist book recommendations. The tour took us along the old canals and buildings and bridges. It was such a quaint city that was very peaceful. The streets had people, but not obnoxiously full like in Prague (future post). We met some teachers from Virginia who were visiting on Spring Break. We had to go to at least one museum so we hit up the Groeningemuseum which was a neat place with many old paintings. Many museums start to look the same so we didn’t spend a whole lot of time there. We were on a schedule! After the museum our tour took us to the Huisbrouwerij De Halve Maan, a local brewery. Now, THAT is an important stop! Mom and I had a beer…or two….and let our feet have a break. After we had built up our energy we headed off for more walking and touring. After the break we headed to the Church of Our Lady in Bruges for a viewing of Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. It is the only statute to leave Italy during Michelangelo’s life time. It was bought by a family of wealthy cloth merchants who were from Bruges, one of the leading commercial cities in Europe during the time.
The detail of the statue was amazing! The way the cloth draped and the faces were formed. He was really a talented artist!After that, Mom and I were tired so we made our way back to the Market and we wanted to take a carriage ride around the city. It was reasonably priced so we hopped in. Now, our driver was not an animated happy man which led to a slightly less than amazing tour and explanation of the city. He also over emphasized his “Rs” so he sounded slightly Scottish and like he might have been from a cartoon. As it turns out, though, that Mom and I had hit most of the city highlights on our walking tour. The few that we missed happened to be right around the corner of where we turned around and headed to the Market. The horse stopped to take a break by the beguinage ‘De Wijngaard' (the vineyard). The flowers were blooming so it was a beautiful sight.
The Beguine
Shops along the Market square
The sun was setting and we were tired and getting hungry. We headed to the room for a little break then re-gathered our things and headed to the Market for some mussels. The skies had taken a turn for the worse but just as we had reached the Market it started to poor rain and the wind REALLY kicked up. Mom and I hurried to the protection of a restaurant and ducked in just in time. We sat there in the warmth and dryness and watched people scurrying across the square and umbrellas blow inside out. We were happy where we were. We had ordered the local style of mussels which meant they were cooked in some sort of garlic curry broth and they were AMAZING! It was such a nice treat! After that Mom and I headed to another restaurant for dinner. It had stopped raining by then so we figured we should make a go of it while we could. Well, the book told us about this nice place that cooked all their food with beer and served complementary beer to the food choices. We figured anything with beer was a safe bet so we headed that way. Turns out this place is pretty fancy and coveted! It was a Tuesday night and we only got in by luck. They originally said they were full so we turned to leave and then she happened to find a table for us. We know why they were full; they only serve each table once per evening. I think we had a 3 hour dinner with 4 courses, which included 4 glasses of beer. After that we were stuffed and really tired so we waddled our way back to the hotel and rest up for Wednesday.
On Wednesday we had planned to head to Ghent and Antwerp because Ghent came as a recommended city as well and I wanted Mom to see Antwerp and the cathedral (and diamonds). Well, they weather was still nasty and windy and cold. We were both drained from the long day in Bruges and Mom was a bit toured out from all of her previous excursions in Africa. We stopped in Ghent and walked downtown to see the St. Bravo Cathedral that houses the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, which is considered to be their most famous works. The church also housed paintings from Peter Paul Rubens. We didn’t last long wondering the city fighting the wind and rain.
We skipped Antwerp all together and headed back for a relaxing afternoon in Haarlem where the weather was considerably better. Mom and I did a bit of shopping after a nap then had a small bite to eat. I also got a pretty watch for my birthday. It’s big, shiny, and has a pink watch band, my new favorite. It is also automatic so it charges itself by movement and you can see all of the gears in it. Pretty cool!
On Thursday mom and I had tickets to fly to Germany to see Doris and her family and take an Easter weekend trip to Prague. Those stories and pictures to come later! Stay tuned!
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