Lovely Bruges

Sunday we did a full day excursion with the students to Bruges, giving them an opportunity after a few days in Brussels to experience a very different type of city. The train ride was just over an hour through lovely Flanders countryside. We had a guided tour for a couple of hours describing some of the main character to the city and Pols did a good job leading us along and keeping us involved. We were well ahead of their tourist season, and being a Sunday most of the shops were closed, so it wasn't as busy and crowded as I am sure that the place can be as they get to May and June.

Minnewater

Overall Bruges has such different character from Brussels. The difference in population is definitely part of it, Bruges has only 1/10 the population of Brussels and inside the old city there are only 20,000 living there. We focused our attention on the old city and the differences were quite easy to spot. Bruges has retained most of its green space around the old city moats so there is a feel of nature really holding its own as appreciated element in the city. After the tour of the city up to the city center we were left to our own desires. We just wandered for a little bit before deciding to head back down to Minnewater (a southern part of the old town) to have a lovely slow paced lunch of more traditional northern Belgium food. From there we went up to see Michaelangelo's sculpture, but unfortunately it wasn't available due to the renovation of the cathedral. I would say that was the one real disappointment on the day. It is apparently the only sculpture that left Italy during his lifetime and wasn't initially intended to leave the country either, but a wealthy family from Bruge had been in Italy and saw it for sale and brought it back with them.

Today was a choice between an afternoon climb of the Belfry steps or a tour of the only remaining brewery in Bruges. For the group the tour of the brewery won out and it was fantastic. The guide for De Halve Maan Brewery was wonderful and had a wry sense of humor. It took us through the old part of the brewery and just a few brief glimpses of the modern brewery. Part of what truly makes the brewery unique is that it had been a family brewery, then been sold to one of the conglomerates and it was the decision of the family to buy it back a few years later based on their view of how things were going under the more conglomerate model. The picture at the start of the entry actually comes from the roof of the brewery, giving a wonderful panorama of the old town. They did include a nice full pint of one of their beers at the end in a very nice restaurant space.

The Belfry is iconic, but I didn't feel the complete need to climb it. There was that urge, but it was nice enough just seeing it and enjoying the surroundings. Although if given the chance to go back through, I'd be climbing the 366 steps to it. We were also on the search for a specific chocolate shop that Ken remembered from his trip here in May. We finally had to give up trying to find it and as we had given up, we found it one block further on, but as expected on a Sunday, it was closed. By this time it was nearly 6pm and we stopped for a waffle on a street corner, which ultimately became dinner on Sunday. It was excellent and warm and only the second one I had enjoyed since being here.

We had one last stop I wanted to make and that was the Western Gate into the city. The history of it is that there was a traitor who did not close the gate one night, leaving it open to invaders. He was beheaded and they hung the skull from the gate as a reminder to others of the possible effects of not ensuring the security of the town. Today it is a metal cast of the skull, but the facade facing out of the town gave the prettier view and that was what I included here.

As we walked south back toward the train station it began to rain on us again a second time on our trip here. It rained harder and harder, finally turning to hail as we got close to the train for the trip home. The trip home was quiet, but we did have a group of students who we joined up with for our return journey. All in all it was a fantastic day in Bruges. A number of students have said it is a place they would enjoy staying for a few days, just based on the size of the city, the history of it, and the pace things occurred. A successful trip indeed.