Euro Trip 2010: In Bruges

After learning that I will be sent by my company to see Belgium, I set out to look for what could Belgium offer.  And one of the most recommended destination in the country is Bruges, northwest of Brussels.  Bruges or locally known as Brugge has been known to be a fairytale type of town for being the most preserved medieval town in western Europe.

Also during my research about the town, I had stumbled upon this movie that came out in 2008 entitled In Bruges that starred Colin Farrel.  The story mainly plotted around this old and charming town giving me a good picture of how it looked liked.  And I'd say I was pretty much pleased to have actually set foot into this town.

And so on the 24th of October on my second day in Belgium, together with 3 other friends I drove about an hour and a half to the north to Bruges.  We made our way there and parked beside the train station for the park and ride facility.  And so for €2.50 for parking, we got a free bus ticket for the four of us into the center of town.

The bus from the train station drove through the town and we alighted at the town center itself which a huge square with a bronze statue of two men holding a flag at the center.  While around it stood different municipal flags of Belgium.  Standing at the south side of the square is the Belfort of Bruges.

 

 

Since the Belfry is one of the main tourist attraction of Bruges, we decided that took our opportunity to climb up this tower which is 300+ steps high with a narrow spiraling staircases.  The cost to get up to the tower is €8.  Unfortunately, the Belfort is currently undergoing some construction and only half of the viewing area is free for tourists.  With this they handed out an extra coupon that we can use on another museum in town.  Well we did not get a 360degree view of the town but it was a nice view anyway.

 

While at the view deck of the Belfry, the weather changed and we saw that rain is coming.  Well, we just noticed that something went down with the rain.  It was ice.  Then we realized it was a hail storm.  Being stuck on top of the tower during a hail storm proved to be very cold so we decided to start heading down the tower.  And we were up for a treat because looking out of the belfry after the hail made the whole town square look like snow has just fallen.  It was a beautiful sight though slipper to walk into.

 

 

 

And so with the rain and ice all over the town square,  we thought of having our lunch in one of the restaurants within the square.  I ordered for grilled chicken in Bruges style while my other friends ordered Flemish beef stew and mussels.

After lunch, we proceeded on walking around town.  First thought of walking to the Church of Our Lady which is one of the most notable churches in town.  On our way there, we passed through the medieval cobbled streets of Bruges which is now lined by souvenir shops, tapestry shops, and a lot of chocolate shops.  Apparently Bruges is also known for a chocolate making.  Well, we did shopped for some of Belgium's best chocolates.

 

 

On our way to the church, we also passed by the towns rivers where boat tours are going on.  Well, they say that Bruges is Belgium's version of Venice and they pride of its beautiful canals.  Besides the church is the Gruuthuse Museum which we wanted to check out but then it was already closed at 4pm.  So we just decided to take photos in front of it.

The Church of Our Lady is a huge church and had a beautiful bell tower but unfortunately it was under renovation when we got there.  But still we are happy that the church is still open and we had the opportunity of seeing it inside.  And well I did not realize that it housed one of the original works of art of Michaelangelo Buonarroti which is the stone statue of the Madonna and the Child. 

 

 

After a short while, we proceeded on walking southward on our way back to the train station.  And we passed through this small opening with a park by the river which had ducks.  On this spot a number of horse drawn carriages are parked.

 

 

 

Walking further from this opening, we went past this house-like structure by the end of the river.  We later learned that it is a flood gate that keeps the level of the canals in town and the main river.  This place is known as Minnewater.   Along this part of the river is beautiful and tranquil where a few structure stand on its banks and on one side is another huge building.  At the end of the road, it branched into two ways.  On this part we almost got lost as we turned left crossing the river to the park.  But we later figured at that we had go back the other way  to reach back the train station.

Bruges is such a beautiful place and is very much worth the time to travel to.  Unfortunately, we were not able to go around the rest of this medieval town specially the northern side.  But hey, maybe I can get back here with my family.