On Sunday morning we checked out of our
hotel and bade farewell to Paris. I was rather heartbroken as we drove through
the streets and our awesome taxi driver pointed out so many things we hadn’t
had time to see. It’s such a beautiful city, so full of things to see and do,
and I shall have to return many more times in the future!
We got to Gare du Nord a bit too early –
Mads kept occupied watching this really weird sculpture contraption that was
all white with lights and music and a ball thing inside it that smoked and rose
up when the music reached its crescendo. It was very odd. I kept occupied
watching the cool departures board which has those flippy letters.
Unfortunately, waiting for our train was the most enjoyable part of the journey
to Bruges. The trains from Brussels were all delayed due to an accident between
Paris and Brussels, so the bright fellows at Thalys decided to condense three
trains into one and terminate the train at Brussels instead of sending it right
through to Bruges. This meant that Mads and I didn’t have a seat, so for three
hours we were perched on these little fold down stools next to the doors of a
carriage in the baggage section. I was absolutely livid. When you pay 30 euros
for a seat you kind of expect a bloody seat! We found the next train that was to take us on to Bruges, just a
standard intercity train. Finding a seat with our giant suitcases we were
informed by the ticket dude that we’d stumbled into first class and would have
to either move or pay the difference. So we lugged our bags into the next
carriage and found another seat, and I managed to cool down a bit reading
Confederacy of Dunces (really, really funny and horrifying book – a pretty good
read that had me laughing out loud quite a lot. Ignatius J. Reilly sure knows
how to insult a person).
Cool flippy departures board at Gare du Nord
Gare du Nord
Waiting for the train!
So we got a taxi to our hotel and stayed in
for the afternoon relaxing, straying out only to get dinner. We found a nice
restaurant with a very begrudging waiter, and were pleased to find that people
in Bruges speak excellent English. I feel terribly rude speaking English to
them, but I do not know a word of Dutch. The hotel is very nice, apparently
part of a building built in the 15th Century, with a canal running
along the back of it.
Home for the next few days
A canal
A horse-drawn wagon! I could hear horse hooves on the cobblestones from my hotel window, and thought I must have been going crazy. Thankfully I still have a little of my sanity left.
Swans with their fluffy babies, so cute!
A cool building by the canal that runs along the back of our hotel
Yesterday we slept in, of course (we’re
here for five days, partly to recuperate after the busyness of Paris
sightseeing and driving around the UK before heading off for more madness in
Italy, Austria and Germany), before emerging in the afternoon to wander around
the city. It really is a very beautiful city – the buildings are gorgeous, and
it has a very chilled-out, holiday vibe (helped by the fact that it was a
public holiday in Bruges). The weather has been perfect: warm and sunny with a
nice cool breeze so you don’t get too hot. AND being here I’m constantly
reminded of In Bruges, one of my favourite all time films. ‘Oh look, there’s
Belfort where Colin Farrell insulted those fat American tourists and Brendan
Gleeson met his untimely and rather gruesome end.’ ‘It’s like a fairytale, wif
the cobblestones and all the churches and the canals.’ Ahhh, if you haven’t
seen it, rent it out now. It’s brilliant! We had lunch at a cafe near the Markt
(the main square in Bruges), Mads was very excited to find Schnitzel on the
menu, but all her hopes were dashed when it came out drowning in salsa. I
thought the salsa was the best part of the meal, personally, but if you know
Mads you’ll know she’s a supertaster and can’t handle too much flavour.
Naturally she was quite devestated.
More horses! They really are quite loud on the cobbles, can't imagine how loud it must have been back in the day when there were horses and carts everywhere...
Belfort, Bruges' famous bell tower.
Bikes at Markt, the main town square. There are even more bikes here than at Cambridge!
Most of the museums seem to be closed on a
Monday here, so we decided to check out the Basilica of the Holy Blood (like
Colin and Brendan did!), a fairly out of the way church famous for possessing a
phial of Christ’s blood. The church itself is rather beautiful, with the wall
behind the altar painted with a mural, a beautiful, high ceiling and stained
glass windows. We happened to be there when the Relic of the Holy Blood was out
for veneration, so we went to have a look-see. It’s in a chapel off to the
side, and it was a bit intimidating because you have to climb stairs up onto a
dais, and there is a priest(?) sitting behind it, and people were crossing
themselves and kissing the glass case in which it lives. But we went up anyway
and it was pretty gross – a rather large glass phial with gold and jewels at
the end, with rather a lot of this congealed, scabby-looking old blood in it. I
felt a bit queasy afterward, actually. We had a sit in the church for a little
bit, taking in the cool, peaceful atmosphere, then had a look in the little
one-room museum they have which has a few triptychs of the Crucifixion, and the
reliquary in which the blood is transported during a procession that takes
place every ascension day, covered in gold and precious stones.
Heading in to the Basilica of the Holy Blood
We got some delicious ice cream in the
square outside the Basilica, before having another explore in which we came
upon a castle gatey sort of thing and a couple of windmills. We then happened
upon a street that led to our hotel, which I was glad about because I needed
the loo. We stopped in for a while, reading and just generally chilling out
which was nice, before heading out again in search of Belgian waffles. We found
nowhere that was reasonably priced and open, so we just got some Chinese
takeaway and went back to the hotel again. Interesting note: MasterChef
Australia was on the tellie! The last one that Kate won... that was nice to
see! Actually most shows here seem to be English-speaking shows with subtitles,
except for the cartoons which are dubbed – Spongebob Squarepants in Dutch,
rather humorous!
Ice cream outside the Basilica
Some castle-gatey thing. I don't think it's particularly old but it looks cool
The discovery of a windmill in our wanderings.
Another cool building. It's hard to tell which ones are actually old and which ones just look old...
A nice tree by a canal.
The canal from our hotel window
Mads collapsed from exhaustion in the hotel room.
Today was another very nice, relaxed day.
We got up early to have breakfast in the hotel, but once we got back to the
room fell asleep again for another couple of hours. Oops. (Give us a break,
okay, we are totally buggered after Paris!). We decided to head down to Djiver
to take a boat ride along the canals, and on our way there saw a chocolate shop
(there are SOOO many chocolate shops here. Deadly for a confessed chocoholic
like yours truly) that had chocolates in the shape of sheep! I love sheep! So
in we went and I got a sheep and Mads got a duck because she loves ducks. We
decided to save them up to eat later, so off we went for our boat cruise. It
was so nice! Bruges is just so dang pretty! With the beautiful buildings along
the canals, the sun shining, the overhanging willows and bright flowers in
window boxes, the pretty bridges, and the fact that we were on a boat (I love
boats!) all combined for a very nice way to spend the middle of the day. Also
there were heaps of fluffy little ducklings and baby swans on the water, sooo
cute!! One major disappointment was that the dog in the window was not there!
We have heard so much about this famous dog, so when we saw his window and
cushion empty we were very sad. So once the boat ride was over we decided to
have a stake-out for the dog, finding ourselves a nice spot across the canal
from where the dog lives to eat our chocolates. But oh dear, even more disastrous
was the state of our animal shaped chocolates. My sheep was all melty and
squashed against the side of its plastic packet, while Mads’ duck was nothing
but a chocolatey puddle with pink spots in her bag. Still the doggy did not
come, so we went to the Groeningemuseum, an art gallery which houses a few
famous works of art and many more by Flemish artists. A very nice surprise was
that it cost us only 1 Euro each because we are both under 26!
Belgian chocolate in the form of a duck and a sheep! Super cute!
Boating on the canals. I really love boating.
One of the very pretty bridges - I think this is one of the smallest bridges in Bruges, something to do with love or romance or whatevs.
More nice canal scenery
Got her! Mads on the boat
The window sans dog.
I have to say I find the works by the
Flemish masters, including Provoost and Van Eyk to be a little too morbid for
my taste. There’s so much death and torture: The Judgement of Cambyses in which
he is flayed alive (this is a very famous painting); the torture of Saint
George, including being boiled, dragged behind a horse and decapitated; others
being stabbed and having molten gold poured down their throat; not to mention
all the pictures of the Birth of Mary, Mary’s death and ascension, and of
course the Crucifixion. Ouch. We also saw Provoost’s famous Death and the Miser
painting. But there were also some absolutely stunning chalk drawings,
landscapes and old portraits displayed, as well as some exceptionally weird
modern art.
Heading in to Groeningemuseum
My favourite piece in the gallery, Portrait of a Girl by Albert Jakob Frans Gregorius.
My close second-favourite, Self Portrait by Edmond van Hove. Incredible!! It feels like he's staring at you out of the darkness.
Outside Groeningemuseum
We finally got our Belgian Waffles in a
cafe near Djiver after we left the museum. They were pretty yummy, with
chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Then we went to stalk the doggy in the
window one last time – nothing. I’m starting to doubt the existence of this
dog...
Yum yum Belgian Wafels
Back to the hotel and Mads had a snooze
before we played a board game she got back in Bath called Dick Turpin, in which
you are a highwayman trying to rob a stagecoach called the Silver Flyer between
London and Edinburgh and back, demanding ‘Stand and Deliver’ when you’re
attempting to rob it. It was pretty fun, but it really needs more than two
players, so we played my right hand, my left hand, Mads’ right hand and Mads’
left hand. Mads’ right hand won by a landslide.
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