For a guy who usually loves to plan the ins and outs of his trips, this sure was a different, and yet exciting feeling to not know where I was going. The suspense finally ended at 6:00am at St. Pancras station where Vijiti finally declared “we’re going to Bruges!”, although that still didn’t mean much to me, as all I knew was this was a town in Belgium and little else! So off we went on the much-acclaimed Eurostar train across the English Channel to Brussels and then onward to Bruges.
On the train, Vijiti shared all the information she had been closely guarding for weeks and brought out map printouts and sites for us to pour over together. There is something to be said for going to a place where you have no idea what to expect. For some reason, the image of “Bruges” that came to my mind was one of a small picturesque European village with white and brown houses (perhaps more like what a Swiss or German village looks like??).
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| What I thought Bruges looks like |
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| ...... and what it actually looks like |
So I was surprised when Vijiti told me Bruges is known for its canals and its medieval architecture. The city centre is a well-preserved 13th century town with beautiful “step gabled” houses (just learned this phrase from the trip) and stone-paved alleys along the canals lined with short bridges. Wikipedia tells me Bruges is sometimes referred to as the “Venice of the North” and today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, although back in the 13th century, it was an important commercial port city until the channel started “silting” and Bruges began to lose prominence to its rival Antwerp.
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A few snapshots from the trip:
Belgium –
This small country has kept its tourism “brand” nice and simple – beer,
chocolates, waffles and lace. The small streets all over town had loads of chocolateries,
street-side cafes making fresh waffles, restaurants serving strong beers
historically brewed in monasteries (Trappist beers) and shops selling intricate
lace table clothes, napkins and other assortments. As a visitor, the word
“Belgium” quickly becomes synonymous with these easy-to-like things!
Our
B&B – Vijiti had sure done the right research to book our first night
at a lovely Bed & Breakfast inn overlooking the canal - Cote Canal / Huyze Hertsberge. The
proprietor, an energetic bourgeois woman named Caroline, proudly showed us to our room on
the top floor of the 500-year old mansion complete with original wooden beams. Downstairs
had a spacious dining room and a atmospheric lounge lined with plush sofa chairs and a book shelf (where I helped myself to a Frommer’s guide). There was also a courtyard and garden overlooking the canal,
although we didn’t get a chance to enjoy it the day we were there. We did
however get to say hello to the resident celebrity, a golden lab named Felicite,
who apparently featured in the Hollywood movie “In Bruges” starring Colin
Farell! We later saw him perched on a window sill with his head resting on a
cushion watching the tour boats go by on the canal!
The town –
It was clear from the beautiful stone streets and authentic brick houses that the authorities had taken great pains to preserve the
historic look of the city. We later found out one the city had avoided runaway development by allowing new commercial enterprises to be
established only in properties where businesses ALREADY EXISTED, meaning, you could not buy a house and convert it into a restaurant – you would
have to buy an existing restaurant to do so. It was also interesting to learn
that quite a few locals in fact live in the old town – about 20,000 out of
120,000-odd – suggesting it was not a town only “for tourists”.
The
churches: while I’m not normally a huge fan of churches, I do have a keen
and growing interest in architecture and one interesting aspect of the main
churches in Bruges was the diversity of styles we saw within a few steps of one other:
- Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of our Lady) – I was quite awed by this church, particularly by its massive soaring tower which reminded me of a medieval version of a skyscraper (I later read this is the second tallest brick tower in the world, so quite impressive indeed). The church was build in an austere version of the Gothic style, so the interior of the building was quite stark in its basic grey stone look. In contrast, the ornamentations of the church itself, including the pulpit, were quite elaborate.
- Heilig-Bloedbasiliek (Basilica of the Holy Blood) – This was actually two churches one built on top of the other – the lower in the 12th century and the upper re-built in the 16th century. What was interesting was the complete contrast in style and feel between the two. The older one is made of heavy stone and was dark with low ceilings and arched doorways built in the Romanesque style. The candle lighting against the stone walls and wooden statues in the small space had a certain calm and intimate aura. The upper one was built in the Gothic style, with soaring high ceilings, colourful stained glass windows and bright painted wall art and designs, lending itself a completely different ambience from the chapel below. This church houses an important relic – a cloth said to be stained with the blood of Jesus Christ – which is brought out for visitors to see and touch (that is, the glass case within which it is kept). And yes we did go and touch it!
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