We had a terrific weekend in Brugge, and I can definitely see why it's such a popular place to visit. The entire old city, encircled by a canal/moat, has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and four of the nine original city gates are still standing (I've included two pictures of one of them). It is pretty touristy, and I'd imagine it gets quite crowded in summer, but the appeal of the place is undeniable.
We arrived around lunchtime on Saturday and spent the afternoon wandering a few of the major shopping streets and enjoying the beautiful weather (and of course a few good beers, as you can see by the picture!). We really lucked out too, because not only was it a warm, sunny day, but it also happened to be one of two weekends each year when they close down the old city to car traffic and stores/restaurants set up outdoor stands all along the streets. It's called the Braderie, and it's not mentioned in any of the tourist guides I looked at so I think it's done more for the locals.
This also happened to be a big weekend for World Cup Rugby, with quarterfinal matches involving England vs. Australia and France vs. New Zealand being played on Saturday afternoon/evening. Carl has taken a liking to the sport, so in late afternoon we found a pub that was showing the matches and sat down to watch England and the Aussies...it was quite a battle! I was rooting for the Aussies, but England ultimately won the match. Afterwards we headed back to our B&B to relax for a little while and get ready for dinner.
We decided to enjoy the luxury of dinner at a real restaurant that night - not something we do often anymore on our tight budget. We hadn't yet tried the signature Belgian dish of mussels & fries, so we both decided to order that. We were not disappointed! As you can see by the picture, we got a huge steaming pot full of mussels in the provençale style, and they were tasty and quite filling. After that we returned to the pub to watch France play New Zealand - France won that match, so again I found myself cheering for the losing team! Both the afternoon and evening matches brought a very fun-loving crowd though, and as a result we now have invitations to visit new friends in both Paris and Leicester (in central England)!
Sunday we thought it would be nice to see a little of the surrounding area, so we rented bikes for the afternoon. We picked up a map and decided that since it was shaping up to be another nice day, we'd head for the coast. There is a huge network of bike paths throughout Flanders, making it really easy to cycle to just about anywhere! We were pedaling against the breeze on the way out so it took us a few hours to get there, but it was a nice ride through the flat Flemish countryside with a lot of farms along the way. We headed to De Haan, a small city along the coast that reminded me a little bit of a coastal New England village, but with different architecture (a little research has taught me that the style is called "Belle Époque" for any architecture buffs out there). We enjoyed a mid-afternoon meal on an outdoor terrace and visited the beach for a few minutes, but unfortunately we couldn't linger very long because we had to return the bikes by 5:00PM. The ride back was also nice, though we pushed ourselves to go a little faster this time so we wouldn't be late. I did stop briefly to snap a photo of one of the canals we crossed on the return ride - it was beautiful!
When we got back we were a little tired - okay, I won't lie, we were exhausted! The ride was about 45km roundtrip (about 28 miles), but our bikes weren't all that sophisticated or fast, so it was quite a workout! We had a great time though, and I would recommend the trip to anyone who wants to get a little exercise while enjoying the quiet countryside and taking in some great scenery.
Sunday was a low-key evening of a casual dinner followed by one more rugby match (Argentina vs. Scotland, and finally the team I rooted for, the Argentines, won!), and Monday morning we took the train back to Brussels. It was a memorable weekend, and we definitely hope to return at some point because we really didn't do any of the stuff that first-time visitors would do...things like a canal cruise and climbing the Belfort for a view of the city. That's okay though, I have a feeling we'll end up bringing some visitors here at some point, and we'll get to do it for the first time then. Any takers?? :-)
3 comments:
Yeah, Nancy and I. Trip postponed til spring due to an illness which kept Nancy from work for 2 weeks, but we are still planning on coming, so this place sounds pretty nice. If this is the place you still recommend in Spring, then this will be it. :-)
And my brother COULDN'T SMILE for the picture??!! Too funny. Great pictures and stories-you guys are nuts for biking all that way. The beer looks SOOOOOOOO yummy and I'd be a little 'concerned' as to the tactical approach for eating those mussels. They do look yummy still-how can that be? Thanks for sharing!!!
Brugge looks so pretty! I had never been to Belgium, but after your pics it's on my travel list. Thanks for sharing!
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