The Minnewater - Lake of Love
I became interested in Bruges, Belgium (map), when I saw an absolutely lovely picture taken by Angela Mallard, a local Vancouver photographer. We were shopping for Christmas gifts in the Granville Island Public Market and came across her stall. All of her photos are wonderful (we have 4 now) but the one of Bruges entranced me. We went home without it, since I was not allowed to be buying myself things before Christmas, but I kept thinking about it and I woke up the next couple of mornings looking at my wall and wondering where my picture was. So we went back to the market and bought the picture and I acted suitably surprised when I unwrapped it. That is how I got interested in Bruges.
When we were planning the trip to Paris, I considered spending a couple of days in Bruges, but decided to spend more time in Freiburg. So when we were in Paris and realized that we could do a day-long bus tour, I was quite happy.
Unfortunately, we almost didn't make it. We ended up leaving the hotel late and the Metro trip took longer than we expected. John sprinted ahead to hopefully catch the bus and I followed. To make a long story short, we were half an hour late, they held the bus and were justifiably unhappy with us. We decided that we must be very early for the rest of the day and tried blend into our seats. I felt guilty, because I have been on enough tours with annoying late people to know how that feels. John was just happy we made the bus.
It took a couple of hours to get to Bruges and the bus parked in a lot outside the city. People get around in Bruges either by walking, bicycle or motorcycles.
Town Hall, built around 1370, gothic style. Like the rest of Bruges, it wasn't damaged in either world war, despite German occupation.
Bruges is full of step-gabled houses, winding cobbled streets and many, many canals that lead all the way to the ocean. Sometimes called the "Venice of the North", it is a compact town with a large Market square, many churches, and several good museums. The Medieval architecture is well preserved and utterly beautiful.
Bruges used to be much larger in the 14th century, with a population around 40 000, comparable to London and Cologne at the time. It was an important trade center and home to world's first stock exchange. It is smaller now, with about half that population. Now it is known for canal cruises, exquisite lace and chocolate.
Houses along the canal.
We walked around, away from the busy square and got lost in the more residential area. A canal cruise was included in the tour and we got to see the houses from the water, which was sort of magical. It was a terrific day and I am very glad that they held the bus for us!
The "Princely Beguinage of the Vineyard", founded in 1245. A large common, with surrounding houses for the poor.
Some good resources for Bruges and Belgium:
- Bruges Tourist Office, lots of information, including A Brief History of Bruges, or click the map above, which is from their site
- Bruges History
- Belgian Tourist Office
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