Bellarine Traveller: Brugge

I have worked my way south to Brugge in Belgium.

What a magnificent place to visit! And here’s me thinking Europe cannot get much better than places I have seen – how wrong can you be.

The day I arrived I just walked and walked, and yes, I did get lost. It is one of those places where you are never too sure when to start and then stop taking photos. Everywhere you turn you just want to get the camera out. I soon discovered the canals and they are just lovely.

As in a lot of European cities most shops are closed on a Sunday. The only ones open here were cafes and tourist shops. The tourist shops are interesting and different to other places I have been. This is mainly due to the famous Belgium Chocolate being available everywhere. There are also several shops selling wonderful locally made biscuits (and yes, I did sample a few!).

Brugge has always been known as a lace town. Several shops only sell genuine hand-made lace. Others sell a range of lace products, some have been produced using computer technology. All the products are lovely and there is a huge range available. I did see a hand-made wedding veil in a shop for more that €1000.

Brugge is a medieval city that has UNESCO listing and so it should. The city has a mixture of architectural styles and many of the public building are just magnificent. The main square is called ‘Market Square’ and the most prominent building there is the Belfry Tower. Around 2 sides of the square there are a lot of cafes. This time of the year, most people sit outside and soak up the summer sunshine. However, the taxi driver who drove me to my B&B told me not to eat in the market square and go somewhere off the square! Then, the lady at the B&B told me the same thing – I asked why and she said the food was more expensive and the quality was not always good. I have taken their advice and found some delightful eateries away from the square. I was surprised by the prices, very reasonable, in fact cheaper than I pay at home and the food has been excellent.

On my first full day here I played tourist. I did a canal tour and that was just lovely. The tours only last 30 minutes but they give you an excellent overview of the city. There are so many old stone bridges, lovely old homes and public buildings. There are usually 20 boats on the canals at a time during the summer months. During any given year more that 1 million people take a canal boat ride in Brugge! After that I did do a mini-bus tour – again excellent and gives you a different perspective of the city. It also gave me my bearings more so than the canal tour as the canals wind around a lot and you are never quite sure just where you are. The other tourist ride that is very popular is the horse drawn carriage rides – people queue up for these.

On my 2^nd day in Brugge I did take a full day tour to “Flanders’s Fields” and I will post a separate blog about this tour. I decided, because I was so close to Ypres it was something I felt I should do and so I am glad I did that tour.

Brugge is an amazing city and I still have some time here and I plan on wandering around to discover some more beautiful spots.