Brugge, Fog and Beer
This Saturday we went to the small town of Brugge, which is located one hour northwest of Brussels. It was on our list of places to see before we leave Belgium, even though it is known as a major tourist attraction, and now we can cross it off. Christmas markets have started all over Europe and we decided it would be interesting to see what Brugge had to offer. Thinking it would be fun to see the market and town lit up at night with Christmas lights, we took a later train than we normally would have and arrived in Brugge shortly after lunchtime. Our first clue that Brugge is popular with tourists was all the English-speaking people on the train. We got off the train and joined a large crowd of people walking towards the center of town. Yep, definitely a lot of tourists! We split off from everyone else as soon as we could and took an alternate route in the same general direction. Within minutes we were alone in the clean, winding, narrow cobblestone streets with not a person to be seen. The buildings and houses are two-story and seem to be single family homes rather than apartments. The people who live in them must be short if their doors are anything to go by.

Towns in Belgium seem to all be centered around a market square which usually contains the tallest buildings (either a church or town hall). Keeping this in mind, we made a beeline for the most imposing structure on the horizon, which in this case was a bell tower. Thankfully this was the correct assumption because we were (of course) starving. The Christmas market was set up all around the square with an ice-skating rink in the center. We could immediately smell food and decided to try some Belgian hamburgers, which turned out to be pretty good. After taking care of this necessity, we were ready to head off into the surrounding streets on a self-guided walking tour.

Our first stop was the Town Hall, built in 1420. From here we went through a an old archway and into the courtyard of the Bell Tower. It is an imposing octagonal brick building that was constructed in 1240. An enormous brass drum works the 47 bells every 15 minutes. They sound wonderful!

From here the map led us towards the famous canals of Brugge. So picturesque, yet a little smelly. Sort of how I envision Venice, but colder. We considered taking a boat tour, but between the smell and the cold air, it just didn't seem like the best idea. So we paused at several of the lovely old bridges and then kept walking.

The next spot was my favorite in Brugge. The Princely Beguinage was built sometime before 1245 (I guess that's when records began to be kept) to house pious middle-aged ladies called 'beguines.' Wait, I'm mixed up! Beguines were ladies who lived during the Middle Ages (but they might have been middle-aged as well) and led an austere life under the direction of a superior, called the Great Lady. Aside from being austere, they did manual work and performed acts of mercy. There are still some nuns living here, but since 1930 they have been part of the St. Benedict monastic order and I don't think there is a Great Lady anymore. They wear the same sort of medieval nun outfits that the original beguines did and they have their own sweet little chapel. It was so quiet and peaceful in their courtyard. There were signs posted everywhere ordering visitors to be silent, but we were pretty much alone anyway. Just as we left the bell tower chimed and it echoed through the courtyard. I could just imagine all the nuns from years ago hearing those bells too.

By the time we got back to the market square it was almost dark and this is what it looked like: Christmas!

After a visit to a well-stocked pub, dinner at an Argentian restaurant and two chocolate shops, we hauled our full bellies back to the train station and went home. We may have crossed Brugge off our to-do list, but it was so charming I think it deserves a repeat visit.
~K