Last year my daughter Andrea and I visited Bruges as part of our trip to see the tulips in The Netherlands. We had a fun and interesting time in this old city. This year as my wife and I were deciding where to visit in Europe, I felt like it would be good to take Silvette to Bruges as it had been such an interesting place to see.
Originally I had thought we would go Friday, but the rain was depressing so we decided to wait until Sunday with better weather predicted. We woke up on Sunday to no rain. However, there was still a cold chill in the wind, and our clothes were not quite up to the challenge of 40 degree weather. However, we soldiered on knowing sitting in a hotel room all day was hardly an option.
We went to the train station and bought our tickets. Tickets are general. They are not for a specific time only for the location. Once one buys a ticket then he must determine the gate number. There is a long list posted by times of all the daily routes. One has to look at them to find the destination. Some trips might only have a few names. Others might have 14 or 15 names of stops.
When we looked over the list of times, the next trip to Bruges was nearly a half hour away. There were also a lot of stops before the Bruges stop. However, since it was the next trip to Bruges, we got on that train. A fairly direct train ride from Brussels would be a little over an hour. The route we took with all its stops lasted almost two and a half hours. Sigh. Nothing like sitting on a train for a long time. At least it was warm on the train.
There are first and second class tickets for the trains. I’m not sure the advantage of a first class ticket. I thought first class was a completely different car, but after we had settled into our seats at one end of the car, I noticed the reader board said, “Welcome to first class.” Since there didn’t seem to be any difference that I could see, I didn’t see a need to change. However, out of all the times we had ridden the train in Belgium, for the first time someone came and checked our tickets. He informed us we needed to move right then. We did as did another couple also sitting in the area. He wasn’t mean about it, but it just seemed silly as then no one was left in that area.
After our long trip we finally arrived in Bruges. As we began to wander around, we came to a place I had not seen on our last visit. It was a beguinage with a small church in it. What is a beguinage? It is a place where single women came together to live a holy life. They were not nuns, because they were free to leave and get married if they so chose. This movement was strongest in The Netherlands. Today this location has become a place for women of the order of Benedictines.
What was interesting for our visit was the daffodils that grew in the middle of the enclosure. The blooms were under leafless tall trees so the light was able to get to them. It made for a great photo look with the colorful flowers.
After leaving the beguinage we continued walking until we came to the Church of Our Lady Bruges. The steeple of this church towers above much of the city. I took a number of photos of it last year as it could be seen from so many different places around town. We went inside the church, and this time I was struck with the crucifix hanging high up in the front of the church. We were visiting on Palm Sunday so Holy Week was definitely on my mind, and Christ’s death seemed emphasized here in the church.
After leaving the church, we then crossed the famous Lovers Bridge. The bridge is located behind the Church of Our Lady Bruges. This is a popular spot for people to take photos and selfies. It can often be hard to walk over the bridge as it gets crowded with everyone taking their photos. This time it wasn’t too bad as we were able to move across fairly easily and still get some photos.
Despite the cold weather, I felt like we needed to do a boat trip on the canal. There are a number of such trips available throughout the town. The one we chose had a very gregarious captain. He had been doing this for many years, and his grandson came by to confirm it all. As we toured the canals, he spoke in English and French. He took us to some areas that I did not visit with our previous canal tour. The history of the buildings is so interesting, but the guides always speak so quickly, and the places pass by so fast that it’s hard to remember everything. Still one can pick up a few things along the way.
The only bad thing about the tour was the cold. Holding onto my camera, my hands got so cold. I wished I had gloves to help keep them warm.
At this point we decided it was time to have waffles. Last year Andrea had raved to her mother about how good the waffles were. Before our trip she reminded Silvette that we needed to have one; so we did. As we were wandering around, I came to the place where we had purchased the waffles last year. My wife just had chocolate on hers while I had strawberries with the chocolate. The waffles here are definitely different than those we make at home, much chewier.
After eating our waffles outside in the cold, we continued walking around the streets with the intention of buying some chocolates. There are a lot of chocolate shops in Bruges as well as in all parts of Belgium. At this time of year chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies were quite popular and on display. After visiting several shops, we finally bought a box of mixed chocolates for our new daughter-in-law.
With that purchase it was getting time to return to our hotel. Because it had taken so long to get here, it really felt like our day had been shortchanged. However, we needed to get back to get ready to leave for Paris the next morning so we walked back to the train station. Here are a few final shots of this picturesque town.
As we waited for the train more and more passengers arrived. I suspected the train would be crowded, and I was right. As we got on the train, my wife and I got separated and ended up in separate areas. At least we had seats. Some people were wandering around looking for a seat. The good news was that there was only one stop outside of Brussels so our return trip was much shorter in duration.
With that our stay in Belgium came to an end. It is now on to Paris and the main purpose of our trip, our son’s wedding. Paris will be a whirlwind of activity I’m sure, but it will be exciting as well. In the meantime I look forward to reading your comments and seeing you likes and shares on social media. I appreciate them all.
Credits: The photos of me and the waffles taken by Silvette Lee