Day 8: September 9, 2015 –
In the morning, we had some coffee and then I took a shower. It was very strange to me that while in the United States, the shower faucets are parallel with the length of the bathtub, and in Jeremie’s bathroom the faucet was on what felt like the side wall. If not for the shower curtain, it felt as though the water would just spray over the side of the tub and just cover the tile floor.
After Elizabeth and I both took a shower, we went to the kitchen table and planned our route for the day. Jeremie had a meeting with one of his clients for a potential new project, so he walked us to the metro station, which was a few blocks away. From there we took the metro to the Brussels Central station. At the station, we bought tickets from the ticket window to Bruges through Ghent. This would allow us to stop in Ghent on the way to or from Bruges and still get back on the train to finish our journey.
On the train, Elizabeth and I were working on our French by reading from her little European language dictionary. Every time we step on public transport, we apparently stand out like a sore thumb, and locals snicker or stare. Elizabeth sat across from me on the train and the woman sitting next to her, found our pronunciations ridiculous, but smiled and nodded when we looked over. We all started looking at each other and before long, she was telling us her story.
The woman was probably in her late 50’s and was taking the train to Bruges as well, on her way to hotel school. She said that she owned a restaurant for 7 years, but then decided to sell it. She had a few kids and told us about where they were going to school and working. Then she agreed to help us find our way.
When we got to Bruges, the lady on the train guided us to the path from the train station to the city center. Before the Brusselles became a metropolis and the place where the EU became headquartered, Bruges was the hot spot in Belgium. It was a center for wealth and the arts in Europe and for a time, artists came from all over to work and study there. While Bruges is a big place, the old town, city center feels small and quaint. Jeremie described it like going to Disneyland, and it pretty much was.
There were no traffic lights or stop signs and the only vehicles that really took to the streets were tour buses, which brought people from the train station. The secret to finding the worthy sites was to just keep heading towards the Church of Our Lady, and all the tourists knew it. We followed the crowds of people and eventually arrived at the church, which housed the only Michelangelo to leave Italy, the Madonna of Bruges.
The Church of Our Lady was beautiful on the inside, with classical style statues, baroque architecture, and paintings in the wings. It was an additional € 6 to cross over to the special Michelangelo section of the church which was blocked off from view. Otherwise, the Madonna would have been visible during church services. However, this building needed help staying open. There wasn’t an initial fee to enter, so we were happy to help them keep the lights on.
While photos and videos don’t do justice to the magnificence of a piece of art, we were soon to encounter how underwhelming some pieces of brilliant work actually were. Our previous encounter with the Manneken Pis, a small statue that was only visible from 10 feet away, should have taught us a lesson about expectation. As we approached the Madonna, we couldn’t believe how small it was compared to the grandiosity that we had anticipated, after watching a video about Bruges. When compared with the larger Michelangelo statues that we would see in Florence, this one was like a souvenir.
Even though, I just insulted the piece for it’s size, what I could see of it from a far, was a piece of expertise and brilliance. The level of detail in the fabric was comparable to some of his best works. It is difficult, however, to view the piece and appreciate Michelangelo’s genius, if you can’t stand close enough to really observe it.
It is understood, why it was 20 feet behind a velvet rope. Both Napoleon and Hitler had stolen the statue and brought it to France. Even if the rope couldn’t stop the Nazi’s, in the meantime, it will at least preserve it from the greasy hands of tourists with andalouse sauce on their face.
After our tour at the cathedral, we ate at Frituur ‘t Walpleintje, where we ordered frites (french fries) with andalouse and samurai sauce for lunch and Belgian Waffles with strawberries for dessert. There was a number of businesses advertising specials on sandwich boards in front of their shop, but we decided to go to a place nearby some of the spots featured on the Rick Steves special. While Jeremie said, that we had to try the andalouse sauce, because of its fame in Belgium, he endorsed the samurai sauce. While I agree that the andalouse sauce is worth trying, I also thought the samuari sauce had a better over all taste.
After lunch, we walked a few doors down to the Half Moon Brewery, famous for their Straffen Hendrick and Bruges Rot beers. Rick Steves endorsed this place on his show as well, so we stopped in for a couple of beers. He recommended taking the tour, which seemed very charming on his show, but when we found out that it was over $20 a person, we decided to bypass the tour and went to the outdoor sitting area instead.
We found a table on the outdoor patio next to the bar. I ordered one light and one dark beer, so that we could both have a little taste of what this brewery was all about. The light beer was a wheat beer with a little bite and the dark was close to a stout, but tasted very smooth and not as bitter as you would expect. I think we both liked the darker beer better, but we finished both, and then returned to the gift shop. Jeremie had been so nice to let us stay with him, that we thought the least we could do is buy him a beer as well. The gift shop sold a number of the beers that are brewed there, but we decided to buy Jeremie a bottle of Straffel Hendricks tripel.
There was one more thing on the Rick Steves list that we had to indulge in and that was to buy some chocolate from Dumon. Rick was right, this place made very good chocolate. Jeremie had warned us before we left, that the Belgium chocolate was expensive, and he was right. Every individual truffle was close to $2 a piece, and I think that there was a minimum of 6 pieces.
We had just spent our daily allowance on frites, waffles, and beer, so we only bought a 1 gram bar of chocolate, which was divided in to centimeter squares. As we continued our trip, we would eat one square at a time, so that we could make it last as long as we could. The chocolate was delicious and I definitely recommend it to chocolate lovers.
We couldn’t just spend our whole trip to Bruges eating, so we decided to walk the streets and take photos of the scenery. Bruges took you back to a time before technology, where crossing a bridge and seeing the sun reflect off the water, was enough to satisfy your soul. Elizabeth liked taking photos of the canals and the swans, so every time we saw one we stopped.
We walked over to the square and hung out for a bit to take in the energy of the space. We created a diversion that allowed us to enter one of the restaurants to use the restroom, without ordering anything. Then we interacted with a public art piece that was setup in the middle of the square.
There was one last stop that we wanted to make before we ended our journey and that was the Basilica of the Holy Blood. I grew up Protestant, so Jesus was an important character in my family. So, to go to a place, where there was supposed to be a drop of his blood was pretty epic. It wasn’t an easy place to find because buildings had popped up all around it and we ended up walking past it a few times. After I got the GPS working correctly, we were able to find it near the edge of the main square, next to the town hall.
When we walked in, we immediately went up a stairwell that was hardly lit. We entered the main sanctuary and in the back was a ticket booth, where you could purchase a ticket for €6, to supposedly see the blood. The church was close to closing, so we opted out of seeing the drop of blood, though being in the same building, still held some power.
The main sanctuary, like most of the churches that we had seen so far, was definitely an amazing sight. There were gold mosaics and a beautiful stained glass window, which we sat in front of for a few minutes to meditate and reflect. As usual, there were signs that said no photography, but people apparently can’t read pictograms on signs, so disregarded the request, and took photos anyway.
The church was closing at 5pm, along with much of the shops and tourist spots, and there was the beginnings of a migration of people headed back toward the train station. We popped into the town hall, to quickly get escorted back out. We guessed that this was probably the time to start back to the train station.
Elizabeth still wanted to take pictures of the swams and ducks that were swimming in the canals, so we would stop at every bridge and look out to see if we could see any in between the buildings. We got back to the train station and got on a train that would take us back to Brussels, by way of Gent. There wasn’t really a listing on the timetable, so we waited in line to ask a woman at the ticket counter for some advice. She suggested that we get on the train leaving in a few minutes and we headed up to the platform.
Places We Bought Food And Drink
Frituur‘t Walpleintje
Walplein 18, 8000 Brugge, Belgium
In old town Brugge, there are places that serve frites (french fries) and there are places that serve Belgium waffles, this place serves both. Just a few steps from the Half Moon Brewery, if you are looking to get some stereotypical Belgium food on your stomach, before you drink, this is the place. We ordered a waffle with strawberries and frites with andalouse and samurai sauce. This place is small and hidden, so even on a busy summer day, where the streets are filled with tourists, this restaurant might not have the longest line. If you are looking for quick service, good food, and a free toilet, this is the spot.
Half Moon Brewery
Walplein 26, 8000 Brugge, Belgium
After Rick Steves mesmerizing profile of Brugge on his PBS show, this brewery, which he refers to as Straffen Hendrik, seems like the ultimate destination, when visiting Brugge. While the Half Moon, seemed like a charming and popular spot to have a beer, it wasn’t half as charming as Rick Steves eluded. The tour that he described was almost as expensive as going to a museum or a concert, but only last for about 15 minutes. Even though you were promised a beer at the end, € 20 buys more magic than I felt the Half Moon tour could create. The staff was great and the beer was delicious, so it was definitely worth the stop. They have a gift show on site, in case you wanted to pick up a souvenir or a few beers for the road.
