My New Favorite Place

Bruges (Broozh), Belgium

     Over the years the medieval canal city of Bruges has gone by many names:  City of Romance, Venice of the North, the City That Time Forgot, and the Cultural Capital of Europe back in 2002.  I would just call it charmingly perfect!
     This city was truly a multi-sensory delight!  First, and most apparent were the sights. Bruges has most of its medieval architecture intact. The historic center of Bruges has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. 

Markt Square, a perfect example of the architecture.

A lovely spot to take a picture.

Second, are the sounds.  The carillon of bells from the tower (see pic below) literally serenades the city.  If you are anywhere near the main square, the bells ring and they are lovely.  Also, the clip clop of horse’s hooves creates a beautiful sound as they contact the ancient cobblestone streets.  Carriage rides are a popular and fun way to see the old part of the city.  We enjoyed ours very much, especially the giggles and squeals of delight coming from Leah and William.  We learned that you are most likely to be run over by a carriage in Bruges, whereas in Amsterdam it is a bicycle.

The squeals of delight - so fun!

 Third, the smell.  There are almost 50 chocolate shops in Bruges alone!  Every one you enter smells like heaven.  I walked in many just to enjoy the delicious aroma (Of course I was obliged to “taste” lots of chocolate too.  Do you know me at all?  I have impeccable manners.)  Beer is also very prominent here, but we successfully avoided that museum, tour, and tasting opportunity.  However, I would like to go on record as saying I like the smell of beer, it reminds me of my most awesome 88 year-old grandpa :-)

A museum dedicated to chocolate?  Be still my heart!

This is my kind of prescription!

I will have one of everything please, I would not want to offend any of you.

     Last, the taste.  How do you even begin to describe the perfection celebration of flavor, texture, and taste in your mouth as that beautiful piece of dark chocolate is slowly savored?  I found a chocolate called a “praline” that has a filling that is a bit crunchy but also creamy.  It was divine.

     Belgium produces 220,000 tons of chocolate a year, sold in over 2000 shops located throughout the country.  Every Belgian consumes over 22kg (48.5 lbs) of chocolate a year.  These are my kind of people!

     Belfry Tower is the city’s most remarkable monument of Bruges.  It was built around 1240, when Bruges was an important center of the Flemish cloth industry.  After a devastating fire in 1280, the tower was largely rebuilt.  A narrow, steep staircase of 366 steps, leads to the top of the 83-meter-high building, which leans about a meter to the east.  The Belfry’s carillon (47 bells with a total weight of 27 tons) is one of the finest in the world.  We certainly appreciated their frequent ringing throughout the day.  It was “the” sound of Bruges.

The City Hall (1376-1420) has the oldest and most sumptuous Gothic hall.  It is also a museum with paintings.  I would like our city hall to look like this!

     Church of Our Lady, (in the background) standing as a memorial to the power and wealth of Bruges in its heyday, has a delicate Madonna and Child by Michelangelo, said to be the only statue of his to leave Italy in his lifetime (bought with money made from Bruges' lucrative cloth trade). 

     Gruuthuse Museum, a wealthy brewer's home, is filled with a smattering of everything from medieval bedpans to a guillotine (or so they say, as we did not see these things!). The home itself was beautiful, but we did not prefer the artifacts.  A lot of very old books, it was very dark and needed more variety.

The Groeninge Museum contains a fine collection of Dutch and Belgian painting (15^th-20^th century).  The masterpieces by Jan van Eyck and Hans Memling are the highlights of the museum.  We liked this art museum as it was the perfect size and contained a wide range of art.  Truly delightful!

Instead of taking in more medieval architecture, or visiting other more historical museums, we visited both a French Fry and Chocolate museum.  The Belgians believe French Fries were invented in their country, and they have lots of theories to prove it.  We, of course, could not stay away from anything potato, as we are from THAT state!  The chocolate museum offered free samples upon entry, the Fry museum provided coupons to purchase discounted fries at the end of the tour.  Both were happily consumed! 

     I needed at least another day in this city.  There is so much to see and do, and every turn of the corner is a photo opportunity (just ask my kids :-)  The architecture is breathtaking, and I could not get enough of the beautiful sights.  Additionally, there were so many interesting and worthwhile museums; we only had time to scratch the surface.  And did I mention there was chocolate EVERYWHERE?

Goodbye for now...