Day trip to Brugges

After a couple of weekends hanging out in Amsterdam, I took a friend's advice (Thanks Keith) and got up early on the 7th of May and grabbed a train to Bruge (Brugges) Belgium. The train took off from Amsterdam Central in the early morning...A good hour or so later I was in Antwerp (Antwerpen) and hand to quickly (and I mean quickly!) change trains to the one headed to Bruge.

The train station in Antwerp was very nice, and I thought I had plenty of time--before looking at the schedule board and realized there was a whole 3 minutes between trains... I snapped this picture in the station while I still thought I had a leasurely walk to the other platform. Seconds later, though, I was running!

The ride through Belgium was quite nice and the final stop in Bruge was a bit strange. For some reason I had expected to be dropped off in some medieval town, but the train station was pretty ugly, and the road right out side was more like any busy road in Europe, complete with a traffic light. I picked up a 25 cent map (thanks Rick Steve) and followed the crowds towards the Market area.

As I got closer the town grew more and more beautiful. It really was a gorgeous little town that had escaped centuries of war in Europe. The main site I had walking towards town was the huge clock tower that seemed to keep an eye over the town. The strees were all coblestone--making a passing car sound more like it was going to run you over if you didn't dive off the street. Then it drives by at 10 mph and you feel silly for darting out of its way (luckily I only fell for that once and few people were there to see me, besides the driver).


As I got into town, the little shops started calling my name. Chocolate shops were everywhere... and Lace shops. But these weren't the same as the Lace I saw in Amsterdam... pretty little shops selling all sorts of lace tablecloths, napkins, and art (if you hang them just right, and really like lace). The shops were really neat but I was more interested in seeing some of the beauty of the city.

I was getting hungry, so I headed to a little pub recommended by Rick Steve's guidebooks. It was a little place called "Herberge Vlissinghe" that was built in 1515. I went there just to see what it looked like, and ended up having an amazing plate of spaghetti. Man that was one good plate of Spaghetti! I will remember that (and the cup of awesome hot chocolate) as one of my best meals in all of Europe. yum.

After lunch, I walked through town snapping up pictures of everything that looked neat. One little corner road offered a wonderful 360 degree view of a tall church next to a quiet canal and old stone bridge. It was a spot I would come back to a few times that day--each time a larger group of folks gathered around. I took a load of pictures, but these two might be the best that shows what I liked most about it.

I could have walked through this little town for hours, but I really wanted to see the Michelangelo's Madonna and Child at the Church of Our Lady, which was in the church you see in the picture above (to the right). Apparently, the people of Bruges were quite wealthy in their day and were able to purchase one of the few Michelangelo sculptures outside of Italy. The church was very quiet and very beautiful. The statue was just inside to the right, and I was able to snap a few pictures since there weren't very many people here. I wonder if the people outside knew this was in here.

I would love to have gotten closer, but luckily a trip to Paris and a visit to the Louvre wasn't far off (of course I didn't know how amazing that trip would be while standing in this little church). A quick run up 366 steps in the Bell Tower later and I was ready to sleep on the train back to Amsterdam. I would recommend the view at the top of this 700 year old tower, but those with bad knees might want to pass. My knees were very tired by the time I had climbed up and then down them. But the view of this little town was stunning, but there wasn't any real good way to snap a photo of it. This is one I liked, but sure wish I had brought my wide-angle lens.


A quick hop down all those steps and I was back on the ground wandering aimlessly through town looking for something else to take a picture of. There were plenty of shots that I thought would look much better with my wife in them. A trip back was required and so I headed back to the train station to grab a late afternoon nap (run through Antwerp train station) and another nice nap before making it back to Amsterdam for a dinner with a co-worker and friend (Steve).

I'd highly recommend Bruges to anyone--Keith was right, this was a great little town worth a day's visit. I didn't really even explore much of the town--no chocolates, no lace, no tapestry, no canal cruise, and no dinner. I would be going back with the wife (Helen). She likes horses and swans. How could you go wrong with that? I had no idea that it was the shops that would cause her to fall in love with this town--but more on that in the next blog.