We drove from Holland to Bruges this morning and toured Bruges this afternoon. Our B&B is next to a set of locks at a junction of canals. The house cellar was built in the 1200's but the rest of the house is from the 1880's. Across the street is a modern copy of an ancient crane.
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| Crane Built by Students in 2001 Following Ancient Designs |
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| The Crane was Powered by Children in a Hamster Wheel |
A block away is a windmill built in 1770.
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| Windmill Near Our B&B |
We walked about a kilometer to the downtown square, stopping to sample the Belgian chocolate and admire the display in a pastry shop.
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| A Few of the Belgian Pastries on Display |
Then we toured the 12th century Bruges Belfry, climbing 366 steps up a narrow spiral to view the city through the clock face and watch the bells play a song just above our heads.
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| View Through the Clock Face |
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| Looking Up While the Bells are Ringing |
Next we took a historical tour with sets and movies in the "Historium" to make us feel part of medieval Bruges, following an assistant to the famous Flemish painter, Jan Van Eyck.
Finally, we heard from another tourist that his hotel has interesting walls in the basement. So, we went to see and found a sort of museum in the basement. The hotel was built on the walls of a 13th century church, so they preserved the old stone walls, dug up some artifacts and put them on display.
Bruges buildings have a distinctive stepped style to the front of their roofs. We see them everywhere.
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| Typical Bruges Architecture |
The city is beautiful, with interesting architecture everywhere, canals, and dozens of chocolate shops. Belgium is known for its chocolate, lace, and french fries. Bruges is at a crossroads of Europe and became a major banking power in medieval times. Belgium used to be part of the Netherlands but split off because it is Catholic and the Netherlands is Protestant.
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| Looking Down on Market Plaza |
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