Oooh! Bruges

Hello, and welcome to the second installment of our Bruges adventures.

It was the morning of Thursday the 18th of April and the sun streaming in through our windows was making us all a giddy. We'd slept like the proverbial logs, so, well-rested and solar powered, we jumped out of our kingsize bed and, driven by the first stirrings of hunger pangs, got ready in record time.

Then we made our way from our room in the annex to the breakfast area in the B&B proper. 

As always, Veronique managed to spoil us rotten with her breakfast menu of fruit and yoghurt, followed by a choice of home-made bread, rolls and croissants, a selection of cheeses, charcuterie and smoked salmon and, of course, tiny pots of Veronique's mouth-watering jams.

Fuelled by a caffeine hit, we were then ready for anything the day would have in store for us!

The weather forecast for the day was for sunny and largely dry weather and highs of 12°C, which sounded nothing short of exotic after the chilly single digit temperatures of the last couple of days.

And so it was that Truus, our Dutch-speaking Satnav, guided us along secondary roads to Bruges and neatly deposited us in the huge underground car park at the 't Zand square. 

But wait: what about those dark and menacing clouds which had suddenly appeared on the horizon? Surely they were meant to take their liquid load elsewhere? By the time we'd parked our car and emerged in the daylight of the square, the bright blue sky we'd woken up to had been replaced by a blanket of dullest grey. What's more, a sea of open umbrellas greeted us once we'd stepped outside. 

Inwardly cursing, we ducked inside the Tourist Office located in the Concert Hall building on the square as we wanted to pick up the new Oooh! Bruges walking guide (above, top left). Then, after being reassured by the weather app on Jos's phone,  we opened our umbrellas, took deep breaths and braved the last of the rain.

We walked into the direction of the Market Square via the city's main shopping thoroughfare - still reasonable negotiable at 10.30 am - passing Saint Saviour's Cathedral (above, bottom left) and making a tiny detour around the square named after mathematician and physicist Simon Stevin (1548-1620). He invented the decimal system for fractions and created the mathematical basis for the construction of fortifications, and that's him up there on the plinth!

As we continued up the street and I pointed my camera upwards to photograph the exquisite façades rising above the shops, the patches of blue which had reappeared in the sky were multiplying until we were walking under a dome of bright blue dotted with strands of candy floss clouds.

Just then, as if by magic, the top of the belfry tower appeared behind the row of gables. Dating back to the 13th Century and standing 83 meters tall, the belfry is one of Bruges' most iconic and definitely most visible buildings.

Rounding a final corner, we arrived at the city's epicentre, the stunning Market Square. Dominated by the belfry and lined with magnificent neo-Gothic buildings and rows of picture perfect step-gabled houses, it was nevertheless the heaving crowd of tourists which instantly caught our attention. 

At the square's centre is the statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck, who played leading roles in the Flemish resistance against the French in the 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs. They seemed to be watching the throng of people milling around on the square and talking in a cacophony of languages with a healthy dose of disdain.

Sharing Jan and Pieter's sentiments, we couldn't get away fast enough. A glance at the belfry's clock told us we still had plenty of time for a wander before lunch. 

The belfry clock, by the way, is not the only means of telling the time on the Market Square. On top of House Bouchoute (above, top left) dating from 1482, is a sphere covered in gold leaf. When the Brussels-Ghent-Bruges railway line was opened in the 1830s, people noticed that not all Belgian clocks were synchronised. This, of course, was not conducive to a punctual timetable. The problem was solved by installing a noon hand and a noon line in various Belgian cities. In Bruges, this was done in 1837. Nowadays, the noon line is indicated with a line of copper nails on the square. When the shadow of the sphere falls directly on the 12 o’clock line, it is noon, or 12 o’clock local solar time.

Walking away from the square, we passed a chemist, its façade adorned with a veritable floral extravaganza (above, top right) as well as a Think Twice shop completely ignored by moi, until we reached the Royal City Theatre (1869) with its neo-Renaissance façade (1869), one of the best-preserved city theatres in Europe (above, bottom right).

In front of the theatre is a sculpture by Jef Claerhout (1937-2022) dating from 1980 and picturing the character ‘Papageno’ from Mozart’s opera ‘Die Zauberflöte’ (The Magic Flute). The sculptor 

represented the bird catcher Papageno dressed in a bird-like costume with wings and a bird’s head and long beak over his head. Papageno is holding pan pipes in his right hand, while a cage containing several, rather weird-looking, captured birds dangles from his belt.

You can find part of the opera's score etched on the pavement across the street. Last time we were here, in February 2023, we were treated to a rendition by my lovely friend Kezzie and her husband CBC! 

Once past the theatre, we took a right turn and strolled into the direction of the Jan van Eyck square, which ends quite abruptly at one of Bruges' picturesque canals. In fact, the Spiegelrei, as this stretch of canal is called, used to run where the square is now and was connected to the Dijver canal, which lies behind the Burg square. The square was named after the famous Flemish painter Jan Van Eyck (ca. 1390-1441), whose statue is looking out over the square towards the Poortersloge (Burghers' Lodge).

Turning our backs on the canal for now, we walked around the Burghers' Lodge, which was built between 1395 and 1417 and was commissioned by the commercial elite of the time, the patricians and merchants. In those days, this area was at the very centre of international trade. This was where ships were loaded and unloaded and traders could see their ships approaching from the tower.

Lunch time was approaching by now, but instead of retracing our steps, we took some back streets and  walked into the general direction of the Market Square. Well, that was the plan, but knowing us it was written in the stars that we would get lost at least once during our wanderings.

After much head scratching and consulting of maps, we eventually found ourselves at the Groenerei (Green Quay canal), whose cobbled quayside we followed until a view towards the belfry opened up - can you spot it in the photo on the top left ? - and we were back in tourist-land.

As usual, we were having lunch in one of the step-gabled restaurants lining the Market Square. In spite of only coming here once a year, our favourite waiter recognized us and not only welcomed us with open arms but treated us as royalty. 

While Jos was going for witloof in de oven, a classic Belgian dish featuring chicory rolled in ham and baked in the oven with mashed potatoes and a cheesy Béchamel sauce, I opted for pasta.

That morning, I'd been poring over the map and planning an itinerary for our afternoon walk away from the so-called Golden Triangle.

For this, we had to make our way to the Dijver canal and the Rozenhoedkaai (Rosary Quay), which must be the city’s most popular spot for photography and an Instagrammable hotspot. Once upon a time, rosaries were sold here but today it offers one of the city’s loveliest views. 

Consequently, it is always thronged with sightseers, with a constant stream of canal tour boats churning up the water, and the inevitable queues at the various landing stages.

Our walk took us along back streets until we reached the quiet Queen Astrid Park, its eyecatcher an ornate cast iron band stand dating from 1859, one of the oldest in the country, which was restored and repainted in its original colours in 2015.

Quite unexpectedly, we stumbled upon one of the many Godshuizen (Almshouses) in Bruges. These charitable dwellings were built from the 14th century onwards, set up by the guilds to lodge their elderly members, or by widows or well-to-do burghers who wanted to ensure their place in heaven.

Although they are usually oases of peace and quiet, the bench Jos was sitting on turned out to be a bit of a hazard with that lethal looking protruding bolt!

At the end of the street, the stretch of water called the Coupure awaited. We walked alongside moored barges until we reached the Groenerei (Green Quay canal) once more. Here, we crossed the street and walked along the Verversdijk (Dyers' Quay) where in medieval times, the famous Flemish cloth was dyed. 

In one of the side streets we caught a glimpse of the tower of the Jerusalem church (above, top left) which is part of the atmospheric Adornes Estate we visited back in 2023. See my post here, but do scroll down towards the end. 

We returned to the city centre via the peaceful Gouden-Handrei (Golden Hand canal), which was excavated in the 12th Century and was part of Bruges’ first city walls. 

This brought us back to the Burghers' Lodge and  Jan van Eyck square, where we sheltered from a sudden downpour.

Then, somewhat tired and in need of sustenance, we took deep breaths and dived into the crowds again until we reached a favourite tearoom. 

Surely we deserved those waffles after traipsing around Bruges all day?

It was too early to return to our car, but as Jos was tired on his feet, I proposed a visit to Saint Saviour's Cathedral, where he could have a sit-down while I wandered all around the church and took far too many photographs.

The cathedral is Bruges’ oldest parish church (12th–15th century) and has amongst its treasures a rood loft with an organ, medieval tombs, Brussels tapestries and a rich collection of Flemish paintings dating from the 14th to the 18th Century. 

The most fragile and precious of these works, which included paintings by Dieric Bouts, Hugo van der Goes and other Flemish primitives, are on display in the Treasury, the only part of the church where photography is not allowed.

There is no entrance fee to the church but collection boxes for its maintenance can be found at regular intervals.

Still reeling from all that splendour we finally rejoined our car and returned to Het Soetewater.

Before our evening meal which consisted of the remainder of that plentiful tapas board, there was time for some outfit photos. The Diolen dress I'm wearing was plucked from my Winter wardrobe and well-known to most of you as it's a regular on the blog. My mock croc boots have been awarded first prize for comfort after having been on my feet all day. Still, I wouldn't have minded exchanging them for sandals by now!

Please do join me again for the final installment in a couple of days!

See you soon!

A Bruges deluge

The weather forecast for our second day in Bruges was looking quite horrendous. Indeed, when we woke up on Saturday the 18th of November and tentatively lifted a corner of our bedroom curtains, our view of the rain-soaked meadow didn't exactly spur us into action. It was, in fact, all we could do to drag ourselves from the cozy confines of our bed and get ready for breakfast.

Our room being in an annex meant that we had to brave the rain which kept falling from the canopy of grey sky without any let-up. That's when we realized that our umbrellas were in the car! 

Thankfully, the breakfast room, in the main part of the B&B, is just a hop, skip and a jump away, so that we got there without getting completely drenched.

Mouthwatering aromas had lured us past the kitchen and into the breakfast room proper, where all kinds of delicacies were on offer as always. 

Apart from the usual choice of breads and croissants, to be savoured with cheese, charcuterie, smoked salmon or a selection of homemade jams, there were some freshly baked mini apple turnovers and a plate of utterly moreish vanilla pancakes. 

But we started with a healthy dose of fruit and yoghurt and glasses of homemade apple and pear juice!

We lingered a long time over breakfast, discussing our options. At Veronique's suggestion, we were all set to (re)visit nearby Loppem Castle, our previous one dating back to August 2021. It was a good thing I had the presence of mind to google the property, only to find that it had closed for the Winter season on the 13th.

Never mind, there's always Bruges, which obviously has plenty of bad weather options!

With all that dithering and lingering, it was late morning before we set off, making use of one of the B&B's umbrellas to get to our car which was parked just beyond the gate in the background.

I selected the Sunweb umbrella (not linking because they're not my thing) especially to hit home the irony of the situation.

We had decided upon the award-winning Gruuthuse Museum, which we knew would keep us occupied for a couple of hours.

I had worked out the shortest way to get there from the 't Zand car park as the rain had brought its friend the wind, which tugged at our umbrellas, which we had to hold on to fast to keep them from being blown inside out. 

For some reason, however, we almost instantly missed a turn. Well, it would have been unheard of if we hadn't got even a little bit lost, wouldn't it? Our mishap was soon redeemed by the fact that I spotted a familiar sight beyond a parking lot belonging to a meeting centre. Dodging a couple of puddles, we made our way across it, which turned out to be even more of a shortcut!

The presence of the wind also made it feel quite a bit chillier than the 8°C insisted by the thermometer, so that it was quite a relief to get into the shelter of the museum's ticket office. Being a Saturday, we were surprised there weren't any queues, so that soon our tickets were purchased, after which we made our way across the courtyard to the museum's entrance (above, top right).

This was by no means our first visit here - which was on our 25th Wedding Anniversary in February 2020 - but there's so much to see here that I'm sure it won't be our last. In fact, our visit may already have been on the cards when we found the museum guide in a charity shop earlier this year!

As for award-winning: at the annual European Museum of the Year Awards ceremony, the Gruuthuse Museum was awarded the "Portimão Museum Prize – Europe’s Most Welcoming Museum" in 2021. 

Stepping into the majestic entrance hall (below, top left), we were directed to a room of lockers big enough to hang up our coats and leave behind our soggy umbrellas.

The museum is housed in the former Gruuthuse Palace, a city palace whose origins date back to 1425.

It was restored at the end of the 19th century by the Bruges city architect, Louis Delacenserie, who created a completely new interior in neo-Gothic style. For example, he designed several lavishly decorated fireplaces. 

The fireplace in the room with its fabulous tiled floor room (above, bottom left and top and bottom right) is replete with elements referencing to Louis (or Lodewijk) de Gruuthuse (1427-1492), the palace's most famous owner.

Although it appears to be made from stone, appearances can be deceptive: parts of it are made of wood, which has been plastered and painted so that the whole structure has the look of stone.

"Plus est en vous" or "There is more in you."  It was the life motto of Louis de Gruuthuse, the man who endowed this city palace with its grandeur. That's him in the portrait on the top right.

But who was he? Also known as Lodewijk van Brugge (Louis of Bruges), lord of Gruuthuse, prince of Steenhuize, lord of Avelgem, Haamstede, Oostkamp, Beveren, Tielt-ten-Hove and Spiere and Earl of Winchester! If that isn't enough of a mouthful, he was a Knight of the Golden Fleece too.

Via inheritance and acquisition, Louis of Gruuthuse came to possess various estates with which he earned his living. A major source of income was the tax which he was allowed to levy on (almost) every imported or locally brewed tonne of beer, known as the "Gruut tax".

It didn't end well for Louis, though. Being one of the executors of Mary of Burgundy’s will when she died at a young age, he came into conflict with Mary’s widower, Maximilian of Austria. In 1485, his possessions were confiscated and he was even imprisoned in Mechelen for three years. Louis was released when the political situation changed but, when Maximilian returned to power in 1489, it put a definitive end to Louis’ career. In 1491, he was accused of treason at a chapter meeting of the Order of the Golden Fleece and fell out of favour. He passed away in his palace in Bruges before a court ruling was issued.

In the museum one can journey through three crucial periods in the history of Bruges. First of all, there is the city’s Burgundian heyday, followed by the previously underexposed period during the 17th and 18th Centuries, before finishing with the "rediscovery’" of Bruges in the 19th Century neo-Gothic style that is so typical of the city today. 

These three periods are brought to life by more than 600 exhibits, each of which has its own story to tell. 

From majestic tapestries to Gothic stained glass, from elegant wooden sculptures to refined historical lace, from the paintings of different periods to a 17th and 18th Century dinner table, set with silver cutlery and luxurious Chinese porcelain. 

If we were surprised at the lack of queues in the ticket office, we were even more - and pleasantly - surprised at having most of the museum's rooms practically to ourselves. No dodging the crowds here  which, judging from our glances through the leaded windows, seemed to insist on being gluttons for punishment by walking around rain and windswept Bruges wielding an assortment of umbrellas. 

If you're outside and look up at the Gruuthuse palace's façade from the the courtyard at the back, you might be able to spot this tiny stained-glass window (above, top left), which is known as the smallest Gothic window in Bruges. It is said that the Lords and Ladies of Gruuthuse used the small window to see who arrived by boat on the canal below. 

A contemporary stained glass design was installed during the extensive five year renovations of the museum, which took place between 2014 and 2019.

I enjoyed playing around with my camera, making a series of distorted snapshots of the courtyard and the umbrella wielding crowds.

The highlight is undoubtedly the authentic late 15th Century oratory which forms the link between the Gruuthuse Palace and the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady) next door. 

Louis de Gruuthuse had this unique late Medieval jewel built in the 1470s. From here, looking down on the church choir, he and his wife were able to follow the services conducted in the Church of Our Lady from the privacy of their home.

The chapel is finished with panelling made from the very best oak from the Baltic region, the vaulted ceiling richly decorated. Don't forget to look for the little angels that support the vaulted ceiling: almost all of them are still original, and each one has a different face.

Another must-see is the loggia or balcony on the second floor which offers one of the most iconic views in Bruges. 

The tiny humpbacked Bonifacius bridge must be one of the most photogenic bridges in Bruges. It is perpetually crowded and even on this most inclement of days there was a queue of people patiently waiting to cross it and make selfies. I wonder how many of them realize that this is actually one of Bruges' youngest bridges, built in 1910? But then again, it does blend in with its historic surroundings extremely well!

It was well past midday when we emerged from the museum onto the rainy streets of Bruges. We crossed the street to have a look at the menu of the restaurant opposite, but were horrified to see that a humble Croque Monsieur (toasted sandwich) would set us back € 18. We therefore decided to return to 't Zand and the many restaurants lining the square. Here, we had lunch at a much more reasonable price, after which we returned to our car and drove back to the B&B, picking up a baguette to have with the rest of our tapas board along the way.

The sun briefly rejoined us on Sunday morning, which made us toy with the idea of going for a walk before setting off on our journey home. However, we hadn't even made it through breakfast before the heavens opened again. Oh well, there is always next time. After all, this is only an hour away from home!

I'm leaving you now with my outfit of that day.

You've already caught a glimpse of my blue cord midi skirt, which was a naughty lunch break retail buy earlier that month. I wore it with another recent acquisition, a wide navy elasticated belt with Celtic knot style buckle. My Zoë Loveborn blouse is a favourite, picked up for next to nothing from the indoor flea market, while the chunky yellow cardigan and the orange beads were charity shop finds. 

Red cat brooch from the delightful Katshop, which recently had an unwanted visitor who smashed his bike through their window one night. All ended well, as the nasty specimen who did this thankfully got nicked, but I'm sure you can imagine the amount of work involved in clearing all the glass from the shop.

I'll be resuming my usual schedule in my next post. See you again then!