A day in Bruges
Finally, the government has given the green (well, yellow) light to travel again! At this moment we can only stay in our own country. But, from the 15th of June, this is going to change; we can travel abroad again. One remark; it’s code yellow, not code green. We need to be careful and be aware of the rules that the country we are visiting has set. 12 countries have received the code yellow. One of these countries is Belgium. A couple of my colleagues live in Belgium. One of these colleagues has invited us in the past to visit her city; Bruges. Bruges is a beautiful city, located in the west side of the country. We would meet in the late afternoon for a walk and diner.
Because we had time, we traveled from our house via the touristic route to Bruges. In our case, that means; travel on the smaller roads in Zeeland to the border with Belgium. Around noon, we arrived in the city and parked in an underground parking, below the city center of Bruges. My colleague had suggested ‘Grand Café Republiek’ for lunch, so we went on our way. It happened to be a good suggestion. The place has a good atmosphere and great food.
Full from lunch, we decide to look around the city by ourselves. We had heard that there was a boat tour offered through the canals of the city. When we found the start of the boat tour, we decided that we wouldn’t do it. There was a huge line of people, waiting to get into one of the boats on the tour. That’s for another time. We take a short walk in the center and end up at one of the cafés of the city. We settle for a drink and it’s almost time to check in at the hotel.
We stay in ‘van der Valk Brugge Oostkamp’, which is just a couple of minutes away by car from the city Bruges. Completely checked in, we meet up with my colleagues and decide to go back to the city with only one car. We cannot say ‘no’ to the Burgundian way of life; Aperitifs. But first, from the city center, we start our walk through the city.
Bruges offers a lot of history. My colleague knows a lot of this history and tells us all kinds of stories. A couple of fun, but random, facts: The city center of Bruges is World Heritage. There is a pipeline for beer running under the city. There is a Beguinage where only women live; single women and nuns of the Order of St. Benedict. Next to that, you need to be quiet when you visit this place. And, if you are still within the gates of the Beguinage when they close, you need to ring an old fashioned bell. Which brings out a nun who can open the gate for you. Keep in mind, the nun is not very happy when she has to let you out, so make sure you are out of there before they close for the night.
The walk around the city center gave us a good view of Bruges. It is a lovely city with lots of history. We have a great tour guide with lots of knowledge about the unique sights of the city. The city also invite you to walk around on your own, without a tour guide. Especially when you walk off the set path, you can get lost in the great sights of the city. After the long walk, we are ready for dinner. We walk to the restaurant and can finally enjoy the Burgundian lifestyle.