Belgium: Bruges

I hopped on the train to Bruges for the afternoon, only about 20 minutes from Ghent.  There were a lot more tourists here than in Ghent, but I wouldn’t blame them!  

Lots of beautiful old medieval buildings.  This one's a museum,

The Diamantmuseum.  Belgium has one of the largest diamond markets in the world.  

The winding lanes and picturesque canals of the old city are a medieval jewel.  An absolute must is a canal tour.

Canal in Bruges.

Canal tour boats.  An great way to see the city!

Very low bridges.  Remember to duck!

Swans on the canal.

View of the Belfort tower in the background.

Like Ghent, the golden age for Bruges was in the 13^th and 14^th centuries, when it was a major centre in the cloth trade.  The wealthy merchants lavished their fortunes on the exquisite Stadhuis, the 14^th century town hall. 

The Stadhuis (Town Hall).

Next door is the Heilig Bloed Basiliek, although from the outside you wouldn’t know it’s a basilica.  The church isn’t out of the ordinary, but what makes it so special is one of the most sacred relics in Europe – a phial that is said to contain a few drops of blood and water washed from Jesus’ body by Joseph of Aramathea.  You can place your hands on the glass cylinder holding it – pretty cool even if you aren’t a pilgrim. 

Heilig Bloed Basiliek.  The Stadhuis is the beige building on the left, the basilica is the drag grey building in the middle.  Doesn't look much like a basilica from the outside.

One of the more unusual places I visited was the St. Janshospitaal, which was a hospital from the 12^th century until 1976.  A really interesting expeirence, being inside a medieval hospital! It was run by nuns, so much of the care would probably have been in the realm of “spiritual healing”, although there was a pretty cool pharmacy. 

St. Janshospitaal, as seen from the canal.

A good movie to watch before visiting Belgium is In Bruges,  a dark comedy starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes.  The bell tower in the movie is actually the Belfry or Belfort, at the centre of the town square.  You can climb up to the top, which has some pretty amazing views and is especially cool when the bells are ringing right above you!

The Belfort, in the main square.  

The Belfort.

View of Bruges from the top of the Belfort bell tower.

The bells.

Shops in the main square.

Main square.

Lots of bikes in Belgium!  This is in the main square.

Lots of chocolate shops!

A chocolatier at work.

Bruges was an absolutely stunning city, and I could certainly have spent more time there.  I caught an evening train back to Brussels (only about an hour long), where I was planning on meeting up with some Queen’s friends the next day.

A truck trying to turn down a narrow street - I was very impressed!

Belgium: Ghent

My first stop in Belgium was the medieval city of Ghent, about an hour from Brussels on the train.  One of the many great things I was to discover about Belgium is that a train ticket basically anywhere in the country only costs 6.50 E!!! There are also trains about every 30 minutes so it’s very easy to travel around.  I spent the night in Ghent and the next morning touring around, before catching a train to Bruges.

My hostel was located across the “moat” (can you believe it!) from the 12^th century Het Gravensteen, or Castle of the counts.  This was a very cool castle to visit – inside they had an impressive collection of arms and armour and an exhibit on medieval torture methods – I won’t go into detail on those!  I learned a few interesting things in the armour exhibit – ‘wavy’ or ‘squiggly’ swords were used for getting between the cracks of a knight’s armour and ripping it off, and swords with square ends were used for executions.

Het Gravensteen.

One of the medieval halls.

Loved this hall!

The historic centre of Ghent consists of 13^th and 14^th century buildings, from when Ghent was a major centre of the cloth trade.  Back during this period, Belgium was a superpower!  The consequence today of this prosperity is that there is a plethora of beautiful medieval buildings.  Belgium also saw an industrial revial during the 18^th and 19^th centuries, so there are some architechtural contributions from this period as well, but this is more obvious in Brussels.

Houses on a canal.

Houses on a canal.

View of the city from Het Gravensteen.

View of the city from Het Gravensteen.

Many of the nicest buildings in Ghent are located on the Graslei and the Korenlei canals, which are lined with beautifully preserved medieval guildhalls.  I love how intricate some of the facades are, it looks like the buildings are covred in stone lacework.  Speaking of lace, Belgian lace is pretty well known, and there are different patterns for each city.

There are chocolate shops on every block in the historic centre,  and it’s definitely one of the perks of visitng Belgium! I’m afraid I’ve ruined myself for normal chocolate now, Beligian chocolate certainly lives up to its reputation!  

Chocolate shop - you can watch them make it right in front of you!

Lots of people riding bikes in Ghent.  When you travel, it's interesting to compare how much people bike in different cities.  For example, in Copenhagen there were swarms of cyclists, while in eastern Europe there were very few. 

Bike racks at the train station.  Better remember where you parked it!