Sign in with Facebook"Be seduced by the most attractive blonde in Bruges" Brugge by tompt
Brugge Travel Guide: 2,680 reviews and 7,153 photos
She was born over a hundred years ago in the Gouden Boom brewery. Her character is extraordinary she is refreshing and tasty. You will recognize her mild, round taste and fine hop fragrance. And while you are still enjoying her fruity flavour, her strong, natural aroma is already filling your senses. Once you have met you can't forget her.... (From a commercial for Brugs Blond)
But also try her brothers and sisters: Brugse triple and Brugs witbier. From the same factory come Steenbrugge dubbel and triple. And the other beer from Brugge from the Halve Maan brewery: Straffe Hendrik is also worth trying.
History of Bruges:
Bruges was founded in the 9th century by Vikings who settled at the end of the river 'de Reie'. The name Bruges is probably derived from the old-Scandinavian word Bryggia, which means harbor. Because it was close to the North Sea, the settlement very quickly became an important international harbor. A sea-arm, the Zwin, connected Bruges with the North Sea. Bruges acquired city rights in the 12th century. At that time a first protective wall was built around Bruges. The Zwin started to silt up, outports were created in Damme and in Sluis. In the 13th century Bruges was an important international trading center. In the early 14th century Bruges was the scene of political unrest between the citizens and the count of Flanders. The French king tried to annex the county of Flanders, but the population managed to kick out the French garisson on May 18th 1302. Later the Flemish army beat the French army in the 'Battle of the Golden Spurs' on July the 11th in the Flemish city of Kortrijk. In the 14th century Bruges turned into an international financial and trading center. Several countries had their own representation in Bruges: the Italians, the Germans, the Scottish, the Spanish made the city into a true European center.
The decline of Bruges started in the 15th century: the competition with the bigger harbor of Antwerp and the crisis in the cloth industry resulted in less commercial activity. Bruges continued to construct splendid late-gothic buildings and churches. The Flemish painting school started to flourish as never before. (van Eijk, Hans Memling) By the end of the 16th century the former glory was only a memory. In the middle of the 1800's Brugge was the poorest city in Belgium. The 20th century brought international tourism and the medieval heritage turned out to be a new source of wealth for the Venice of the North.
In June 2001 we visited Brugge in the great company of our Belgian friend Filip.
The weekend was great, the city is great, the food and drinks are even better but on the downside: the weather was bad. Rain, rain and more rain. During a cruise on the Reie our boat had to stop under a bridge for a long time,waiting for the rain to stop.
It was this weekend that made us go back in April 2002. The weather was a little bit better. But after a few real Bruges beers it didn't seem to mather......
We had another great weekend in this mediaevil city.
In november 2003 Ralph was visiting Belgium and we decided to join him, Dannie and Caroline on their trip to Brugge.
We visited the major sightseeing points and ofcourse we tasted the important Brugges beers. This time it was the Garre, own brew of small pub in the smallest street in Brugge.
Our travelogues on this page were already filled so we put pictures of this fun day in Bruges in travelogues at our Provincie West-Vlaanderen page.
More info:
the official Brugge page: http://www.brugge.be
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Comments (47)
The blonde beer looks appealing and I like lager-that is one reason to get to Europe and taste good beer. Great display of this city.
Nice place. I'd like to go there one day. Ciao!
Great page on Brugge. I went to Gent instead because everyone goes to Brugge. I also wanted to visit the Gravensteen. So next time, I will pay a visit to Brugge.
Thanks for sharing about the bear of Bruges! I took a picture of him but I didn't know his story!!
lol... I expected something else...:-) Goeie info over Brugge !
Wonderful night pictures. I visited 20 years ago and Brugge is still one of the most beautiful places I recall in all my travels
Great tips to help me plan for a visit.
Hopelijk hebben jullie het nog een beetje leuk gehad in Brugge ... en was het niet al te nat! :( Stunning pictures of Brugge in lights.
Superb page. Brugge is one of the true must-sees in Belgium.
Beer chocolates wonderful canals ,beautiful churches , lots of people ,those are my memories of Brugge,you made a great page Tom & Gonnie.Lot's of beer on it haha