"Belgium Beauty that is Brugge" Brugge by Gypsystravels

Brugge Travel Guide: 2,680 reviews and 7,153 photos

We came to Brugge on a cold and rainy winter's day for a short day visit. We arrived from The Netherlands on train and the weather was not going to put a damper on our visit.

We walked around the small city center stopping to enjoy a bit of this wonderful city. I only wish we would have had more time to explore a little bit more of this city, but I do hope to visit again real soon.

In the market-place of Bruges stands the belfry old and brown;
Thrice consumed and thrice rebuilded, still it watches o'er the
town.

As the summer morn was breaking, on that lofty tower I stood,
And the world threw off the darkness, like the weeds of
widowhood.

Thick with towns and hamlets studded, and with streams and vapors
gray,
Like a shield embossed with silver, round and vast the landscape
lay.

At my feet the city slumbered. From its chimneys, here and
there,
Wreaths of snow-white smoke, ascending, vanished, ghost-like,
into air.

Not a sound rose from the city at that early morning hour,
But I heard a heart of iron beating in the ancient tower.

From their nests beneath the rafters sang the swallows wild and
high;
And the world, beneath me sleeping, seemed more distant than the
sky.

Then most musical and solemn, bringing back the olden times,
With their strange, unearthly changes rang the melancholy chimes,

Like the psalms from some old cloister, when the nuns sing in the
choir;
And the great bell tolled among them, like the chanting of a
friar.

Visions of the days departed, shadowy phantoms filled my brain;
They who live in history only seemed to walk the earth again;

All the Foresters of Flanders,--mighty Baldwin Bras de Fer,
Lyderick du Bucq and Cressy Philip, Guy de Dampierre.

I beheld the pageants splendid that adorned those days of old;
Stately dames, like queens attended, knights who bore the Fleece
of Gold

Lombard and Venetian merchants with deep-laden argosies;
Ministers from twenty nations; more than royal pomp and ease.

I beheld proud Maximilian, kneeling humbly on the ground;
I beheld the gentle Mary, hunting with her hawk and hound;

And her lighted bridal-chamber, where a duke slept with the
queen,
And the armed guard around them, and the sword unsheathed
between.

I beheld the Flemish weavers, with Namur and Juliers bold,
Marching homeward from the bloody battle of the Spurs of Gold;

Saw the light at Minnewater, saw the White Hoods moving west,
Saw great Artevelde victorious scale the Golden Dragon's nest.

And again the whiskered Spaniard all the land with terror smote;
And again the wild alarum sounded from the tocsin's throat;

Till the bell of Ghent responded o'er lagoon and dike of sand,
"I am Roland! I am Roland! there is victory in the land!"

Then the sound of drums aroused me. The awakened city's roar
Chased the phantoms I had summoned back into their graves once
more.

Hours had passed away like minutes; and, before I was aware,
Lo! the shadow of the belfry crossed the sun-illumined square.

Last visit to Brugge: Jan 2004
Intro Updated Dec 20, 2011
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Reviews (23)

Walking in the light rain Transportation (3)

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Grote Market Things to Do (14)

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Deanery Things to Do (14)

The former house of Deans of the St. Donatius church the Deanery (1662) became later part of the palace of the Bishop of... more travel advice

Burg Square Things to Do (14)

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Shopping (2)
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Restaurants (1)
Make sure to have a Leffe Blonde

Favorites (3)
See All Great place to have a meal and a drink
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Comments (5)

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Pablos_new May 18, 2009 at 12:25 AM

Great place! But boat is better than horse and carriage! :)
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Maurizioago Feb 8, 2009 at 12:04 PM

I hope to visit Brugge soon. Ciao!
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SLLiew Mar 23, 2008 at 7:18 PM

Excellent page of Brugge.
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TheWanderingCamel Dec 27, 2007 at 5:39 PM

Lovely city, nice photos.
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Mikebb Nov 28, 2007 at 12:59 PM

Hi Janet, Nice pictures, we have just booked 5 days in Belgium first week Sept'08. Is it a good base to take day trips and to where?