"Brugge - Bruges" a Brugge Travel Page by annase

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Lovely! Finally a quiet street in Brugge

The old town centre of Brugge is very charming: cobbled streets, tiny little boutiques selling waffles and chocolate, numerous cafes and restaurants with the seating outside, water ways, old pretty buildings.. The city centre has hardly changed since the Middle Ages and most of the medieval architecture is still intact. For this reason, it is also included on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2000.

There are many magnificent and majestetic buildings, including the Church of Our Lady, that has a 122m tall brick spire that is one of the world's highest brick towers/buildings. It's a definite landmark of the town and can be seen from far away. The Belfry (another building with a tower) on the side of the Market Square originates from the 13th-century. It is home to a municipal Carillon which comprises 47 bells which are operated manually by a full-time bell ringer. The church bells in the Netherlands and at least in the Flamish speaking part of Belgium play a pretty melody, which is absolute enchanting to someone who's never heard anything like that before. The views from the Belfry are fab.

Other buildings of interest include the Beguinage (Begijnhof), a group of houses. During the last centuries Beguines, which were several lay sisterhoods of the Roman Catholic Church, lived in the building. In 1937 the building became a monastery for the Benedictine sisters who still live there. The Basilica of the Holy Blood takes its name from a phial brought from Jerusalem to Bruges in the 12th century. According to a legend, the phial contains the blood of Jesus. The Old St-John's Hospital is located right next to the Our Lady's church It is one of the oldest still existing hospitals in Europe although it doesn't function as a hospital anymore. It houses the Memling museum, the hospital museum and an old pharmacy.

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Flemish menu board and pretty spring flowers

Not so charming sides of it are the masses of tourist and the pricing in the various establishments in the main square. The town is heaving from early on in the morning - especially in Spring and Summer. I've been to Brugge twice. The first time I went there was on a road trip, a Sunday morning in the end of May before 10.00. I was quiet only for a while, and after an hour or so the masses turned up like from nowhere.

I visited Brugge another Sunday in April (roughly a year later), and it got absolutely packed again.. This stretch of Brugge's various canals was almost empty at the time I was walking along it. However, even the canals are heaving with the sight seeing boats. Perhaps I just managed to avod the boats here. I didn't think all of the boats looked very safe though. They are very small and I'm not sure whether people were wearing life jackets. I was totally put off by that and would not recommend a boat tour even if you were an extremely good swimmer.

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An old town waffle shop

I do not particularly go for the waffles myself since they are way too sweet and greasy, but I had to have one picture of them of course. Too bad the lady didn't pose for me.. ;-)