First of all, I was so excited to talk about sight-seeing in Paris in my last blog entry that I neglected to mention who "we," entails! I traveled with 2 of my friends from school, RVT and Jillian. Both are Rabbinic students- RVT is one of our two proud Canadians (transplanted to NYC) and Jillian also lives in NYC.
more France pictures...
After three days in Paris, we migrated via train to Brugge, Belgium. We grabbed a few baguettes, a big hunk of delicious camembert, some fresh salami, and a couple oranges to take with us on the train. It was perfect; just like a movie, with beautiful scenery and all. Brugge was a perfect midway point between Paris and Amsterdam, and a nice way to break up the bigger cities.
Brugge is a gem. The cobblestone streets, picturesque canals, stunning architecture, and historic old buildings are breathtaking. It's like stepping into a medieval fairytale. (reminded me of a smaller, Flemish version of Lucca) Brugge is a small and charming, beautifully preserved, medieval town in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish region of Belgium. Referred to as "The Venice of the North," the city or historical center of Brugge is shaped like an egg, and has only about 20,000 inhabitants. (more live on the periphery) The egg is very small, only a couple of miles each way- I knew how to get everywhere in the Brugge egg within an hour.
Brugge has a rich 2,000 year old history and tons of buildings and architecture to prove it. Bruges had it's golden age around 1300, when it became one of the most prosperous cities of Europe. Around 1500, the Zwin channel, which provided Bruges with its access to the sea, started silting up, and Bruges began losing its economic strength to Antwerp. People began to abandon the center, which helped to preserve its medieval features. Click here to read about the history of Brugge, History
We stayed at an adorable bed and breakfast 2 minutes from the center of town that was converted from a 15th century convent. our hotel
The first thing we did in Brugge (after eating lunch of course) was a walking tour of the city with tour guide extraordinary, Andrew. He was a cute, older Bruggian man with a great sense of humor and an abundance of pride and adoration for his town. It was FREEZING during the walking tour, but totally worth it. Absolutely GORGEOUS. He told us the history of Brugge and took us to all of the major points of interest; city hall (from 1376!), the old St. John's hospital (800 years of history!), Our Lady Church, Saint Salvatore Cathedral, the main squares, the shopping street, the outdoor fish market, and the The Basilica of the Holy Blood. The relic of the Holy Blood (which Jillian was dying to see) which was brought to the city during the First Crusade, is paraded every year through the streets of the city. More than 1,600 inhabitants take part in this mile-long religious procession, many dressed as medieval knights or crusaders.
Funky facts about Brugge:
-Brugge is a Unesco World Heritage Site and proud of it!
-The tiny town of Brugge boasts 16 museums! Art, folklore, history, archeology, diamonds, french fries (yes, a fry museum!), lamps, lace, and chocolate. You name it, Brugge has a museum for it! Unfortunately, the chocolate museum was closed when we were there. Bummer!
-There are over 40 chocolate stores in Brugge, the self proclaimed chocolate capital of the world! I think we went to at least half of them...incredible.
-everyone rides a bike in Brugge. It's glorious.
-The Church of Our Lady, (whose brick spire — at 122m — makes it one of the world's highest brick towers/buildings) houses, the sculpture, "Madonna and Child", which can be seen in the transept, is believed to be Michelangelo's only sculpture to have left Italy within his lifetime. Pretty cool!
After our walking tour with Andrew, Jillian went to lay down in the room and RVT and I continued to explore town a bit. We strolled down the busy, main shopping street, and wound in and out of the old cobblestone alleyways. We had a coupon at a creperie so we stopped for an afternoon snack and some tea to warm us up.
There isn't much to do in Brugge at night aside from admire the beauty of the city. Luckily, RVT and I stumbled upon a cute, little movie theater during our walk, so we all decided that a movie would be the perfect relaxation activity for the evening. We ate dinner at an adjoining pub and then settled in for "The Duchess" with Keira Knightly. It was good, and fitting to see a period film while staying in Brugge. The next morning we did a bit of walking around town and achieved our goal of buying TONS of chocolate to bring back.
Oh. my. god. The chocolate in Brugge is heavenly. Especially the dark chocolate covered oranges. Each chocolate store has its own unique flair. Wow, that could be dangerous if I ever moved there...
After making small talk with our waiters and cab drivers to and from the train station, we realized that Brugge is mostly inhabited by people who were born there and their families have been there for generations and generations. It's comforting and authentic.
Our tour guide, Andrew, also told us about the Colin Farrell movie, "In Brugge" that was filmed there last year. Hollywood has finally discovered beautiful Brugge too! I actually rented it the other day. The movie was just okay in my opinion, but the shots of the city were gorgeous.
Have I mentioned that you should run to Brugge for a visit? It's only a hop away from Paris and so worth it. I can't say enough wonderful things about this charming town. I will definitely go back one day in the future to see it in all of its glory in the summer. Go visit!
To be continued...
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