Yes, that’s right, I’ve become fluent in Flemish since arriving here in Bruges. Didn’t take me long at all (!!). Unfortunately for me, French is not widely spoken at all here, although much of the signage for restaurants and cafes etc, does have a french version.  Jeff and I learned ‘Goededag = good day,  Dank u = thankyou, Nee = no, Ja = yes and for the rest, we spoke like the swedish chef on the Muppet Show,  making up our own pronunciations along the way. (try saying ‘Steenhouwersijk’,  ‘Augustijnerie’, ‘Wapenmakerstraat’ or ‘Zwarteleertouwerstraat’ after a long and tiring day…) Luckily,  there were some similarities to German, so I was able to draw on my school girl German, which surprisingly, is still in the dim, dark recesses of my memory.

We had a fantastic few days in Bruges, which is a hauntingly beautiful  town, there is simply no other way to describe it. Because of it’s beauty, it is a popular destination for day trippers from Paris, Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Germany and England to name just a few so, to really appreciate the town without the tourists, it was great to be staying for a few days, as we had the place to ourselves after the crowds had left for the day. 

Belgium is very low lying generally and Bruges is no different. It is very flat, with cobbled stoned streets, canals, quaint bridges and historic buildings at every turn.

 

 

 

The main form of transport locally is bicycles, which are used by almost everyone and make so much sense, particularly in the old city where the streets were not initially made for cars.  Most have pannier baskets on either side, for carrying shopping or whatever else and others have decorated the handlebars as well. (It being spring currently, we saw quite a few with floral arrangements, which looked great).

We stayed at B&B Bariseele, Collaert Mansionstraat 1, 8000 Brugge (www.bariseele.br), and, if ever you head to Bruges, we both would highly recommend staying here. Benny is the owner of the B&B. He and his partner Paul are both big fans of Australia, after having visited 10 times already,  so we had a lot to talk about! Benny was brilliant, so friendly and helpful, and we felt extremely comfortable from the moment we arrived.

The B&B itself it is lovely, in a quiet part of the old town and opposite the 14th century Sint Gilliskerk (church) (which we could see straight outside from our apartment window) and only about 150 metres from the main canal of Langerei.

What to do at night in a small Belgian town? Well, having a few drinks at the Vlissinghe Hotel was not a bad way to while away some time, that’s for sure. Only small, 500 years old and a clientele of regulars, meant that the atmosphere was great, very laid back and cruisey.

What we noticed as well was the lack of mobile phone useage in a social situation. People here like to talk to one another, rather than sending text messages. Now, there’s a novel thought!  Also, the pub had a collection of board games, which were being used each time we were there, by young and old alike.We thought it was fantastic and a great way to meet up, have a few drinks and/or dinner and socialize, particularly when it is freezing cold and grim outside.

Weather wise, it was quite cold (by our standards) while we were in Bruges, but as everyone knows, I love, love, love the cold weather, so it was certainly no hardship. Any time I can have my woollen coat, hat, scarf and boots on is a good day for me! The daytime hours though reflected the changing of the seasons, as it was daylight until 9.30pm, which meant our days started late, but ended late as well, so there was plenty of time to see and do everything we wanted.

We caught the local train to the seaside resort town of Knokke, on advice from Mike at the Brazilia Cafe in Bruges. The town of Knokke is very modern in  comparison to Bruges, faces onto the North Sea and came into existence as a result of the construction of dikes that were built to protect the area around the ‘Zwin’ sea-arm. It has a lovely beach, with the wide Het Zoute promenade, along which we walked for miles.  There are several sculptures along the seafront by the artist Jean-Michel Folon, which are astoundingly clever and a real trick of the eye.

 

 

 

Walking back into Bruges from the train station after returning from Knokke, we came across Minnewater park.This beautiful and  tranquil area is popular for relaxing and picnic-ing and is very well utilised by the locals.

It is covered in flowers at the moment, which I was thrilled about. In any case, it was a lovely find and a great way to finish a wonderful day out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our last day in Bruges, unfortunately laundry became our priority, so off we headed to ‘Happyrom – Wassalon’ (on the corner of Elzelstraat and Pottenmakerstraat, just as a heads up). Our lack of any real language skills were highlighted here. We deciphered the Flemish instructions and thought ourselves pretty darn clever to work out how to use the washing machines. Our downfall came however, when we transferred our clothes to what we thought was a huge industrial dryer, paid our 10 euros and waited. Thirty minutes later, the clothes were still damp, so we inserted another 10 euros and waited again.  A further 30 minutes later and with the clothes still damp, we realised that the ‘industrial dryer’ was in fact, another washing machine! (Benny told us later that it is used by everyone specifically to wash duvets, which is why it was so massive).

Fifteen minutes on high in an actual dryer finally sorted it all out. I bet there is no-one with cleaner clothes than we have, after 3 washes, but you could argue that they’d probably have more money left in their wallets!

Something that wasn’t on our ‘to do’ list in Bruges, was a visit to the local hospital. However, visit we did, because Jeff tripped on one of the cobbled footpaths and fell. It could have ended much worse than it did, but that said, he did injure his left foot quite badly and was finding it very difficult to walk.

We were worried that he had fractured something, so went to see if we could get an appointment with a doctor at the hospital. No luck though, as they were booked out, so we decided to buy some strapping from the chemist in the meantime and hope for the best. Luckily, his foot has improved in leaps and bounds (a figurative term only) so thankfully, it seems it was just a painful bruise.

We left Bruge this morning, with plans to come back again as soon as we can. Today is a transit day, with several train connections required, before arriving at Amiens, in the Picardy region of France. (Bruges to Kortrijk, Kortrijk to Lille-Flandres, Lille-Flandres to Amiens). We are over-nighting in Amiens, before collecting our hire car tomorrow and driving to Honfleur, Normandy, where we have rented a cottage for a week.

Binnenkort praten!! (Talk soon)!