A Fairytale Place (Belgium 2 of 2)

My 2^nd day in Belgium took me on a SAS Field Program to Bruges. This was a day-trip to an exquisitely preserved medieval town, which would bring us back to Antwerp by 8pm. I would have loved to have spent a night in Bruges, but this timeframe actually worked well for me, because I was on call in the evening and had to be back at the ship by 8pm. Prior to getting on the bus, students were asking me if I knew where Bruges was and how long the bus ride would be. After navigating across Belgium the entire previous day (though a good deal was Brussels, which we failed at navigating smoothly), I thought I could give a somewhat accurate answer. I explained that Bruges was just west of Antwerp and guessed it would take less than one hour to get there. Clearly I underestimated a trip where a bus was involved compared with that of a car. The day before, Ashley and I drove across the country (I mean the ENTIRE country…and at a reasonable pace) in just over 2 hours. The trip to Bruges was less than half as long, yet still took 2+ hours to get to the destination. I’m assuming the students have now lost all faith in me when it comes to time estimations.

The tour guide spoke the entire time on the bus from Antwerp to Bruges, which was great. Unfortunately his voice was monotone, so about 10 minutes into the trip 85% of the passengers on the bus were asleep. He talked about almost everything you could think of when it comes to Belgium. For example he explained that Antwerp means “hand thrown.” Legend has it that a mean giant controlled the river traffic and demanded tolls from everyone passing over it. Those who refused to pay had one of their hands cut off. However, one day a young brave Roman soldier, named Silvius Brabo, managed to kill the giant. He cut the giant’s hand off and threw it in the Scheldt River, giving the city its name (see picture of the statue in the main square of Antwerp). In addition, although Bruges has a population of only 117,000; it is the most visited city in the country by a large margin with 2 million tourists visiting annually. Pretty impressive…and I wonder what the numbers were prior to the movie In Bruges (I’m guessing that’s only increased the numbers).

Statue of Silvius Brabo Defeating the Giant

When we arrived in Bruges, we started a 2.5-hour walking tour of the city. I immediately saw a Belgian chocolate shop (not surprising), but the town is ridiculous! We must have passed 30 chocolate shops on our walking tour (which only covered maybe 1/3 of the city). I find it hard to believe all these shops can stay in business. I must either be drastically underestimating the Bruges tourist industry…or maybe just the female population in Bruges in general (assumptions aside…women love chocolate). In addition, Belgium is also known for waffles (no kidding), lace (interesting), diamonds (it’s actually the Diamond Center of the World), and beer (though currently they only have one pub/microbrewery in Bruges), so our group passed various shops of these items as well.

Brugge is really just a quaint medieval town, which still has a 15^th century feel to it.

Quote from the movie In Bruges

Ken: “It is a fairytale place. It really is.”

Harry: “Mm. It’s just a shame it’s in Belgium, really. But then, you think, if it wasn’t in Belgium, if it was somewhere good, there’d be too many people coming to see it, it’d spoil the whole thing.”

Bruges...A Fariytale Place

We passed over canals and by houses made hundreds of years ago. We entered the town and saw the Church on the Beguinage in Bruges (Church of our Lady). This church dates back to the 13^th century and has a tower 122.3 meters in height (tallest in the city & second tallest brickwork tower in the world). The Beguines were a religious movement of single or widowed women who wanted to live in a pious way, but outside the walls of a convent or monastery (still in use today). We also passed many of the main tourist attractions including St. Saviour’s Cathedral, the Market Square (with its Guild houses), Provincial Palace, Belfry Tower, and Burg Square. During our walking tour, the group took a detour and went on a 30-minute canal boat cruise all around the city. Similar to our bus/walking tour guide, the guide on the canal boat told us many stories about Belgium and Bruges. One of which was about the approximately 140 swans in Bruges. Legend has it Pieter Lanchals (‘long neck”) was the right hand man of Maximilian I of Habsburg, who tried to seize power in Bruges. When Maximilian failed, he was imprisoned at the Market Square, where he was made to watch the torture & execution of his men, including Lanchals. On his release, Maximilian regained power and forced the city to keep swans in the canals for eternity because of their long necks in honor of Lanchals.

The Swans (in honor of Lanchals) of Bruges

When the tour concluded, we stopped at a local restaurant, Maximilian van Oostenrijk (Maximilian…not surprising) and had a wonderful 3-course meal with two rounds of drinks (no complaints) finished by a cup of tea (even better). We then had 2 hours of free time to do whatever we wanted in the city. I took advantage of this time frame by hustling back to the Market Square and immediately climbing the Belfry Tower. In every city I travel to, I tend to climb large buildings/towers in order to get an aerial view of the city. However…if I’m honest…the other reason I wanted to climb the tower was because they did so during the movie In Bruges. After climbing the 366 stairs in the narrow, steep staircase, I reached the top and took some nice pictures of the city.

 Narrow Staircase to the top of the Belfry Tower

The Belfry Tower

Views from the top of the Belfry Tower

Apparently Middleburg (Heights, OH?) is that way...didn't realize it was a big city for Belgium!

I did take the conventional approach to exiting the tower (as compared to Ken, Brendan Gleeson’s character, in In Bruges)…ie: walking back down the steps. Afterwards, I wandered around the square, grabbed a snack, took some pictures, and waited for everyone else at the meeting location, the Belfry Tower. As the deadline approached, we were supposed to meet just outside the Belfry Tower (an easy landmark in the city), but were short one. I wasn’t the Trip Liaison (though I did offer my assistance), though I didn’t feel as responsible when we couldn’t locate this individual after 20 minutes of searching. Identical to Hamburg’s, “Bar-ba-ra” story, this student, Erica, figured things out on her own and went back to meet everyone at the bus. After figuring this out, the bus headed back to Antwerp, where I was to be stuck on the ship the rest of the evening. It had been raining on/off all day, and this continued through the night, so it wasn’t too bad, as I watched Saving Private Ryan (on our cabin TVs) and called it a night.

After a completely quiet night on call, I turned in the walkie-talkie (yes, we have walkie-talkies) at 8am (on the dot) and immediately headed out to explore our port city of Antwerp. It was nice to get off the ship so early…the only problem was, it was apparently early for the city as well. Practically nothing opened till 10am…apparently Belgians like sleeping in. Although I couldn’t see a whole lot, this was nice as it felt like I was the only one in the city. However, I did feel rushed with my time in the city, as I had to be back for embarkation at 3pm. I visited the Rathaus (Town Hall), Grote Markt (Main Square), and the Cathédrale Notre-Dame before meeting up with a few friends who had later starts to the day. My time in Belgium was running out and I still had yet to 1) buy chocolate and 2) eat a waffle. Priorities.

Rathaus (Town Hall) in Antwerp

Luckily, I was in Belgium, where it isn’t’ too hard to remedy either of these. I ventured with Carla near the main square and found a chocolate shop (without any trouble…you could probably walk blindfolded through Antwerp/Belgium and you’d end up with 3lbs of chocolate regardless) followed by a recommended restaurant (or small café), to satisfy our craving for a Belgian waffle. The waffle was delicious and the hot chocolate we ordered with it was perfect for the rainy day (my mom (and others) would definitely have enjoyed the treats that came with it: shortbread, a cookie, and a cupcake)!

Carla & I Satisfying our Belgian Cravings

My 3.5 days in Belgium was fantastic! What makes it even more impressive is the fact that the weather was terrible (rainy and overcast…kind of reminded me of home) the entire time. The cities I visited were great (though Brussels was tough to navigate), the people were extremely friendly (and most spoke English), and the food was excellent (though…how can you go wrong with waffles and chocolate?). I envision I will be heading back to Belgium in the future…but first, plenty more destinations to go!

Dag!

“We are all dying, every moment that passes of every day. That is the inescapable truth of this existence. It is a truth that can paralyze us with fear, or one that can energize us with impatience, with the desire to explore and experience, with the hope to find a memory in every action. To be alive, under sunshine, or starlight, in weather fair or stormy. To dance with every step, be they through gardens of flowers or through deep snows.”