Goodbye, Brugge! Until We Meet Again

Sunday, 4 December, 2011 - As is always the case (well, you hope) when you wake up to realize it's your last day of a trip, Lauren and I were disappointed to be reminded that our journey was drawing to a close. But not to be put off by the inevitable, we were downstairs for breakfast early to try and get in as much last minute Brugge appreciation as possible before hopping a train back to Brussels.

Our morning mostly consisted of browsing through some more shops, something I considered a luxury since everything short of restaurants are closed on Sundays in Austria. We made some final chocolate purchases (as if we hadn't bought enough already), also discovering Galler Chocolatier west off of the Market Square, which is a Belgian Royal Warrant Holder. Apparently that's quite the complement in these parts, and I could taste why. I consider Belgian chocolates to be a step above the rest anyway, but this was quite possibly the best Belgian chocolate I'd ever tasted. This was also reflected in the prices.

Not Galler Chocolatier, but still a delicious chocolate shop

I also treated myself to a little something in one of the lace shops we passed at the corner of Wollestraat and Rozenhoedkaai. Our last stop was in the Stadhuis, the town hall turned town history museum.

Although I'd passed by the far from subtle Gothic facade plenty of times considering its proximity to the Market Square, I don't think it had occurred to me to actually go inside. I have Lauren to thank for the idea, and it was well worth spending our last hour there. I knew I brought her along for a reason!

Before even getting inside the building, we stopped to admire and read a bit about the facade from 1375. Although some of it was destroyed by the French army a century before, most remained intact with the only notable additions being the effigies to the counts and countesses of Flanders, installed in the 1960s.

Once inside, there's a spacious foyer filled with lifesize paintings of notable figures through the ages which you can learn about with an audio guide. Then upstairs to the parliamentary chamber built around the turn of the 15th century. The vaulted ceiling alone is enough reason to go, though the room also houses a series of paintings from 1895 portraying a significant event in the history of Brugge.

Figuring that was as good of a note to end on as any, we said our goodbyes to one of my favorite little European towns and returned to the train station more significantly more laden down with bags than when we arrived.

Once back in Brussels we really didn't have much time to spare, so I took Lauren around to some of the main sights, namely the Grand Place. We tried to get lunch at a place recommended by my book, but alas it was closed so we ended up back at Arcadi, the quiche place I had eaten at on Friday. We saw a few more sights, then had to dash to catch our train, which we did easily. We were going to make it right on time for our flight until the train, specifically the airport train, announced at the last stop in Brussels that it wouldn't be going all the way to the airport, and to get off and wait for the next train. Thus we wasted thirty minutes, causing us to literally have to sprint through the airport to catch our flights. I just made mine. Lauren, whose flight was supposed to depart five minutes prior to mine, did not. Of course, I didn't know this until I got back to Vienna that night, but poor Lauren was at least able to get on another flight and spend the night with a friend in the town she landed in in France before catching the 5:00am train to get to work on time the next morning. That aside, though (well, that's easy enough for me to say, I wasn't the one who had to miss my flight), and ignoring the brevity of the trip, I thought it was a great success and I was thrilled to be back in Brugge again, introducing a friend to its charms.

Until next time, dear Brugge!

Christmas Markets (or Lack Thereof) in Brugge

A preface: as is my penchant, I have probably put more photos than necessary up. However, since this is my project and I have no one to limit me except for myself, I have indulged my fancy. After all, if this is one of my 'worse' habits, I don't think there's too much cause for worry.

Saturday, 3 December, 2011 - Lauren and I woke up to an overcast, damp, and chilly morning, but having anticipated this we were amply bundled to take on the day. After an on-site breakfast, we headed out to the Grote Markt, the Market Square, where markets have been held since the 10th century and continue to be held every Saturday.

 Walk to the Market Square

 Market Square, looking north, east, and south, respectively: guild houses - now with restaurants, the Provincial Court, and the Belfort

By the way, I didn't notice before how the Belfort fades from red to grey as it goes up. Being the focal point of the town, there are all sorts of interesting things associated with this square and the surrounding buildings. A canal came up right behind the Provincial Court, then the Waterhalle, until the 1780s when it was filled in. The Waterhalle burned in the late 19th century and the Neo-Medieval building to replace it was redesigned by Louis Delacenserie, the same man responsible for much of the restoration of medieval Brugge. The Provincial Court, the Provinciaal Hof, now serves as administrative offices for the province of West Flanders. Also on the square, the Craenenburg (on the west) held Archduke Maximilian of Austria in 1488. I'm always fascinated to see how far across Europe the Habsburgs had influence, or at least attempted to assert it.

We wandered around that area for a while, poking around through some chocolate and lace stores, perhaps grabbing a Belgian waffle (okay, maybe those are one of my 'worse' habits...),  and taking lots of pictures. Since it wasn't raining at the moment and it was still relatively early, we figured we might as well go ahead and take a canal tour before the crowds or the weather struck. I thought it was a really neat way to see the town when I was there in the summer and had a hunch that Lauren would enjoy it as well. Although it was a little chilly with the wind channeled through the canals, at least we didn't get rained on.

 Jeruzalemkerk, 15th century

Also, since the guides tell you everything as you go rather than us listening to a recording, I learned a few new tidbits that the fellow in the summer didn't mention. We picked up the canal tour near the Fish Market (Vismarkt) and thus ended there so I wanted to see if Johan Lootens, the artist who had painted my portrait over the summer and then given it to me for free, was there. I thought it would be nice to say hello, even if he didn't remember me, and I knowing Lauren, figured she would like his work and perhaps want to buy something. We found his girlfriend who surprisingly did recognize me and said Johan was working in a  nearby café. We went to say hi, had a quick chat, then went back to his stand to see if anything caught our eye. I found a painting for Melynn's birthday/Christmas present and Lauren was really taken by one painted from almost the exact same location that we were standing, also on a rainy day, in a more interpretive and free style, but in the end decided against getting it.

Thus we continued on. Since the weather was holding, we decided to follow my DK Eyewitness Travel's "90-Minute Walk Around Brugge". Well, aside from the fact that we more than doubled the estimated time, lunch stop not included, it was a really neat and informative walk. We essentially went from the Market Square and looped northeast out to the windmills along one of the canals to the east before circling back to the square. Here are a few pictures from the stroll, including a great little place where we stopped for lunch, mostly drawn in by their amusing sign about when they are open:

 Stadsschouwburg, the Municipal Theater, built in 1868

 A Christmas beer with lunch to warm us up!

After we finally completed our tour of Brugge we decided to cap it off with a hike up the 366 steps to the top of the Belfry. We had a really neat birds-eye view of the ice rink and Christmas Market stalls below and also happened to get to the top just before sunset. I would recommend going up at this time of day if you have a chance!

 View of the Market Square from about halfway up the Belfry

Looking out at the Vrouwekerk, Church of our Lady, and St Salvator-Kathedraal, the Brugge Cathedral, at sunset

I really loved this wrought iron double door

As we exited the belfry we were directed through a gallery with paintings and sculptures by Eugène Demane, Irénée Duriez, and Frank and Johan Messely. I especially liked the Messelys' paintings and Duriez' sculptures. Frank's work tended to be more focused on photorealism while Johan had some beautiful and serene patio garden scenes.

 Frank Messely

 Johan Messely

Irénée Duriez

After lingering in there, Lauren and I went out and answered the beckoning of the Christmas Market. I have to admit I was a little disappointed by their offerings, almost all of which were kitchy and could hardly be called hand-crafted. Not to mention it was really small. But perhaps Vienna's Christmas Markets have spoiled me. I've found that it's really pretty hard to beat those.

I was also amused by the variations on spelling of Germanic words that I know. "Braadworst" = "Bratwurst"? I didn't find out if they tasted similar. However the mingling scents of fried foods and spiced wine didn't do anything to ease our appetite, so we headed off up Vlamingstraat to find somewhere to get dinner. We ended up choosing Curiosa, a restaurant down in a cellar which was a bit on the fancier side but the food was really tasty and it was well worth it.

Although we were thoroughly sated when we left, we found ourselves at the Häagen-Dazs on the Market Square for a little dessert. As if we really needed ice cream on a night that cold. We went to another little bar to grab a drink before calling it a night since Sunday was our last day and we wanted to have some time in Brussels before catching our flights.

Brussels: Take III

Friday, 2nd December, 2011 - I loved Brugge so much this summer that when Lauren and I were discussing possible destinations for us to rendezvous, I was really excited to introduce her to it. After all, I had sent her a postcard the first time I was there promising that we would travel there together one day, and I wanted to make good on that promise. It was going to be a quick weekend to be sure, but in my humble opinion Brugge was worth the trip. Besides, I was hoping the Belgians would be good at Christmas Markets, it being the season and all. Turns out they're not, at least compared to Vienna, but that was but a minor glitch.

I had gotten off of work for the afternoon and found an early flight into Brussels where I would meet Lauren that evening to catch the train to Brugge. Why not spend a day in Brussels? At this point I sort of feel like I've "been there, done that" with most of the main tourist things in the city (not that there really are that many), so I found a few more obscure spots in my guidebook to check out. I started out at the area around the Grand Place, curious what their Christmas Market setup would be like (nil), and grabbed a Belgian waffle, plain, a weakness of mine that luckily I only have very limited access to. It was still early, about noon around the time I hit the Grand Place and I wandered the area a bit. Even though I like to think I know it moderately well (for a tourist anyway), I still just like being in that part of the city.

I went up to the St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral which reminds me a bit of Notre Dame de Paris from the western façade, although the similarity really ends there. It's a stunning cathedral, naturally, but the interior isn't as ornate as Notre Dame's. (I know this from a Gothic Cathedral course that I took in college, not first-hand experience... yet.)

They had a neat Christmas display inside from various countries, some of which were ho-hum, but some of them, like the one from Slovakia, I thought were quite impressively detailed. And, don't get me wrong, I still think the Brussels Cathedral is amazing and well worth spending some time in.

I then wandered back through the Grand Place, giving one final attempt at buying the wooden carving for my Mom (no cigar), before heading to the nearby Palladian-style Brussels Stock Exchange. There were some Christmas stalls set up, mostly selling rather aromatic foods. Also, who knew, Rodin did some of the sculptures around the façade while he was apprenticing for Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse in the early 1870s.

Brussels Stock Exchange - the middle group of sculptures at the crest of the façade are thought to have been crafted by Auguste Rodin

Although the snacks offered at the Christmas market were tempting, I headed back through the Galeries St-Hubert to find a little café supposedly renowned for its quiche. The three galleries, Galerie du Roi, Galerie de la Reine, and Galerie des Princes, were actually the first shopping arcade in Europe when opened in 1847.

At the end of the Galeries furthest from the Grand Place and to the right I found the place I was looking for. Arcadi was packed with mid-afternoon quiche seekers but I found a table in the corner and was able to read while waiting for my salmon and broccoli slice. They don't skimp on portions, either.

Afterwards I made use of my day pass and took the metro east to the Parc du Cinquantenaire in the Upper Town.

This was "the finest of Leopold II's grand projects" and was built for the 1880 Belgian independence Golden Jubilee celebrations. The arch wasn't completed in time for the celebrations (it was finished in 1905), but it was based on Paris' Arc de Triomphe. The two side exhibition halls are museums, one of which is a military history museum and the other of art and history, though they've also been used for horse races and to store homing pigeons.

The park itself was quiet and relaxing and the afternoon lighting was really nice so after strolling the paths for a bit I stopped to read for a while.

However, it being late in the fall and relatively far north, the sun was setting before 6:00 so I decided to get in a little more exploring before it got dark. I headed for the nearby Square Ambiorix which I had read has some neat architecture and façades.

Villa Germaine and No. 11

Not only was the square really scenic and dotted with lovely old couples walking hand-in-hand, but the square indeed had some interesting surrounding buildings. The best example of Art Nouveau is No. 11, the Maison St. Cyr, and is all the more impressive for having been designed by Gustave Strauven who was only 22 years old when it was built. I also discovered the Square Marie-Louise, which is rather more of a squashed hexagon than a square and more lake than park. A very picturesque squashed-hexagon lake-park, though, with a pathway encircling it overhung by weeping willows and other trees.

However darkness was fast approaching so I went back to the Grand Place, though not before noticing a difference between Brussels' and Vienna's crosswalk signs:

Brussels vs. Vienna: no hat or suit. I think that means the Viennese dress better?

Back at the Grand Place I discovered that there was a music and light festival for the evening's entertainment. Apparently every evening after the sun set the configuration of posts spiraling out from the central Christmas tree emitted colored rays which would light up the City Hall and other surrounding buildings with a fantastic light show choreographed to seasonal classical music.

I settled onto a central platform and enjoyed the Electrabel Nights performance for an hour or so. It was really fun, though I wish I would have had a blanket (a number of listeners did). I would also like to toss out how romantic it could have been. Honestly, get (or make) dinner then come out to a setting like the Grand Place and enjoy a free concert (the acoustics were very good) together for an evening? It doesn't get much easier, guys.

However, sans blanket I got a bit chilly after a while so I went to 't Kelderke, a 16th century cellar in the Grand Place. Although I tend to regard any restaurant in or too near the Grand Place as a tourist trap, my guidebook had recommended it. I really just wanted a bowl of soup to warm up with and it was conveniently located.

't Kelderke

Being a single diner, I didn't have to wait for a table although the restaurant was packed. I thought the service was efficient and courteous and I didn't feel rushed although I could tell they were trying to keep a quick turnover of patrons.

It was nearing the rendezvous time with Lauren by then, so I headed back to the North Station where we met up without a hitch and caught the train to Brugge. We managed to figure out which bus to take to get to where we were staying even though the night bus had different numbers than what we had looked up. After dropping our bags we wandered to the nearby Markt, the central square of the city, to find something to eat. Unfortunately Brugge is more of a place to retire than a young person's weekend getaway, so I was quickly reminded of how early the restaurants closed. We managed to find a late night french fries joint of all things, and Lauren was hungry enough for anything after travelling most of the day. We caught up over the warm thick-cut potatoes, then moved to a nearby bar, The Illusionist, to continue our chatting. Not a bad place for a drink, by the way. However, we were both exhausted, old souls that we are (or at least I am), so after another drink we proceeded back to cozy up in our warm beds for some much wanted sleep, eager to take on Brugge with zeal the next day.

Brugge + Ghent

Sunday, 7 August, 2011 - The six of us again woke up to an amazing breakfast spread. We ate and chatted merrily, then the Russians headed off while Ian and I packed up our stuff. We were going to wait for the other part of our North Carolinian contingent, but they said they were going to lounge around for a while, so Ian and I decided to make one last lap around Brugge, then head to Ghent. The fellow I had met at the hunting and antique store the previous day informed me that there was going to be a huge antique market at Zand Square (where we were on Saturday), so Ian and I decided to see if there were any treasures. Unfortunately it poured on us as we were walking over

(perhaps we shouldn't have been too surprised since this was our view as we walked out the front door of the B&B), but it was letting up again as we got there, so after about fifteen minutes vendors began pulling tarps off so people could continue browsing. This market was much more extensive than Saturday's, but neither of us found anything we couldn't live without.

We decided that the other main thing that we wanted to see if we were in Brugge (and we were) was one of the windmills. There were originally 20 some lining the northern and eastern boarders of the city, but today only three remain. We traipsed through the city, me attempting to lead us in the most direct route possible, which took us by some (more) quaint buildings with stepped gable (or 'crow stepped gable') architectural features.

Old St. John's Hospital 

 St. Savior's Cathedral (12th - 15th century)

We also went back through the Market Square, much more bustling in the late morning.

It took about fifteen minutes to get from the Market Square to the last of the windmills, and literally we were walking along a street that just ended on a nice lawn with little hillocks peaked by said windmills. They were neat to see. And... that's about it.

Well, okay, to get to this one there was a romantic little tree-lined path that you got to walk along next to a canal. There was also this stellar towered building near where the street dead-ended which made me start composing little haunted stories and heroic knight-winning-the-maiden tales in my head.

But, feeling like we had seen much of Brugge and eager to get on to Ghent, Ian and I headed back to our B&B, collected our bags, and walked through Minnewater Park one last time to catch our train.

About half an hour later we pulled into Ghent. Unlike Brugge where everything is within walking distance, we had to catch a tram in Ghent to get to our B&B. It was admittedly not nearly as charming and hospitable as our last experience, but hey, it was nice, small, and pleasant. Ghent, on the other hand, was, well, I don't want to say it wasn't nice, small, and pleasant, but it very distinctly lacked the feel of Brugge. Perhaps it was just that it was bigger, more spread out, and was occasionally sullied by horrible American franchising.

But that aside, Ghent was nice. So, when you go to Ghent as an average tourist wanting to see the average touristy things, there are two things you'll note and probably want to check out more thoroughly. One. There is a castle:

Specifically Het Gravensteen, the ancient Castle of the Counts. Two: There are some pretty prominent spires in Ghent:

From left to right: St. Baafskathedral (St. Bavo's Cathedral), the Belfort, St. Niklaaskerk (St. Nicholas' Church), and a clock tower.

Ian and I were a hair past hungry at this point and considered seeking out one of the places listed in my guidebook, but why navigate yet unknown streets on an empty stomach when we could eat at the (likely ridiculously overpriced) Fish Market just across from the castle - the closest landmark to our B&B?

All of the restaurants on that little square looked identical, so we snagged an open table. Except we happened to choose the one restaurant where the chef had had to leave because of an emergency, and the sous-chef wasn't qualified to prepare either of the dishes Ian and I ordered (or something like that that made us raise our eyebrows), but the waiter helped us come to an agreeable second choice and we dug in. This was, of course, finished off with a delicious Belgian waffle with ice cream (seriously, those things are addictive; I can't eat enough of them!).

Thoroughly sated, we decided it was only logical that our first stop was the castle. It was your typical castle tour with information on the old goings-on and artifacts (including a few of the likely 'tamer' torture devices previously implemented), but I happen to like castles and picturing potential attempted sieges and such, so I thought it was great! Ian did, too.

The upper terrace also afforded some pretty spiffy views. Not to mention just wandering around looking over the parapets was neat.

 I think the illustration is self-explanatory.

But, let's be honest: For your average castle-viewer, it was an average castle. Maybe a little above average because I think they did a good job of presenting the information and allowing one to explore almost everywhere, but in my humble opinion it didn't hold a candle to Ashford or Menlough Castles (both in Ireland, both favorites for wholly different reasons).

Ian and I then began to wander in the direction of the towering places of worship, but were sort of waining on the desire to keep walking. We had joked about seeing a movie earlier, but the prospect was suddenly becoming more and more appealing. There was one that was definitely at the top of both of our lists, too: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II. Yes, like 92% of our generation, we had been eagerly anticipating the release of the final Harry Potter movie (and heck, I don't even like the movies! The books are another story...) but neither of us had gotten around to seeing it in Vienna. And we called ourselves dedicated fans! So we bypassed the churches and belfry for the nonce in search of one of the English theaters that our waiter at lunch had told us about. We walked maybe a third of the way, still in the old historic part of the city, but as we neared the brink of true antiquity we decided to just take public transportation. I am glad that we walked the part we did, though.

 Great Butchers' Hall on the left

 About the point where we decided to stop and wait for a tram...

...across the street from Gerard the Devil's castle. Unfortunately not open to the public.

We got off at the right stop, walked through a park, and found our massive cinema complex. We bought tickets for an early evening showing (you're assigned seats! This was my first movie theater experience in Europe, one movie in Ireland excluded, but apparently this is common practice), then went to a restaurant across the street for a light dinner. Another quirk when we got back to the theater - they kept the entrance to each screen roped off until the showtime. We all piled in when they finally came by (as if it had any influence on where we sat), and I was pleased to see that even though it had been out over a month, the theater was at least half-full. 

We laughed. We cried. We made friends with the guys sitting next to us during the intermission (I heard rumor that there was no intermission in the US?). Then we laughed and cried some more. Well, maybe a little less on the laughing side since just about everyone dies, not to give too much away. We were satisfied.

It was dark when we got out, so we took public transportation back to about where we got on earlier, then figured we could walk from there. It was a really nice night, and we didn't have any particular destination in mind as we strolled up the street, when suddenly we noticed particularly neon lights down one street. Hmmm. We should probably investigate. As we strolled past shop fronts, Woah! Did that mannequin just move?! We looked again. That wasn't a mannequin. We had (definitely unwittingly) found Ghent's red light district. Now, I'm not certain how these things normally work, but we were both a little surprised to see that in fact every 'shop front' was actually a window so you could, in every sense of the term, go window shopping. A tad bemused by the whole thing, we decided to just go back the way we had come. After a little later research, I learned that in fact Ghent is well-known for its red light district. Who would have thought?

Anyway, after that little detour we continued back towards the older part of town. As I said, it was a really nice night for walking around. We had in mind to find a laid-back pub to grab a drink and sit outside, maybe talk to some locals, but we ended up wandering around for almost an hour without coming across anywhere really that satisfactory.

However it was just as nice roaming around and chatting with Ian, so I didn't mind too much. We never really did determine, though, why we couldn't find anywhere. We heard music coming from a few places, but they were mostly clubs or louder bars where it would be harder to talk to anyone. Perhaps we were just in the wrong part of town. Or perhaps it being a Sunday had something to do with it. Nevertheless, it wasn't a bad evening, but we eventually called it quits and headed back to catch some shut eye.