In Beautiful Bruges

We saw the movie, 'In Bruges'. It wasn't strictly our inspiration to go there. But whatever it is, I am glad we went there at any rate. Bruges is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe. For a factual account of the place, read it's wiki page. We stayed a little outside the city centre in a pretty little hotel called Bruegelhof. And I must mention here that the owner was really sweet and immensely helpful - he actually promptly mailed me a bag of stuff that we'd forgotten at the hotel.

But since Bruges is very small (30 minutes tops to walk the longer part of it), it really didn't matter. We were armed with a local tourist map that the hotel owner gave us and we started walking towards the city centre. And surprise surprise, it took us less than 10 minutes to get there. I was pretty struck by the number of people milling the streets. Bruges is an extremely popular tourist destination. Along the way, we saw shoot out into the flat little skyline, a bunch of clock towers and cathedral towers. These are not accessible to the public but do make for a pretty sight.

The city square or boulevard if you will, is a fairly open place dotted with all these amazing cafés and bars along the periphery with the centre occupied predominantly of a war memorial with a floral enclosure and many horse-drawn carriages and bicycles, giving it a quaint 80's look.


On our walk there, we passed by many many popular European stores for clothing and otherwise. A peek inside verified what we'd already suspected. The prices were far lower than in Paris. And so we spent quite a while shopping out there. Bruges is also famous for it's own brand of beer, called Brugeszot. Belgium in general is one of the best known producers of beer and Leffe is particularly popular. I had a Sangira there and I can vouch for it's taste as well. We settled down in one of the bars for a long afternoon of intermittent drinking/sampling and eating while experiencing Bruggian life.



The canals of Bruges are particularly beautiful and the public has access to the canals by taking the fabulous canal cruises offered by the Bruges Tourism. It is a long ride (~1 hour) spanning the interiors of the city and taking one through the backwaters of houses (some of which I suspect are not inhabited). The canal cruise comes with a guide who speaks in multiple languages. Indeed most people in Bruges speak English, Dutch and French. But the guy's English needs a little listening-into to understand fluently. What the cruise accomplishes is that one gets to witness the sights, sounds, birds and buildings of Bruges while cruising the calm river.


We even got to witness a newly-wed couple all set to take the romantic cruise in seclusion -


The buildings of Bruges all have distinctive rooftops with a triangular patterned-yet serrated regdes. See what I mean?


We didn't see most of the conventional museums that are found aplenty in Bruges. Instead, we experienced the cozy city life fir a few short hours. Indeed on one of our lost drives outside the city periphery, we found ourselves in the part of Bruges that is actually filled with people. The part that we'd visited was strictly preserved to be medieval, lacking modern amenities like TV cable/antennas, etc.

While Bruges itself takes under 2 days to see, its proximity to Brussels/Oostende also make it an attractive destination. Be it the Grand Palais at Brussels


or the beautiful beaches at Oostende

Why Bruges?

1. It's quaint and pretty and it's a UNESCO World Heritage site.
2. Its very close to the capital city of Brussels and to the beaches of Oostende.
3. It's inexpensive to stay in and shop in ;)
4. It gives an Amsterdam feeling minus the excessive rush and the commercialization -it's very well-preserved and yet undiscovered. Perfect!
5. The beer is fabulous!

Bruges, is definitely a destination worth a visit. Maybe even more. And I leave you with one last shot of Bruges...