In Bruges…

Venice of the North, Europe’s Banff…

An important reason for choosing Lille for my study abroad term was its proximity to so many other European cities. Rather than take the train, which is a direct route to Bruges, we decided to rent a car so that we could drive up to the Coast of the English Channel and follow the coast through Dunkerque, De Panne and Ostende. Thank god for Francois’s unparalleled driving skills in both the countryside and in the city, riddled with one way streets, cranky Belgians and literally thousands of pedestrians! I think of myself as a confident driver but European driving scares the shit out of me.

Our first stop was still in France and apparently has a wonderful beach in the summertime. Naturally it was the coldest it has been since I arrived and was not suitable for beach sitting. Regardless of the temperature, it proved ridiculous trying to find a spot to stop on the sea. So we decided to rest in a boat launch nestled in the industrial portion of Dunkerque! No World War history here, just copious amounts of garbage and a particular stench. The next stop, in the coastal town of Ostende, was much more pleasant (mostly because it was on the Belgian side of things!) We followed a road along the ocean and made a stop on the beach. I took this opportunity to jump around a bit after being stuck in the car for too long (only two hours!). I had the hardest time believing that I was looking out on the English Channel, where so much important history has taken place. It just wasn’t sinking in. Renting the car was worth it just for the opportunity to hang out along the coast.

We arrived in Bruges after nightfall and with the help of Jane, our car’s GPS tour guide, we navigated our way to the hostel. It was clean, comfortable and even had wee fee (wifi as pronounced by the French!). We met up with the tour guide from the hostel and were able to see most of the tourist highlights of Bruges by night. Similar to Venice, as the city was an important port in Europe, it is built around a system of canals. Now it is only useful for the tourists who are willing to drop a serious amount of Euros for a boat tour!  Some highlights of the tour included Burg square. This is where the city hall now sits and used to be the place for public hangings! Fun. We also went into the basement of the Crown Plaza to see the ruins of the old Cathedral that used to sit on the site of this hotel. I guess if you have enough money you can build shitty hotels on beautiful pieces of ancient cathedrals.  On the topic of ancient cathedrals, we were also able to stop at the Our Lady Church, which holds the Madonna and Child, the only Michelangelo sculpture to leave Italy. We spent quite some time checking out the other parts of the church and also made use of the space heater to warm our hands. It’s embarrassing for a Canadian to say but it felt colder in Bruges than it does in Edmonton on a January morning. The coastal humidity gave me all sorts of chills and I felt even more geriatric than I usually do- should have brought that extra wool cardigan!

We also stopped in Markt which translates to la Grande Place, where I devoured a giant plate of Frites. The Belfry tower is also on this square but alas, it was closed for renovations.  It served mostly as an administrative center in Bruges, holding the archives and treasures of the town. The tour guide also explained that reason behind the gabled roof tops found all over the historical center was to allow chimney sweepers access to the roof tops but also was a sign of social stature- the higher your gable peak, the higher your place in the society.

At the oldest bridge in Bruges... (Photo cred: Jane Schlosser)

After the tour, we made our way to a bar where we immediately began drinking Belgian beer. They have so many different kinds and it would take a lifetime to try them all. First I ordered a Duvel, which apparently is Dutch for devil and can be ordered by making devil horns with you index and pinky finger? I thought the guy was just saying rock on. Awkward.

The morning, we rose relatively early and left the hostel in a mad search for a waffle. It being Belgium, it was not difficult. I had, without a doubt, the most delicious waffle I have ever had in my life. Normally I am not much of a waffle person but this was an altogether different experience. It was a warm waffle with a scoop of praline ice cream and covered in caramel sauce. Definitely worth the ten dollars it cost!

We then went in search for another Belgian tourist staple- beer. I had found on a tourist website that there was a possibility for a brewery tour of De Halve Mann (The Half Moon) Brewery. It has been brewing beer constantly for six generations (since 1856). As Bruges evolved into a tourist destination, the number of breweries fell to a fraction of the historical amount. De Halve Mann is now the only brewery in the center of Bruges and we were able to tour their home brewery. We were taken through the different areas, explained the stages of beer making and then taken to the roof for a panoramic view of Bruges. It was absolutely beautiful and made up for the fact that we couldn’t climb the Belfry tower. Included in the tour was a house beer, unfiltered and fresh, called Brugse Zot and it was positively wonderful.  So I had two and got afternoon buzzed! It was the best.

Because I was so eager to get to the brewery, we arrived a bit too early for the tour. While waiting, we went for a walk and accidentally stumbled upon my self-declared, favorite place in Bruges. It was a series of white washed, cabin-like buildings forming an open courtyard in the middle. Rather than fill it with cement, like we would do in Canada, it has been left as a grassy field with giant trees scattered throughout. It had a small canal running through the middle and it was all quite breathtaking. I was unsure of what exactly it but the Church and the “shhh” signs everywhere eventually led me to the conclusion that it was a monastery. I guess the giant sign that read “Monastery” wasn’t obvious enough for me. It was by far the best accident of the trip!

On our way out of the monastery, we were forced into a standoff with a flock of swans. One person on the trip had horrid, childhood memories of an altercation with a swan so this entire experience was quite traumatizing. Emily, one of the few Brits will enough sauce to live in France, reminded us that all the swans in the United Kingdom belonged to the Queen and she even dared to suggest that the swans in this park also belonged to her (as representative of the Queen in Lille). If I wasn’t so scared of what both the demon swans and Emily would do, I would have asked the swans to declare their nationality. However, because of their relatively friendly and peaceful nature, I concluded that they could not be British and must in fact be of Flemish decent. 1 point for Belgium, 0 points of the Queen.

The last stop in Bruges was at the windmills on the periphery of the historical center. We only made it to one but we saw at least three on the way in. They were obviously quite large and picturesque. Because of the buzz I mentioned earlier, I decided against climbing to the top but it must have been a nice view! Also, for any ENCS kids reading, fun fact: the entire town of Bruges is powered by wind generators located on the outskirts of the town. Neat. A bit different from the coal generators in Wabamun!

I also discovered that I must return to Belgium because I was unable to try a 12% beer. The Belgians obviously take deep pride in their brewing and I feel like you cannot fully experience this country without trying one of those. If the twelve percent is not enough of a selling point for you, it also comes with a miniscule bowl of cheese. Two of the best European treats in one place.

Again, thanks to our wonderful conducteur Francois, we made a stop in Ghent for the annual Light Festival. It took a serious amount of effort to find a parking spot because it seemed that every one of them was vrroombenhooben (which I think may mean reserved but I’m still brushing up on my Flemish). We eventually found one and parked at P5 Apples 30. Rather than just use numbers to remember where you left your car, the Europeans prefer to indicate each floor with combination of food groups and numbers- poisson, oiseau, pommes etc. After sorting out the parking situation and finding a spot that was not vrroombenhooben, we made our way to the Ghent (Gent, Gand) Light Festival. Throughout the city centre, different artistic displays of light art were set up along a mapped route. At the beginning of the route, you pick up a map and follow the displays throughout downtown. Because the majority of our day was spent in Bruges, we were only able to see four different displays:

1. Pitaya: Les oiseaux de Mr Maeterlinck. Nestled in a majestic tree on the edge of one of Ghent’s canals was a display of fifty birds made entirely of LED lights. The reflection on the water made for a beautiful view and reminded me of the Bohemian waxwings we get in Edmonton.
2. Facebooksteeg: This was a play on words with the Dutch street names. When we were approaching the street, we were perpetuating the tourist stereotype by obnoxiously pointing and yelling about the fact that Ghent had a Facebook street. We were entirely obtuse to the fact that this was part of the festival until two Dutch ladies in front of us explained this to us. How embarrassing! Just as we were approaching the street, headlights in the Facebook street alley illuminated followed by the sound of an engine starting. The lights then rushed forward on tracks along with screeching tire sounds. Naturally, everyone jumped backwards thinking it was a real car and at the same moment a camera took a photo of all the jumping sissies and uploaded it to Facebook!  Technology definitely got the best of all of us.
3. La cabine Telephonique Aquarium: This was the first display we saw and was seen before we found out what the Light Festival was all about. All we could see was a massive crowd of Dutch families surrounding what appeared to be a normal telephone booth. Upon further inspection, it turned out to be a massive aquarium, illuminated and filled with different sorts of fish! It was without a doubt the neatest telephone booth I have ever seen.
4. Spectaculaires: On dirait que… The Post Plaza, an ornate, antique building, was used as the screen for a series of projectors that displayed a colorful light video. It seemed to be similar to the technology used for the opening ceremony light show at the Vancouver Olympics. The entire video was absolutely stunning, so much so that we stayed to see it again! Like most of those artistic videos, it seemed like the director was high as a kite when making it because it made absolutely no sense. It didn’t matter though because the whole scene was just perfect! Good company, beautiful show and wonderful city. For a video of the show: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru4JooS3g1w)

My only regret is that we didn’t have enough time in Ghent. I think this may be a recurring theme during this trip to Europe because there is simply too much to see in too short of time. This was my first experience in Belgium and it couldn’t have been better. Lucky for me, the border between France and Belgium is only ten minutes away so I can see many day trips in my future!

A plus,

Jason