In Bruges

We are lucky that the forecast for Belgium for the next 5 or so days is glorious! We arrived last night after crossing under the English Channel on the Euro Star and taking the train from Brussels to Bruges. Daniel and Leonie arrived a few hours later from Germany, so we have 8 days of exploring together.

This morning we went out to brunch and then had a bit of a look around the Dukes Palace, the main square (Markt), and also De Burg, the older plaza, with the City Hall and Basilica of the Holy Blood in it.
We then walked up Blind Donkey street to the picturesque old covered fish market and the Tanners Square. Just around the corner is Bonifacius Bridge and a wide section of canal which is the the most photographed spot in Bruges. As we were walking we came upon a city garden with statues of The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and an large orchestra playing, it was quite lovely. We carried on and went to Church of Our Lady to see Michaelangelo's Madonna and Child, which was bought back to Bruges by the Allies' Monuments Men from the salt mines in Austria. The Church also has the highly decorated tombs of Mary of Burgundy and Charles the Bold.

We had a bit of a break while Daniel and Leonie carried on exploring, on the way back we passed the Markt square and there was a band of drummers leaping, kicking and drumming in unison, it is a very vibrant town square. Then we met up at the Brewery Bourgogne des Flandres for a tasting flight of beers to finish the afternoon.もっと詳しく