Bruges, Belgium

Belgium: Known for it's lace, ancient architecture, waffles, and, of course, CHOCOLATE!  We were excited to visit Belgium.

And we had a lovely day there.  We took a tour that took us to the city of Bruges.  After a bus ride,   our tour started with a walking tour of the city.

We walked through a beautiful park and university campus.  Many students whizzed past us on bicycles.

We had a guide (who didn't have a great command of the English language) who walked us through the city.  We all wore earphones and listened to her commentary as we walked.  The next several pictures were taken on that tour.

Bruges has a beautiful canal running in and around it.

Spire of the Church of Our Lady.  We would go back later- after the tour,  and go inside.

Cobblestone roads, beautiful ancient architecture, statuary, gardens, and the canals made for a beautiful city.

After the walking tour, we took a boat canal tour.  We really enjoyed seeing the city from that vantage.

The bridges over the canal were low, creating not much clearance for the canal boats.

We fit under there?  No problem!

The tour guide pointed this out as the littlest window in Belgium

Pauper women housing.  Indigent women could stay here for free if they attended church.

I love this picture of the skyline.

This statue represents the story of a local legend. This is a woman weeping. They killed all eight of her children (I don't remember who or why), so she cries day and night.  Her tears create the canal.

Taken from a street corner above.  The tour guide told us this  is the most photographed area in Bruges.  If you look on travel brochures for Bruges, it probably will include a picture taken from here.

Here's a picture I found online when I looked up Bruges:

Ken's almost-identical photo.

After the canal tour, we had several hours of free time before we were to meet up with our group for the bus ride home.  We loved walking around this beautiful city, taking in the sights and sounds.

This building on one side of one of the squares was SO beautiful with gold accents.

Muscians playing for tips added to the ambience.  This duo played classical music on a violin and an accordian.  An accordian???  Yes, and it was gorgeous.

Panoramic shot of the square.

Market Square

It is a little difficult to see what this is, but it is a large map of Bruges made out of lace.  It hangs near the canal.

Market Square

This city square was just breathtakingly beautiful to me. 

We took pictures from every angle.

It was a little after 11 am.  We had until 3:30 when we needed to meet back up with our tour group.

Belgium lace shop- we purchased a pretty piece for our entry table.

Chocolate and nougat stores everywhere.  Yes, Belgium chocolate IS all it is cracked up to be.

The store owner boxing the chocolate

One of my favorite shots from our trip.

This long park lined the canal.  It was beautiful and had lots of benches- my favorite vegetable!

We went inside the Church of our Lady which is now a beautiful art museum.  Inside you can view the only Michelangelo sculpture outside of Italy- a Madonna and child, as well as a lot of other beautiful art.

Beautiful stained glass windows

Photos of stained glass just don't do it justice, do they?

An ancient burial crypt

Sepulchres

This is a reproduction of Michelangelo's Madonna and child.  You could get close to this and see the details.  The real one, just a few yards away, was protected, so you couldn't get too close.

This is the Michelangelo Madonna and child.  It has an interesting history.  A merchant bought it and donated it to this church, with the stipulation that he could be buried near it.  I guess the pastor didn't like the piece because Jesus was naked.

Isn't it beautiful?  We sat on a bench across from it for a long time and just stared.

A view from further back.

Supper at Emmaus painting from the 1500s by Caravaggio

The chapel where they obviously still hold services

There were marzipan and nougat shops everywhere

By now, we were pretty hungry as we hadn't had lunch.  We had to try a Belgian waffle.  Oh my.  They were hot, made to order, with a huge variety of toppings to choose from.  I had the chocolate with whipped cream and Ken had the chocolate with strawberries and whipped cream.  That chocolate fudge sauce was THE best I've ever eaten!  Then they had a huge assortment of toppings you could sprinkle on yourself: chocolate shavings, nuts, sprinkles, etc. These were so beautiful when we bought them, but we had to walk a block or two before we could find a place to sit down to eat them and photograph them. Meanwhile, the cream melted.  Trust me; they were  beautiful- and delicious!

We finally found some tables and chairs to enjoy our treat.

We sat right near this interesting statue.  This was also the meeting place for our tour.  After finishing our treat, we had about 1/2 hour until meeting time.  Ken had seen a park he wanted to check out for birds.  So I waited here and he went.  He enjoyed the birds, and I enjoyed people watching, though it was a bit cold and started to rain.

He took a picture of the local park.  It was beautiful.  He did see a new bird there.

I took a selfie of myself while I waited.

We loved our day in Bruges.  The one negative was the bathroom situation.  Bathrooms were difficult to find, and there was a charge- 1/2 Euro.  We had bad experiences.  Ken found one and paid a dollar (almost as much as a Euro).  He said this paid for him and for his wife who he would go and get.  When he brought me back, the bathroom Nazi lady insisted she had given him change.  He insisted she hadn't.  While they "discussed" it, I just went in and used the rest room.  Just before getting on the bus, we found another restroom. By then, we really needed it!  There was a long line.  The bathroom Nazi there also argued with Ken over the price, insisting the price was $2.00 for two people, though it should have only been $1.00- as it was clearly marked.  It was the one downside of Belgium.  Though the amount was relatively small, it left a bad taste.  Everywhere else we went in Europe was much better as far as public rest rooms.

Bus ride back to the ship.  Do I look as relieved as I felt that we had found a rest room??

Bruges, Belgium is a beautiful city.  We so enjoyed our visit there!