Bruges

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 10th September 2023

Once again we are greeted with a great sun sunrise, further enhanced by some aircraft vapour trails. It is going to be a warm day in Bruges. Max temperatures are forecast to be 32 C, pretty warm for this time of the year in this location. At least this morning there is a light breeze and no fog.


As we tie up at our berth at Zeebrugge, it becomes pretty clear that this port is a major trading port for motor vehicles.


There is an amazing number of new cars, with MG's from China making up the largest share

We are later told on out tour that Zeebrugge is a major staging port for European vehicle imports.

Our tour today is a walking tour of Bruges followed by a canal boat trip through the city. It takes about 45 minutes by bus to get to the city centre and the overall tour including travel will take 5 hours.

The bus drops us at a major bus parking station just outside the old city rampart, at the bottom of the map below. We then proceeded on foot across the rampart and towards the city centre. It is an amazingly preserved Medieval City and much of it has UNESCO World Heritage Status. A combination of cobblestone streets, canals and Gothic Architecture results in stunning views around every corner.


The city is now surrounded by a green belt of parks and recreation areas, known as the ramparts which were previously moats and defensive walls to defend the city. 


We enter the city crossing the Southern ramparts into an area call Minniewater

We cross a bridge with The Gunpowder Tower (which was part of the city fortifications) at the city end

Cameras never stop clicking for the next few hours. I am sure we have enough photos to fill a couple of albums. However we can share a selection of them.


The longest building facade in Bruges


This area, now a convent, was an area set aside in a gated community, where only single women could live. They were called Beguinage.






A bistro 

Apparently is was only customary to bathe twice a year in Bruges, in April and October. Mixed public bath houses existed for this purpose and were all located in one part of the city. It seems they were plces of great frivolity, debauchery and most weddings took place in these months.




Carole and Sharon in the alleyway behind the bath houses


St Johns Hospital


This hospital was the city's only hospital up until 1976.


There are many stunning canal scenes






The Belfry in the background






City Hall




The Law Courts next to City Hall


A Brass Band enters the city square


City Square where a stage is set up and the band are heading for it to provide a performance


The Church of Our Lady



The Belfry where a concert is under way

The final part of our tour is a canal boat ride to see the city from a different perspective.














An unusual canal side building


Belgium is famous for chocolates, waffles , beer and chips (french fries). We can't manage to fit all of this in but we found a small cafe where we could cover the waffles, beer and chips.




Tonight we have booked dinner at Manfredi's, the specialty Italian restaurant on board. It turned into a veritable feast.





My steak was delicious

Tomorrow we are in France, docking at Honfleur at around 7 am.

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