Travels with D&K: Europe, 20 May 2012

It didn't really feel like Sunday today to us, because we simply headed off into Brugge instead of going to church. And it was a bit surprising that everything seemed to be business as usual. I guess that's the way of the world now.

The Canal in Brugge

Since the ship docked at Zeebrugge, which is the port for Brugge, we took a shuttle from the ship to the train station in Blankenberge where we caught the train in to Brugge. It was a fairly short train ride.

In Brugge, we followed our usual plan of wandering the city and finding interesting sites. And occasionally getting lost. It was pretty quiet when we first arrived in the morning.

Our first stop was the Church of Our Lady, which was not open to visitors yet as it was Sunday morning. Near the church was the Gruuthuse, a museum where we only visited the outside and surrounding area.

Town Square from The Bell Tower

Brugge from The Bell Tower

From there we arrived at the Markt, the medieval center of town and business. It is still a lively place. Nearby is The Bell Tower, with great views of the city. Dick, of course, climbed the tower. It was our one day so far of cloudy overcast weather. But the views from the top are well worth the climb.

Lunch at Herberg Vlissinghe

Returning to the ground and rejoining Karen, we then headed to another church, The Basilica of the Holy Blood. They claim to have a relic of Christ's blood from the crucifixion, which we did not see. There was a Mass going on upstairs and the church was crowded, so we only peeked in. On the street level was the older medieval part of the church with very old brick work.

Attached next door is the Town Hall, another fine example of medieval architecture.

Dumon Chocolate

The next goal was food. The Belgians are famous for beer and chocolate. So our goal was both. For lunch we went to Herberg Vlissinghe, the oldest pub in Brugge opened in 1515. It's a fairly small place with tables that are shared. There were a couple of larger groups, the second of which seemed to be local people from the neighborhood, gathering for a celebration. We shared our table with two other couples successively. We of course had local beer with lunch.

For the chocolate fix, we found Dumon Chocolates, a family operation off Market Square with a very good selection of freshly made chocolates, sold by family members. It is one of very many chocolate shops in Brugge. And they make very good chocolate.

It was time to head back to the train to return to the ship. We went through the Markt, and stopped again at the Church of Our Lady, now open for viewing. From there we headed to the train station with a short detour through Minnewater, a large park with a river and canals. It is another beautiful area.