Bruges Belgium

A short train ride from Ghent is Bruges, another "Old World" city in Belgium. It is truly a beautiful city with mostly old world buildings with a little modern architecture here and there.  One disappointment we often face in our travels is the inability to take pictures of the treasures we see.  I do understand the reasons they do not allow photography inside some museums and churches but I wish I had some way to preserve these memories as my ability to remember things fades with age.

The Church of Our Lady was to be our first stop, we wanted to see The Madonna and Child statue by Michelangelo.  This statue is so simple but so intricate, so plain but so moving.  It is the only work of Michelangelo that left Italy while he was still living.  It was twice removed from the church, once during the French Revolution and again in WWII.  We learned about the statue when we watched The Monuments Men, a movie about the men tasked in retrieving stolen art work at the end of WWII. The statue resides behind "bulletproof glass" because of an attack on the Pieta, another work by Michelangelo.

Although it is advertised that The Madonna and Child statue is housed at The Church of Our Lady, it is actually in the Museum section of the church. The museum is interesting as it is divided into sections that reflect the different types of architecture found in famous churches and cathedrals. These sections also have many actual religious art pieces that are reflective of what you would find in that type of architecture. It appears that services are held in many of the sections. Certainly candles can be lit and there are benches to say your prayers.

The Basilica of the Holy Blood was another stop on the Bruges tour. We had a little trouble finding it as it is quite small, has only a small sign, does not look like a typical church and is off in one corner of a square. The church houses a venerated relic of the Holy Blood allegedly collected by Joseph of Arimathea and brought from the Holy Land by Thierry of Alsace, the Count of Flanders. The relic is displayed every afternoon for several hours for all to view, we were not able to stay for the viewing the day we were there.  When you entered the church you were aware that you are in a religious house, it had a saintly presence.

Sometime during this trip I began to consider some of the issues facing these old churches and museums.  How do they hold on to their old customs, religious services (mass, baptisms...), operate as a museum and deal with thousands of tourists.  They very much need the money from tourism to preserve the church and relics but having thousands of people coming and going can be...difficult. I consider myself very fortunate to have seen so many treasures in my lifetime and really appreciate the efforts they go to to make them available to me and others.







At some point we must have been crazy because we wanted to go to the Belfry of Bruges.  There are 366 steps on a steep, narrow winding stairway to the top.  There is traffic both up and down on the same stairway making the climb difficult. Luckily there was a long line which was not moving or we might have tried the climb, we opted to spend our time elsewhere.

In the picture on the left you can see the line of people waiting to climb the narrow winding stairway to the top.

Like in Ghent, the hotel breakfast is extremely expensive so we opted out and headed to a McDonalds we saw around the corner where instead of a cheap breakfast we found it closed.  It seems the local government tries to discourage fast food restaurants from coming to the city.  They have enacted ordinances to keep them from opening early and not allowing them to have take out.  All the food has to be consumed on site which makes they very crowded when they are open.  

We stayed at the Dukes Palace in Bruges. It was a nice hotel located near the central square. At some point I had to try an authentic Belgium Waffle...actually I tried two, not at the same time but from different places.  They were good, different than the Belgium waffles I make, they were more "chewy" as if they used a bread batter rather than a waffle batter. This article may explain the difference.








        TJ & EA in Holland