LET'S BE ADVENTURERS!: Brugge Belgium

Kira and I went to Brugge only 20 miles from port instead of Brussels which was 70 miles away.

The old watchtower for the city, it was just outside the city walls.

Mom went on a Scenic Villages tour through the countryside and saw old castles and farms with a stop at a famous chocolate factory.

Kira and I were on a bus that drops you just outside the mid evil walled city of Brugge. The walls have been taken down but the watchtower is there next to the main water way into the city.

This is the window design unique to Brugge. The design builds as it goes up and comes together at the top.

It has been kept looking just like it did in the 17th century. We even saw a building built in the 12th century. It's so hard to imagine something built and lived in that long ago and what life must have been like.

Many mid evil period movies have been filmed here since they have run their electricity underground and have not allowed any modern buildings in.

In the center of town is the Belfry (Bell Tower) and Markt (Market Square) the rest of the city streets sprocket out from here.

The Post Office

This city was much less intimidating and we found our way around nicely with the map.

Bell Tower Courtyard

In the center of town is the Belfry (Bell Tower) and Markt (Market Square) the rest of the city streets sprocket out from here.

The place where we had fries!

Brugge claims to be the place where french fries were invented, there is a friet museum to prove it. There are friet stands everywhere so we had to share a basket. They eat them with mayo, but for Yankees they'll add ketchup. The ketchup here has curry powder in it, odd at first but pretty good.

Brugge also claims to be the home of Belgian chocolate. We did go to the Chocolate Story museum. The Aztecs discovered the bean and made what sounds like a coffee out of it, the Spanish took it from there and added sugar, then a Belgian thought to add milk powder and it really took off. The museum has a beautiful collection of chocolate pots and cups, also molds and gift tins. It was really interesting and ended with a live demo and a fabulous hazelnut creme filled chocolate. Mmmm.

The owner of the factory also was an avid lamp collector, so we toured that museum also.

Where we bought our chocolates!

Belgium is also known for beer and our tour guide told us about a cheery beer made for the ladies so we went into a cool spot called The BeerWall and ordered a small glass to share. It was exciting for Kira to take advantage of the drinking age, 16 right now but being moved to 18 at the end of the year.

The area outside where we sat and had our beer right on the canal.

It was interesting to see the historical homes. There is one area where there are many Begijnhof's. Homes the church provided for women who's husbands had gone off to war or as trade merchants and did not return. The women could work and look for a new husband or live out their days working for the church in some way.

A former Begijnhof home now turned to apartments with a common kitchen.

Long ago there was a belief that in order to skip purgatory and go straight you heaven you had to pray twice a day to God. So some wealthy people would build homes behind thier own with a courtyard between where poor families could live rent free if they would pray for there benefactors twice a day. Each Almshouse had a Madonna at the entrance for that purpose. Now a days they are small apartments for the elderly with low rent.

Entrance to an Almshouse.

Brugge is also home to the only Michelangelo sculpture to leave Italy during his lifetime. It is inside the Church of our Lady. We didn't get to see it, but there are pictures of the Madonna and Child sculpture everywhere. It reminds me of the tour we took in New York at the MET.