Brugges - 9-13-2010

On the Way to Brugges

OK, the apple beignets at 9:00 in the evening was a bad idea, but at least my lack of sleep allowed me the time to catch up with the blog.  Will need to wait until I'm in Brussels tomorrow to post the dailies.

Back Alleys of Brugges

Fortunately the rough night was not an harbinger of things to come.  Geert and Misty had to head back to Oodenarde for work so, upon Geert's recommendation, we took public transportation to the town of Brugges, about 10 miles south of Weindune. We took the local tram into Blankenberge and then from there a train to Brugges.  It was a breeze though I was taken by surprise at having to pay for the privelege of using the bathroom . . . and observe men using the urinals.  As it turns out, the washroom are coed and only the toilets are segregated . . . though if there is no door separating the rooms the men at the urinals are generally on display, NOT that I was looking very hard.

Canals of Brugges

Brugges is picturesque town that sits inland about 15 kilometers.  Much of the architecture of the town dates back tot he 14th, 15th and 16th, centuries.  Meandering through the Town are a number of canals, home of quite a few elegant swans that lend to the fairy tale feel of this town.  Though once upon a time in the 9th century this Town was a seaport for the Vikings, this identity was shortlived as the North Sea receded.

Architecture of Brugges

After that the town's economy over the centuries relied on trade in wool and cloth production.  When the industrial revolution occurred putting about half of the population out of work, the production of hand-made lace became the bread-winning activity.  Brugges now thrives on tourism as this has been called one of the most picturesque towns in Europe and because this Town is known as the capital of Belgian chocolate and arguably the chocolate capital of the world.  I wonder if anyone told Hershey this?

Chocolate Museum

This small town has 49 chocolatiers, a chocolate festival, and a chocolate museum which we did visit.  No we did not enter the Louvre or any of the other phenomenal French museums, frankly it was overwhelming, but by gosh we were going to visit the Chocolate museum.  Did you know that it was hot chocolate that generated the creation of the saucer to hold the cup, not tea or coffee?  The highlight was watching a patisserie chef make dark chocolate molds filled with praline (ground up hazlenuts, sugar, and butter).  We got to sample them at the end of the demonstration and even Rick, who is not a fan of nuts, regrettably ate his entire sample.  I picked up some chocolates made in Brugges from the chocalatier, Dumon, and the proprietor informed us that her chocolates came recommended by Rick Steves, the travel guide and proudly showed us the article.  That was good enough for us.

It is very hard to decribe in words just how lovely Brugges is . . . so there are plenty of pictures.  It is everything one might imagine an old style European town to be, cobblestone streets, flower boxes, buildings of brick and stone facades by lively colored trim, open air plazas, and lots of cafes, restaurants, and shops.  The main part of town is relatively small and we were able to walk the entire area in our daylong visit.

At Geert's recommendation, we ate lunch at Le Pain Quotidien in Brugges which was an amazing find.  In a country of filled with gastronomic delights containing potatoes, butter, bread, butter, waffles, butter, and cheese (and butter) this restaurant or maybe rather, teashop, bucked the trend, and served fresh vegetables and fruits as well as salads that don't contain meat or cheese.  We're not vegetarian but both Rick and I have been craving fresh produce.  Anyway, I ordered a Tartine (open-face sandwich) with heavy brown bread, a sun-dried tomato "fois gras," grilled vegetables, arugula and shaved reggiano parmesan.  It was so good, I was almost in tears.  The meal was accompanied by mint lemonade and Rick had a tartine with grilled chicken and veggies, and an herb spread.  We spent 2 hours savoring this food and then were ready to walk the rest of Brugges.

A little more photography and shopping and then we were on our way home.  We took a short rest and then walked the beach and ended up at another restaurant along the beach for dinner where I had the fish of the day, sole, Rick had a steak and we shared a fine bottle of wine out on the boardwalk, next to the beach. We ended the evening with 20-yr tawny port and our Dumond chocolates, watching on TV the documentary "British Underground" trying to learn Flemmish from the subtitles.