Got up early-ish to eat breakfast and do the last few things (like get 7 days internet access (up to 50mb) outside of Germany but within the EU for 4.99 Euros) to prepare for Belgium. My uncle dropped me off to the train for about 9:30am and then it was off to Frankfurt Central, then onto a train to Brussels, where I had to catch another to Bruges. I arrived just before 4pm and picked up my code (no keys here at the Etap Hotel!) from the nice ladies at reception, dumped my stuff and headed into town.
Without intending to, I basically fitted in a whole day of sight-seeing. I didn't have a plan really since I left that for the full day I still had here, so wandered around aimlessly. Ela would’ve had blisters after a couple of hours, I reckon! The cobblestones are hard on the feet.
The hotel is right near central station (though you can't hear or feel it) and the old town is not that far, so I skirted the edge of the park around the moat/canals around the city for a little bit until I came by a square and could see the church spires to head towards. The town is bigger than I expected, at least the old part of it. It just goes on and on and on and on. It's almost like a museum town.
The first church I wandered past (St Saviour's) had an interesting spire:
I wandered around and showed wondrous restraint in my photography, considering the availability of beautiful buildings:
There were a few horse carriage tours being offered around the place:
The Church of Our Lady area had some really nice buildings, including itself:
I walked on past more canals and down less tourist-infested streets:
By now it was after 5pm and the tour buses had obviously left and only the tourists staying locally were still out. I doubt there were too many locals, except for those working in the tourism industry. I was now getting into the centre of the historic centre of town, approaching Huidevettersplein by the canal. (Wait for the panoramas when I get home!):
There's a few little squares all around here. Most have outdoor restaurants and cafes set up. I walked past the Fish Market (which I saw the next day being used to sell paintings and stuff to tourists):
and more canals:
and then headed in towards the Burg area with its gorgeous buildings:
I continued onwards edging near the Belfry and Halls and stopped for a coffee (but had a beer instead!) at a Cafe/Wine bar called Callebert Design Caffee, which is up a staircase and on a terrace out the back near the Burg area. The waitress was really nice and showed me where I could take some really good photos on a stair and balcony built for that exact purpose.:
Next photo-stop was at the Duver section of the canal:
Then back to the Church of Our Lady area because I hadn't explored the area properly and hadn't realised you could walk into the courtyards there:
Then through Guido Gezelle Plein where I started to think about dinner:
I finally got to the actual centre of Bruges in the form of the Market Square. Beautiful! And fortunate that I photographed today, because the next day was market day and the place was full of stalls:
I then went in serious search of dinner - that I could pay for with a credit card and didn't require a minimum purchase (one place wanted 50 Euro minimum!). Not as easy as you might think! But of course there were beautiful things to photograph along the way:
Dinner was at Ristorante Adriatico - Italian. But I didn't want chips and waffles for which Belgium is famous. I ended up eating the Osso Bucco - I reckon mine's better. The ambiente was very nice but the food less than average:
It was 8:30pm and during dinner I'd decided that I would walk one of the walking tours indicated on my map. But I couldn't resist more shots of the Market Square in this nice light:
The walk took me firstly to Jan van Eyckplein...:
and then along the canals, first out of the city:
There were hot air balloons floating about as well:
I continued along the canal some more and a man walking his dog started chatting to me and telling me that I must go and visite Damme because it's like Bruges but not so many tourists. I made a note of it (but didn't get there due to insufficient time).
The canal through the city now turned into a moat around the city. I walked along the edge past barges (that people live on) and windmills for a while:
It was getting quite dusky (it was nearly 9:30pm after all!) so I headed back into the city and back towards the hotel. I passed other things to photograph of course:
Until it was dark enough to play with some long exposure shots:
And a final few hand-held-twilight shots since I couldn’t be bothered setting up for long exposure. I was tired!:
Then it was home to the hotel and to bed after rubbing my foot oil on my poor tired tootsies, ready for the day in Bruges…
