Maybe that’s what hell is, the entire rest of eternity spent in fucking Bruges – (Ray, Colin Farrell, In Bruges)
Sorry Ray, I have to disagree.
Bruges is a fairy tale.
The only problem is that the historic city centre is overrun with tourists. There are just 20,000 residents living in this section of Bruges and on a busy day the tourists far outnumber them. You can see why the locals get pissed off at tourists wandering into their path as they cycle around the city.
Everywhere we looked we were confronted with people from the UK. And they all had the same idea as us… Christmas markets.
We specifically chose to spend 48 hours in Bruges for the Christmas Markets (and Belgium was a country we hadn’t been to yet). While the Edinburgh markets are great, we wanted to experience a “genuine” Christmas market. However I think we were kidding ourselves in assuming it would be any different. Same wooden booths, same lights, same gorgeous smells wafting through the chilly air and the same people.
Don’t get me wrong. We loved every minute of it. But if you are looking for a traditional Christmas market then you might as well head down to your local one.
So while the markets were a disappoint, Bruges was anything but.
The walled city centre is a World Heritage Site of UNESCO with a canal system dissecting Bruges into small pockets of one way narrow streets and lanes. We love small cities that can be covered on foot or bike and Bruges ticked all the boxes with pedestrians and cyclists dominating. Unfortunately Bruges is not yet completely car free although it is in the pipelines so watch your back as you stroll around.
With all the canals Bruges is often referred to as “The Venice of the North” but is also well known for its chocolate, beer and lace. I definitely like 2 out of the 3.
Our hostel was set along half a block with their own bar (no surprise there) so it was quite a scene. On arrival we were told by the Aussie at the counter that we were sleeping directly above the bar! All this with a smile and thumbs up. Being a group of Aussies and Kiwi’s I guess we were supposed to be stoked…
Exploring our room further we quickly realized that not only were we above the bar but we could see between the floorboards to the bands heads! Even with several glasses of mulled wine and Belgian beers to help we knew there would be no sleep tonight so Adela used her persuasive powers to get us moved.
Venturing into the heart of Bruges with foot long bratwursts in hand we wandered through the Christmas markets. A beautiful area that was located in the central square surrounded by historic buildings and overlooked by the Belfry tower made famous from “that” movie. With 366 stairs to the top it may seem daunting but every 50 or so steps your climb is broken by a landing. The views at the top also made it worthwhile. Overlooking the city you get the sense you could glimpse the rest of Europe stretching away to the east.
The only problem is that you don’t want to hang around up there too long. The bells rang loud and true and never seemed to cease. And boy were they deafening.
What amazed me is that they don’t just plug in an iPod and let it play. They actually employ some bloke with a fancy name, a Carilloneur, to play on the wooden hand keyboard. He must love his job to climb those stairs every day. You can actually watch him through his little window about 3/4s of the way up bashing out the latest hits from Lady Gaga. Okay the Lady Gaga part is fake but he does play with great gusto.
Mercifully the lines were not too bad so we were in and out relatively quickly. We had heard reports that you can stand around for half an hour or more waiting to gain entrance.
Walking the city streets and canal banks you don’t want to carry a map. Our favourite part of the trip was spent wandering the maze of alleyways away from the tourist hordes. Stumbling upon hidden cafes and bakeries makes up for hours you will spend enjoying the simple surrounds.
And for a quick day excursion from Bruges hire yourself a bike and ride along the canals out of the city in any direction. We ventured out to Damme which used to be the port for Bruges. While you may not be able to spend hours here it is nice to get out of the hustle and bustle.
To top it all off, at night the city looks like a Roman candle with the buildings draped in decorative twinkling lights. Swans drift lazily under the spotlit bridges that zigzag across the canals while couples stroll hand in hand huddling close together to stay warm from the winter chill.
While two days were plenty long enough I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of eternity chilling out In Bruges.
How can this really be hell Ray?
