The trip from Melbourne takes as long as it takes - 8 hours to Singapore, a 6 hour transit, 12 hours to Amsterdam and then a 3.5 hour train trip to Bruges. We used the Singapore transit to go into the city and do a small tour of the Arab area, which was particularly interesting as it is the time of Ramadan.
We arrived (tired) in Bruges at about 9.30 am. Very fortunately, our hotel room was available, so we had a shower and a 90 min rest.
Since then we haven't stopped. In two days, we've walked all over the old part of Bruges', seen museums, churches, markets and numerous charming streets and houses. The photo shows Bernadette in the Markt Square, where a market is held every Wednesday. We've also done the obligatory canal tour and had the obligatory chips, chocolate and beer - of which the beer is by far the best. There are very many beers in Belgium and some bars have a wide selection at really good prices - imagine getting Chimay beer at only €3.40!
Bruges is a compact city that retains many of the buildings that were developed in its golden age as a trading centre up to the 15th century. Then their economy turned pear-shaped, because the canal providing sea-access silted up and also the king decided to favour its rival, Antwerp. This wasn't completely unfair - after all, the citizens of Bruge had gaoled him, executed some of his friends and only released him based on promises that he later forgot. So, Bruge couldn't afford to redevelop the old buildings and they remained.
Of course, these old buildings are now the foundation of the city's prosperity. Fortunately, we are at the tail end of the tourist season - tiny Bruges (population 75,000) gets about 3 million visitors a year. There seem plenty here now, but apparently it is now fairly quiet by Bruges standards.
We've had fun here and we do think that Bruges is worth a visit (but not in the real tourist season). Tomorrow we're off to Brussels and on to London on Eurostar.
We arrived (tired) in Bruges at about 9.30 am. Very fortunately, our hotel room was available, so we had a shower and a 90 min rest.
Since then we haven't stopped. In two days, we've walked all over the old part of Bruges', seen museums, churches, markets and numerous charming streets and houses. The photo shows Bernadette in the Markt Square, where a market is held every Wednesday. We've also done the obligatory canal tour and had the obligatory chips, chocolate and beer - of which the beer is by far the best. There are very many beers in Belgium and some bars have a wide selection at really good prices - imagine getting Chimay beer at only €3.40!
Bruges is a compact city that retains many of the buildings that were developed in its golden age as a trading centre up to the 15th century. Then their economy turned pear-shaped, because the canal providing sea-access silted up and also the king decided to favour its rival, Antwerp. This wasn't completely unfair - after all, the citizens of Bruge had gaoled him, executed some of his friends and only released him based on promises that he later forgot. So, Bruge couldn't afford to redevelop the old buildings and they remained.
Of course, these old buildings are now the foundation of the city's prosperity. Fortunately, we are at the tail end of the tourist season - tiny Bruges (population 75,000) gets about 3 million visitors a year. There seem plenty here now, but apparently it is now fairly quiet by Bruges standards.
We've had fun here and we do think that Bruges is worth a visit (but not in the real tourist season). Tomorrow we're off to Brussels and on to London on Eurostar.
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