December 4th…Brugge!

December 4, 2012

Well, up until 3:30am blogging, etc. and having to meet at 8:am for breakfast…not great thinking on my part! I was TIRED and a bit winey and cranky today! But I made it in time to get the 8:57 train to Brugge and along with my new friend Sara, off we went to adventures yet again of the unknown!

It was a great day; but I am too tired to finish the details so I’ve uploaded the pics and will hopefully catch up later!

Ahhh, it’s a few days later and the train station to head into Brugge, on our way out of the terminal I saw a bookstore with a mini Brugge booklet. So we went in and I picked it up and it had really nice pics and a map of the mail places to see and appreciate in Brugge as well as historical information and facts that really came in handy! We also stopped in a grocery and came across these enormous Nutella bottles…Sara put her hand up to it so you could get the size perspective! It’s the actual size they sell!!!

Brugge can date itself back to between the 7th and 9th century and actually became an important world port in the 13th century. Because of this, the architecture is unbelievable. The buildings are still as beautiful as the date they were built.

Trying so hard to see “a little of everything” while here in Belgium, I know I’m only skimming the surface of what I could enjoy.

The walk into town was really interesting and lots of pics of the building fronts show the unique structures and how they’re still either lived in or used today. On the way in (and out as well!), we passed the Beguinage of Brugge. I know it’s the feminist in me, but I’m fascinated by these Beguinage “towns within a town” and of the chosen lifestyle of the women living secluded and provided for themselves as a sort of answer to the loss of men to war and to their desire to not necessarily take religious vows, including vows of poverty, even though they were mostly deeply religious and took in and cared for those who lived in poverty. They are amazing and today they are no longer communities like this but I can’t help but be amazed at this chosen way of life and the strength of these women to live sufficiently yet outside of societal norms!

We decided to head for the St. Savior’s Cathedral because of it’s massive treasures and ancient architecture and statues. The cathedral was created by St. Eloi,bishop of Noyan around 670. It has been renovated and added to and changed with the high-alter dating around 1642. I know my pictures don’t do it justice, but I took some anyway! They have thousand year old tapestries hanging and paintings dating back to “who knows when”. The statues are ornate and incredibly detailed. We spent a long time in there! Some of the time I spent in there by myself while Sara was an an antique bookstore. She ended up acquiring a small French cookbook from the 1700’s! We were both enjoying this fabulous town!

The book explained how women in Brugge still make lace using spindles and the intricate designs they create can take up to between 300 and 700 spindles to create. I caught a picture of “in progress” work with the spindles and it is the coolest thing ever! Ohhh, I got so excited, I now knew what I would bring back from Belgium! LACE They also do a lot of crocheting of lace as well and thank goodness we found shops!!!!!

We had tea and a sweet (I had an eclair and Sara had a fruit tart of some sort) and afterward, out on the open Christmas Market, split a Brat while we wandered around shopping the mart a bit! A new attraction, the Historium, caught our attention and I sat with my tired self while Sara enjoyed a video experience really explaining life in the earlier years of Brugge. I read through the little booklet and found where the museums were and we had time to catch one still open. Sara got to enjoy some of the artwork housed in the Groeninge Museum and we both enjoyed a respite from the rain and in the museum shop!

We found a wonderful restaurant and ate authentically and slowly and with the help of our map and a wonderful lady stranger who was walking her doggie, made our way back to the train station and our correct train back to Leuven! I am so enjoying the sights and the people. We have entertained many with our uncertainty of the trains, and general directions, and menses, etc.!