In Belgium I stayed in a town called Brugges (pronounced kinda like Bruise, but a "g" instead of s) It was an hour train ride west of Brussels and about 20mins from the beach. Brugges is actually a town that was founded in the 12th century. Now it has a mix between historical buildings and touristy shopping streets. Brugge claims to be the Venice of the north because of its elaborate canal system which is actually pretty cute, but the smell is horrible.
Brugges has a few other claims to fame: In one of the churches there is a cylinder of blood that was carried on the crusades way back in the day because it is said to be from Jesus. This church was coincidentally named the "church of the holy blood." The Cylinder is paraded around town once a year in a big festival. I fortunately missed this day, I was grossed out by the story and really didn't want to see the cylinder. I did go to see the most famous thing in Brugge though. The "Madonna and child" by Michelangelo is displayed in one of the Churches. It is one of the few Michelangelo sculptures that isn't in Italy. I was purchased by two Brugge merchants in the 1500s and amazingly was returned to the church twice after being looted by french revolutionaries and the Nazis.
I really have no clue why there is water coming out of this mermaid's boobs. It may have some historical significance that I laughed through. Brugge was packed with British people, I think its a popular vacation spot. I met a bunch of people that braved the English chunnel to get there and again played the compass for a bunch of people who were lost or couldn't read the signs.
In the early afternoon on Saturday I grew tired of the Brugge tourist scene and went to the beach. I went to Oostende, a popular little port/beach town on the North sea. About 25-60 years ago, when my mom was in Belgium this is where an old man came up and thanked her for Canada's help in the Second world war. Although I did not swim (it was kinda windy and cold) I did have a nice day at the beach. 
Highlights from the beach included:
- The massive parachute type kites that lift people off the ground.
- The windsurfers and Kite-surfers who kept getting lines crossed and bumping into each other.
- The super-cheap grocery store that I found.
- The cute little crabs that were getting washed around in the tide.
- The killer sunset (shown above)
On Sunday I spend the day in Brussels, One of the great cities of the world and home of the European Union. My navigational skills were really tested, but I definitely got my 4 euro worth out of my daily transit pass. Brussels is a really cool city and I wish I could have spent more time there. Full of palaces, statues, and sites where extraordinary historical events took place. Like Waterloo, where Napoleon met his Waterloo (haha) about 20k south of Brussels. Or one of the current high schools which was once a conference center where Einstein, Bohr and other Nobel prize laureates met to discuss the "new" quantum theory in the 1920s. The above picture is of the Cinquantenaire on the east side of the city. This Huge gate is in the middle of a beautiful urban park. All made possible by the highway bypass that runs under the city, and directly under the gates. (eat your heart out Boston, it didn't even cost 4 billion dollars)
The National Basilica of Belgium, the largest Church I've ever been in. It wasn't the fanciest and it was under renovation so all of the relics were covered, but the size of it is astounding. It took almost 70years to build (delayed by two world wars) and is the 5th largest church in the world. I couldn't find out how many people it holds, but I would estimate about 20 - 25 000 if you include the 2nd deck. Truly impressive.
Originally build only for the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels, The Atonium exhibit had to be permanently extended because it was so popular. The 103m tall structure is complete with observation deck, museum, restaurant, and sleeping quarters for school groups. It is a truly unique part of the Brussels skyline and possibly the most out-of-place thing I've seen so far. Its actually modeled after an Iron Molecule (magnified 165 billion times), pretty sweet, in a nerdy kinda way.
- The massive parachute type kites that lift people off the ground.
- The windsurfers and Kite-surfers who kept getting lines crossed and bumping into each other.
- The super-cheap grocery store that I found.
- The cute little crabs that were getting washed around in the tide.
- The killer sunset (shown above)
On Sunday I spend the day in Brussels, One of the great cities of the world and home of the European Union. My navigational skills were really tested, but I definitely got my 4 euro worth out of my daily transit pass. Brussels is a really cool city and I wish I could have spent more time there. Full of palaces, statues, and sites where extraordinary historical events took place. Like Waterloo, where Napoleon met his Waterloo (haha) about 20k south of Brussels. Or one of the current high schools which was once a conference center where Einstein, Bohr and other Nobel prize laureates met to discuss the "new" quantum theory in the 1920s. The above picture is of the Cinquantenaire on the east side of the city. This Huge gate is in the middle of a beautiful urban park. All made possible by the highway bypass that runs under the city, and directly under the gates. (eat your heart out Boston, it didn't even cost 4 billion dollars)The National Basilica of Belgium, the largest Church I've ever been in. It wasn't the fanciest and it was under renovation so all of the relics were covered, but the size of it is astounding. It took almost 70years to build (delayed by two world wars) and is the 5th largest church in the world. I couldn't find out how many people it holds, but I would estimate about 20 - 25 000 if you include the 2nd deck. Truly impressive.Originally build only for the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels, The Atonium exhibit had to be permanently extended because it was so popular. The 103m tall structure is complete with observation deck, museum, restaurant, and sleeping quarters for school groups. It is a truly unique part of the Brussels skyline and possibly the most out-of-place thing I've seen so far. Its actually modeled after an Iron Molecule (magnified 165 billion times), pretty sweet, in a nerdy kinda way. 
2 comments:
I hope you have some 3 or 4 day weekends to see Rome or Paris or Munich. This is Europe, isn't it. What happened to their fabled relax-a-jobs?
good pictures, chris!
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