In Bruges
For those of you that have seen the film, it really is a beautiful city.
Our first planned stop was going to be the Belfry tower, but as we had slept in, we decided to leave it until tomorrow and headed straight for Burg Square and a quick look inside the Basilica of the Holy Blood. It was a beautiful cathedral, albeit quiet small.
Our next stop, the Groeningemuseum, was a 10 minute walk away; it houses many Flemish and Belgian paintings. We were on the lookout for a Jan van Eyck painting called “The Madonna with Canon van deer Peale” and a Hieronymus Bosch piece called “The Last Judgement.” The Van Eyck is particularly famous and was used as the story to medieval Bruges in the Historium museum yesterday. We walked about for over an hour, looking at 15th to 18th century paintings as well as some (horrendous!) modern art.
After the visit to art museum, it was time for our first brewery tour of the trip. I had pre-booked tickets to the Halve Maan brewery; again, only a short walk away. It is a family run brewery which has passed along six generations. It is also the only brewery in the world which has a 3km long pipe transferring the beer for maturation and bottling. The tour lasted 45 minutes and we got a free beer at the end of it; my only complaint was the beer was only 6%.
We were planning to go on a canal boat ride after the beer but I was starving so I stopped for some Belgian fries. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures as I was too hungry to care, and they were gone by the time I remembered!
After our beers and snacks, we took a canal boat tour around some of the 12km of canals. It was still sunny so I really enjoyed seeing the sites from a different perspective. Pictures courtesy of Iain, I was too busy relaxing.
By the time we got off the boat, it was already after 5pm. The day before I had researched the best bars and places to drink so we headed back towards the area around the chocolate museum. The bar is called “t’ Poatersgat” and is apparently the city’s most famous pub, and is practically mandatory to visit when in Bruges. We nearly walked past it as it is in the basement of a historic building but that this definitely part of the charm; along with the vast array of beers and great music!
It was already 7pm but we weren’t particularly hungry so we headed to another famous bar called Cafe Rose Red; it is named after the Stephen King mini-series Rose Red and is famous for its Trappist beers (made by monks!). We asked the bar man for recommendations as there were over 200 beers on the menu; I had a 2 year old Orval which was slightly sour and only 6.2%. We stayed there for a couple of drinks and enjoyed a charcuterie board along with them.
Next stop on my DIY beer tour was Cafe Vlissinghe; it is apparently the oldest tavern in Bruges and legend has it that Peter Paul Rubens paid for his beer with paintings. I had the cafes’ home brew which was rather tasty. We only stayed for one drink before heading to our final stop of the evening, Comptoir Des Arts. This is another basement pub which has a rather big range of whisky and beer. It is also known for its live jazz, blues and soul but unfortunately, there was nothing on when we were there.
It was 11pm, but we were both shattered and slightly worse for wear so we headed back to the hotel to plan the next days schedule.
Today we decided to get up late and have a leisurely breakfast at the highest rated breakfast spot on tripadvisor “That’s Toast”. I had avocado smash with chilli which was delicious and set me up for the day, along with an Americano.
Our first planned stop was going to be the Belfry tower, but as we had slept in, we decided to leave it until tomorrow and headed straight for Burg Square and a quick look inside the Basilica of the Holy Blood. It was a beautiful cathedral, albeit quiet small.
Our next stop, the Groeningemuseum, was a 10 minute walk away; it houses many Flemish and Belgian paintings. We were on the lookout for a Jan van Eyck painting called “The Madonna with Canon van deer Peale” and a Hieronymus Bosch piece called “The Last Judgement.” The Van Eyck is particularly famous and was used as the story to medieval Bruges in the Historium museum yesterday. We walked about for over an hour, looking at 15th to 18th century paintings as well as some (horrendous!) modern art.
After the visit to art museum, it was time for our first brewery tour of the trip. I had pre-booked tickets to the Halve Maan brewery; again, only a short walk away. It is a family run brewery which has passed along six generations. It is also the only brewery in the world which has a 3km long pipe transferring the beer for maturation and bottling. The tour lasted 45 minutes and we got a free beer at the end of it; my only complaint was the beer was only 6%.
We were planning to go on a canal boat ride after the beer but I was starving so I stopped for some Belgian fries. Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures as I was too hungry to care, and they were gone by the time I remembered!
A friend (thanks Brian!) recommended visiting “The Beer Wall” so instead of queuing for a boat, we thought we better treat ourselves to another beer, or four! I went for the local beer tasters, ranging from 4.8% to 6% so I was fine. Iain, on the other hand, went for the strong beers..... The Beer Wall was situated on the river and it was nearing 20 degrees so I was delighted; I seem to have been freezing since returning from Beijing.
After our beers and snacks, we took a canal boat tour around some of the 12km of canals. It was still sunny so I really enjoyed seeing the sites from a different perspective. Pictures courtesy of Iain, I was too busy relaxing.
By the time we got off the boat, it was already after 5pm. The day before I had researched the best bars and places to drink so we headed back towards the area around the chocolate museum. The bar is called “t’ Poatersgat” and is apparently the city’s most famous pub, and is practically mandatory to visit when in Bruges. We nearly walked past it as it is in the basement of a historic building but that this definitely part of the charm; along with the vast array of beers and great music!
It was already 7pm but we weren’t particularly hungry so we headed to another famous bar called Cafe Rose Red; it is named after the Stephen King mini-series Rose Red and is famous for its Trappist beers (made by monks!). We asked the bar man for recommendations as there were over 200 beers on the menu; I had a 2 year old Orval which was slightly sour and only 6.2%. We stayed there for a couple of drinks and enjoyed a charcuterie board along with them.
Next stop on my DIY beer tour was Cafe Vlissinghe; it is apparently the oldest tavern in Bruges and legend has it that Peter Paul Rubens paid for his beer with paintings. I had the cafes’ home brew which was rather tasty. We only stayed for one drink before heading to our final stop of the evening, Comptoir Des Arts. This is another basement pub which has a rather big range of whisky and beer. It is also known for its live jazz, blues and soul but unfortunately, there was nothing on when we were there.
It was 11pm, but we were both shattered and slightly worse for wear so we headed back to the hotel to plan the next days schedule.
.jpeg)
.jpeg)
Comments
Post a Comment