TASHY TRAVELS
These are some stories from my travels in 2019.
I hope you enjoy the text and the pictures.
BELGIUM 3 - July 18 2019
We had decided that we would spend the day in Bruges, although for slightly longer than the 107 minutes of the film of the same name. Rather than walk in, as we had done on our first night, we drove into the centre of the city, found a multi-storey car park and did what it's always best to do in such places; parked. I have to point out, in case you are wondering about the photo on the right, that Bruges, and indeed Ypres and Kemmel, are very fond of cobbled streets. I, too, have a certain fondness for them but as I was carrying a slight leg injury and walking on uneven surfaces wasn't helping it, my fondness was slightly dampened on this occasion.
But what sound is more iconic than horses hooves clattering over the cobbles, reminding us all of a time gone by. Bruges certainly had its fair share of clatters as taking a drive around the city sat in a carriage and pulled by a horse seemed a popular way to spend some of your time there. We didn't partake as we had plans to see the city from a different form of conveyance.
My first impression of Bruges, apart from the horse driven transport, was one of bridges and water. However, I must admit that I had not expected to find a street entertainer with a mini barrel organ blaring out the lyrics to Molly Malone. I have yet to discover the link between Dublin's fair city where the maids are so pretty and the delights of Bruges, which is the capital of West Flanders. Maybe I'm missing something or maybe it was just a nice tune.
The bridges were essential because Bruges is pretty famous for its canals. They criss-cross the whole city and, like the horse and carriage, provide another way for tourists to see the city. Wait a few paragraphs and I will take you on just such a journey. By this time I had also decided that Belgium, or at least the parts I had seen was a nice, clean country. The two cities we visited were, in most areas, well looked after and the countryside fairly, flat and uncluttered.
This nice appearance was complemented by their love of flowers. If you go back to yesterday and look at the centre piece of Kemmel you will see flowers there as well. The same thing was true in Bruges with boxes of flowers even being seen across the bridges that are so prevalent in Bruges. It certainly added colour to the whole scene but I wonder how it looks in winter. Remind me to pop back and see. I believe they have a fantastic Christmas market.
Bruges also had a large number of churches. The main religion in Belgium is Catholicism with about 55% of the country following the Roman Catholic church. The church we went into was ornately decorated with many statues and sculptures all around. Again, it was clean without being clinical, quiet without you feeling you shouldn't speak.
James and Rachel had decided to climb the 83 metre tall tower of the 13th century belfry that was near the market square. I decided I didn't and possibly, with the current state of my leg injury, later diagnosed as a blocked artery behind my knee (no need to worry said the friendly consultant so I didn't especially as he made me a follow-up appointment for some time in September 2020), couldn't.
The didn't came from two factors. Firstly, I do not like heights and the promised panoramic view from the top of the tower loses so much when you have your eyes shut. The second reason was you had to queue because they could only let a set number of people climb the stairs at a time. I sat myself down in the courtyard at the bottom and took a little video of it all, including the toilets it would seem.
I had been there people watching, one of my favourite pastimes, for about 20 minutes when James and Rachel appeared in front of me having both decided that the wait was not worth the view. The toilet was then put to good use and we headed out of the rectangular square (really?) and began to look for somewhere for lunch. We made our way to the great market square and pretty quickly found ourselves a restaurant, were shown to a table and began to study the menu. Only now, by looking at my own photograph, to I know it was the Grand Cafe Belfort.
James had been determined to try the Belgian national dish, so he said, of fries and mayonnaise and, as you can see, this is what he did. Rachel and I were far less adventurous when it came to trying national dishes and we both, I think, plumped for a croque monsieur. For those that don't know, a croque monsieur, French for Mr crunch, is a baked or friend ham and cheese sandwich. However, while studying the menu at Cafe Belfort, I discovered there is such a thing as a croque madame, presumably Mrs crunch, which is the same but topped with a fried egg.
Talking of food brings me to the main reason why any sane person, diabetic or not, would want to visit Belgium, I can assure you that the shop sign was not lying and can further assure you I took no more photos as I was deciding which of the 100 I thought I might like (95%), which looked amazing (about 40%), which I could afford (1%) and which I would take as a gift for family back home (one small packet, otherwise my 1% would have been reduced).
Belgium is also famous for another consumable and while taking a little video to show my son back in England, I managed, I don't lie and say I did it on purpose, to capture a reflection of a trotting horse and carriage as it went by and you can also hear the clatter sound on the cobbled street. It's all about being in the right place at the right time although, to my credit, I will admit to keeping filming when I saw the horse appear.
Digressing slightly here from the beauty of Bruges, I have to point out that the city, and indeed other parts of Belgium, is very bicycle friendly. You may think I am saying this with an element of surprise and to a certain degree I am. There were ample parking spaces for bikes around the market square and we were constantly hearing the tinkle of bells as a cyclist wanted to give due notice of his or her approach. They all had happy smiles on their faces as they cycled past across the bumpy and undulating cobble stones.
And it wasn't only the centre of Bruges that catered for these cyclists. Many if not most roads, including the one outside our accommodation, had a separate cycle track, this time with slightly flatter cobblestones and less smiling people. There was a pavement, a cycle lane, a parking lane and the road. In fact the guy who owned our accommodation had suggested we park in the road as reversing out each day, with a bell ringing cyclist unheard over the noise of a car engine, was quite hazardous. I did however find a way of driving in forward, turning round and driving out forward too.
We had one more definite thing we wanted to do but before that we made our way to the Groeninge Museum for a look at some paintings. You were given an audio device to allow you to have a commentary on each of the paintings and were, numerically guided through rooms 1-10 of the museum. Rooms 1-4 were the 15th and 16th century, rooms 5-7 the 17th, 18th and 19th century and room 8-10, which quizzically had rooms 9a and 9b were for the 20th century. Then you went through rooms E, D, C, B, and A before leaving. Apart from more paintings, I can't remember what was in the alphabetical rooms. You weren't allowed to take photos, obviously, so I took one of James and Rachel (21st century open air) in an area with lots of metal sculptures.
For the final excitement of the day, little did we know what was to come later, we decided to take a trip along some of the canals. There were quite a few places where you could wait for a trip. We picked one and went in, paid for our tickets and were sent out to sit and wait for the next available boat. It wasn't a long wait and soon we were aboard and heading off. This wasn't us by the way. Even in my youth, a ten second time delay could not have allowed me to set the camera up, leap down some stairs and jump on board and would the camera have still been there when I got back some 45 minutes later.
Bruges, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is often referred to as the Venice of the north such are the number of canals within the city. Two of the largest canals, the Bruges-Ostend canal which is 24.6 kilometres long and the Bruges-Zeebrugee canal, 12 kilometres long, connect the city to the North Sea. Zeebrugge, so said a book at our accommodation, actually means Bruges by the Sea.
These canals allowed Bruges to become a significant trading centre in medieval times. At one time every canal joined Bruges to the North Sea. It was once one of chief commerce capitals of the world. The canals within Bruges twist and turn through medieval looking buildings which are built as close as you could get to the waterways. And some of these medieval looking buildings do, in fact, date back as far as the 14th century. The tour we went on cost, I think, about €7 and lasted, as I said, about 45 minutes.
We went under bridges so low it took all your will power to avoid ducking but emerged with heads still connected on the other side. The other side of the bridge that is. Some of the views could have come straight from an oil panting that might have been in the Groeninge Museum. It was a trip well worth waiting for and I would thoroughly recommend anyone within visiting distance of Bruges to pop in, experience the scenery, take in the splendour of some of the buildings, enjoy the culture and eat the chocolate. It was a most enjoyable day and perhaps a little less hectic than the previous equally enjoyable day.
And while you look at a couple of the buildings alongside those canals, let me tell you what happened after we left the centre of Bruges. We drove back to our accommodation, stopping off at Lidl, as before, to buy something for the evening meal. We drove in and and parked, as before. We did our shopping, as before. We took it back to the car, as before. We got in and drove to the exit, as before.
However, this time there was no man mending the barrier, The barrier was very much in place, in a horizontal position, blocking our exit. We waved our receipt at the barrier, nothing happened. A queue was now building up behind us of Belgians who wanted to go home. The lady in the car behind us got out and came over to us and said something, maybe even did something I think.
Nothing happened. Eventually a man some three cars back got out, ran over to the barrier, waved his receipt at the barrier and it opened. We silently said thank you, we didn't speak Flemish so audible sounds seemed superfluous, and drove off. What happened next we have no idea. I think there was a ticket machine hidden away near the shop entrance. I think you had to buy one and wave that at the barrier. I'm hoping that they work twice although I find this hard to believe. So, to the friendly Belgian who helped us out, I hope you got home. The flowers around your country all look lovely. I trust you didn't have to sit and look at them for too long.
We had decided that we would spend the day in Bruges, although for slightly longer than the 107 minutes of the film of the same name. Rather than walk in, as we had done on our first night, we drove into the centre of the city, found a multi-storey car park and did what it's always best to do in such places; parked. I have to point out, in case you are wondering about the photo on the right, that Bruges, and indeed Ypres and Kemmel, are very fond of cobbled streets. I, too, have a certain fondness for them but as I was carrying a slight leg injury and walking on uneven surfaces wasn't helping it, my fondness was slightly dampened on this occasion.
But what sound is more iconic than horses hooves clattering over the cobbles, reminding us all of a time gone by. Bruges certainly had its fair share of clatters as taking a drive around the city sat in a carriage and pulled by a horse seemed a popular way to spend some of your time there. We didn't partake as we had plans to see the city from a different form of conveyance.
My first impression of Bruges, apart from the horse driven transport, was one of bridges and water. However, I must admit that I had not expected to find a street entertainer with a mini barrel organ blaring out the lyrics to Molly Malone. I have yet to discover the link between Dublin's fair city where the maids are so pretty and the delights of Bruges, which is the capital of West Flanders. Maybe I'm missing something or maybe it was just a nice tune.
The bridges were essential because Bruges is pretty famous for its canals. They criss-cross the whole city and, like the horse and carriage, provide another way for tourists to see the city. Wait a few paragraphs and I will take you on just such a journey. By this time I had also decided that Belgium, or at least the parts I had seen was a nice, clean country. The two cities we visited were, in most areas, well looked after and the countryside fairly, flat and uncluttered.
This nice appearance was complemented by their love of flowers. If you go back to yesterday and look at the centre piece of Kemmel you will see flowers there as well. The same thing was true in Bruges with boxes of flowers even being seen across the bridges that are so prevalent in Bruges. It certainly added colour to the whole scene but I wonder how it looks in winter. Remind me to pop back and see. I believe they have a fantastic Christmas market.
Bruges also had a large number of churches. The main religion in Belgium is Catholicism with about 55% of the country following the Roman Catholic church. The church we went into was ornately decorated with many statues and sculptures all around. Again, it was clean without being clinical, quiet without you feeling you shouldn't speak.
James and Rachel had decided to climb the 83 metre tall tower of the 13th century belfry that was near the market square. I decided I didn't and possibly, with the current state of my leg injury, later diagnosed as a blocked artery behind my knee (no need to worry said the friendly consultant so I didn't especially as he made me a follow-up appointment for some time in September 2020), couldn't.
The didn't came from two factors. Firstly, I do not like heights and the promised panoramic view from the top of the tower loses so much when you have your eyes shut. The second reason was you had to queue because they could only let a set number of people climb the stairs at a time. I sat myself down in the courtyard at the bottom and took a little video of it all, including the toilets it would seem.
I had been there people watching, one of my favourite pastimes, for about 20 minutes when James and Rachel appeared in front of me having both decided that the wait was not worth the view. The toilet was then put to good use and we headed out of the rectangular square (really?) and began to look for somewhere for lunch. We made our way to the great market square and pretty quickly found ourselves a restaurant, were shown to a table and began to study the menu. Only now, by looking at my own photograph, to I know it was the Grand Cafe Belfort.
James had been determined to try the Belgian national dish, so he said, of fries and mayonnaise and, as you can see, this is what he did. Rachel and I were far less adventurous when it came to trying national dishes and we both, I think, plumped for a croque monsieur. For those that don't know, a croque monsieur, French for Mr crunch, is a baked or friend ham and cheese sandwich. However, while studying the menu at Cafe Belfort, I discovered there is such a thing as a croque madame, presumably Mrs crunch, which is the same but topped with a fried egg.
Talking of food brings me to the main reason why any sane person, diabetic or not, would want to visit Belgium, I can assure you that the shop sign was not lying and can further assure you I took no more photos as I was deciding which of the 100 I thought I might like (95%), which looked amazing (about 40%), which I could afford (1%) and which I would take as a gift for family back home (one small packet, otherwise my 1% would have been reduced).
Belgium is also famous for another consumable and while taking a little video to show my son back in England, I managed, I don't lie and say I did it on purpose, to capture a reflection of a trotting horse and carriage as it went by and you can also hear the clatter sound on the cobbled street. It's all about being in the right place at the right time although, to my credit, I will admit to keeping filming when I saw the horse appear.
Digressing slightly here from the beauty of Bruges, I have to point out that the city, and indeed other parts of Belgium, is very bicycle friendly. You may think I am saying this with an element of surprise and to a certain degree I am. There were ample parking spaces for bikes around the market square and we were constantly hearing the tinkle of bells as a cyclist wanted to give due notice of his or her approach. They all had happy smiles on their faces as they cycled past across the bumpy and undulating cobble stones.
And it wasn't only the centre of Bruges that catered for these cyclists. Many if not most roads, including the one outside our accommodation, had a separate cycle track, this time with slightly flatter cobblestones and less smiling people. There was a pavement, a cycle lane, a parking lane and the road. In fact the guy who owned our accommodation had suggested we park in the road as reversing out each day, with a bell ringing cyclist unheard over the noise of a car engine, was quite hazardous. I did however find a way of driving in forward, turning round and driving out forward too.
We had one more definite thing we wanted to do but before that we made our way to the Groeninge Museum for a look at some paintings. You were given an audio device to allow you to have a commentary on each of the paintings and were, numerically guided through rooms 1-10 of the museum. Rooms 1-4 were the 15th and 16th century, rooms 5-7 the 17th, 18th and 19th century and room 8-10, which quizzically had rooms 9a and 9b were for the 20th century. Then you went through rooms E, D, C, B, and A before leaving. Apart from more paintings, I can't remember what was in the alphabetical rooms. You weren't allowed to take photos, obviously, so I took one of James and Rachel (21st century open air) in an area with lots of metal sculptures.
For the final excitement of the day, little did we know what was to come later, we decided to take a trip along some of the canals. There were quite a few places where you could wait for a trip. We picked one and went in, paid for our tickets and were sent out to sit and wait for the next available boat. It wasn't a long wait and soon we were aboard and heading off. This wasn't us by the way. Even in my youth, a ten second time delay could not have allowed me to set the camera up, leap down some stairs and jump on board and would the camera have still been there when I got back some 45 minutes later.
Bruges, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is often referred to as the Venice of the north such are the number of canals within the city. Two of the largest canals, the Bruges-Ostend canal which is 24.6 kilometres long and the Bruges-Zeebrugee canal, 12 kilometres long, connect the city to the North Sea. Zeebrugge, so said a book at our accommodation, actually means Bruges by the Sea.
These canals allowed Bruges to become a significant trading centre in medieval times. At one time every canal joined Bruges to the North Sea. It was once one of chief commerce capitals of the world. The canals within Bruges twist and turn through medieval looking buildings which are built as close as you could get to the waterways. And some of these medieval looking buildings do, in fact, date back as far as the 14th century. The tour we went on cost, I think, about €7 and lasted, as I said, about 45 minutes.
We went under bridges so low it took all your will power to avoid ducking but emerged with heads still connected on the other side. The other side of the bridge that is. Some of the views could have come straight from an oil panting that might have been in the Groeninge Museum. It was a trip well worth waiting for and I would thoroughly recommend anyone within visiting distance of Bruges to pop in, experience the scenery, take in the splendour of some of the buildings, enjoy the culture and eat the chocolate. It was a most enjoyable day and perhaps a little less hectic than the previous equally enjoyable day.
And while you look at a couple of the buildings alongside those canals, let me tell you what happened after we left the centre of Bruges. We drove back to our accommodation, stopping off at Lidl, as before, to buy something for the evening meal. We drove in and and parked, as before. We did our shopping, as before. We took it back to the car, as before. We got in and drove to the exit, as before.
However, this time there was no man mending the barrier, The barrier was very much in place, in a horizontal position, blocking our exit. We waved our receipt at the barrier, nothing happened. A queue was now building up behind us of Belgians who wanted to go home. The lady in the car behind us got out and came over to us and said something, maybe even did something I think.
Nothing happened. Eventually a man some three cars back got out, ran over to the barrier, waved his receipt at the barrier and it opened. We silently said thank you, we didn't speak Flemish so audible sounds seemed superfluous, and drove off. What happened next we have no idea. I think there was a ticket machine hidden away near the shop entrance. I think you had to buy one and wave that at the barrier. I'm hoping that they work twice although I find this hard to believe. So, to the friendly Belgian who helped us out, I hope you got home. The flowers around your country all look lovely. I trust you didn't have to sit and look at them for too long.
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