Goodbye, Bruges!

After walking around the ring canal in Bruges, we had to head back to the city. The sun was setting, giving us some great new views of some of our favorite spots in the city.

Bruges Canal at Sunset

Bell Tower at Sunset

Arched Alleyway

Back in the old town center, we went to a recommended bar, t'Bruges Beertje. This place was incredible; they literally had a thick book of all the beers they served. Almost everything was in bottles, and the prices were great compared to those in Dublin. We didn't know where to start, so we chose beers from a few random breweries and hoped for the best... and we got the best.

Blurry Beers

After the beers, it was late twilight and the churches and city buildings were brilliantly lit. I've noted before how much I love European-style lighting on historic buildings. They are difficult to photograph clearly, but I think we got some gems.

Flying Buttresses

Gabled Roof on the Canal

We had to catch the last train out of Bruges to Brussels and our hostel. It was late when we arrived, but we were more familiar and more confident with the city this time. For another great night view, we headed back to the Brussels main square for a peek at the lighting of those impressive buildings.

Brussels Square Tower

Pointy Spires

Brussels Town Square

The next day would be our last in Belgium. We had a few hours of additional Brussels touring before catching our bus back to the airport.

Canal Walking in Bruges

After a walking tour of the historic squares of Bruges, we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the various canals and bridges of the city. We all know about the canals in Venice, and Amsterdam has its share of symmetrical canals, too. I didn't know before this trip that Bruges is also a heavy-hitter when it comes to canals.

The canals were built to help support the trading economy in this once commercial hub. Today, they are mostly full of tourist cruises and endless charm.

Bruges Canal

Luckily for Bruges visitors, most of them are lined with streets or walkways on at least one side, letting the dedicated walkers among us explore for hours uninterrupted.

Canal Corner, Bell Tower on the Right

Sometimes, there are no walkways, and buildings come right up to the water's edge. The view from the windows of these (residences?) must be amazing.

Buildings up to the Edge of the Canal

Some Lucky Person's Patio

After a long afternoon of canal-walking, we stopped in to a fast food restaurant cafe for more Bruges beer and a pot of mussels with fries.

Straffe Hendrik and Brugse Zot Beer

After our seafood, we struck out beyond the heart of the city to see the larger ring canal around the old town and the four remaining Low-Country windmills still standing on the city's edge.

Obligatory Cory-Looking-at-the-Water Shot

If we'd planned to stay a night in Bruges, we would have rented bicycles to pedal around the fantastic trail around and out of Bruges to the countryside. As it was, we had to stick to our feet on the ring canal. The windmills are open to visitors for a cost, but we were happy just enjoying them from the grass in the lengthening shadows.

Ring Canal Windmill

Two of the Remaining Windmills

Beyond the ring canal was what we assumed to be the real city- the part where people actually live and work. Being the unashamed tourists we were, we made our way back into the old city as the sun set for a taste of some more Belgian beer and some nighttime photos.

Bruges Canal at Sunset

Bruges: Market Square and Burg Square

After our brewery tour, we were feeling good and ready to explore more of the city. It was now late morning and the day was beginning to warm up. The first stop was Market (Markt) Square, home of Bruges' famous Bell Tower.

Bruges Bell Tower

...But the tower isn't the only thing to see in the square. The old public trading post is ringed with these classic northern-european gabled (steppy) building fronts and bright colors.

Bruges Market Square

Before braving the 300+ steps of the Tower, we needed a snack. Luckily, touristy towns like Bruges are always full of handy food carts selling local favorites. For us, it was fries and mayonnaise!

"They drown 'em in that s**t!"

The cart was tourist-friendly, so a number of other toppings were available, like malt vinegar, ketchup, and curry sauce. We stuck with the warm mayo pumped from a large bag in the street cart. Mmmmmm...

Refreshed, we were ready to take on the Bell Tower steps. It wasn't easy, but we've climbed towers like this before.

Bell Tower Innards

The steps were tough, but the payoff was great! The view of Bruges was amazing, and the weather was cooperating with mostly clear conditions. The only downside was that being inside the Bell Tower, we couldn't see the Bell Tower. Oh, well.

Bruges Steeples

Red Roofs as Far as the Eye can See!

Bell Tower... Bell

Canal Below the Bell Tower

While we were in the top level, the top of the hour struck and the bells began to ring. It was LOUD LOUD LOUD but pretty neat. The quarter hours were short jingles, but the hour mark was a two-minute piece that banged away while we watched. I smiled at a number of other folks filming the whole thing on smartphones and wondered what kind of sound quality those little mics could pick up... assuming the incredibly loud bells didn't shatter the diaphragms.

After the Bell Tower and Market Square, we headed over to Burg Square, another old center of commerce in this once-great trading port.

Bruges City Hall

This in another of of those "Turn 360 degrees and see all the awesome buildings, monuments, and crowds of tourists" squares. Luckily, we could see the tip of the Bell Tower over the gabled storefronts in the square- and the crowds, oh the crowds.

Bell Tower from Burg Square

Old Recorder's House

We finished Burg Square with a look inside the Basilica of the Holy Blood. The church has on display a relic, a phial of dried blood reported to be Christ's own. It was given to Bruges by a Crusader who brought it back from Jerusalem, and has been housed here ever since. 

The line to see the blood was long, so we just took a cruise through the rest of the sanctuary.

Basilica of the Holy Blood Upper Chapel

Whew! After a morning of walking through a brewery, climbing and descending 300+ steps, and marveling at the unique buildings in the squares, we were ready for a break. Then, more walking!

Bruges: De Halve Maan Brewery

After our first big day in Brussels, we were off to another Belgian classic, Bruges. From Brussels, we caught an early train for the scenic and comfortable trip to this historic and beautiful city of red roofs and canals.

Arrival in Bruges

It being Belgium, we knew that beer would be involved. Luckily, a famous brewery still operates in the heart of historic, cobbled Bruges, De Halve Maan, The Half Moon, as per the logo.

De Halve Maan Logo

Just like other breweries we've visited, the tour was a healthy blend of old and new brewing techniques. Unlike some other brewery tours, this one was still in operation. First, we saw the new brewery, with gleaming stainless steel and high-tech automation. Modern equipment allows breweries to operate with much higher efficiency, less space, and smaller crews. This left a lot of room for the old brewery displays for the tourists! Yay!

We toured the upper levels and the old masing, fermenting, and bottling equipment. In the attic, we walked through a huge copper coolship, just like the one in Cantillon. These beers used to be cooled and inoculated with yeast in these big open vats, but now they use carefully-bred yeast strains to create a more consistent product.

Halve Maan Bottles

Hops on the Vine

Keg Lifter

We climbed the attic steps onto the roof for an all-around view of historic and modern Bruges. Just like we had seen in Prague, the center of the city was the fairytale dreamland, and the outer suburbs looked like modern neighborhoods. We just focused on the canals, steep red roofs, and church steeples of the old town, thank you very much!

Bruges Canal

Church Steeples

Distant Wind Turbines

After the high roof views, we walked through the basement level, set up now as a display of the progress of brewing technology. The brewery's first ammonia refrigeration compressor is on display- and it represents a huge step forward in brewing. Imagine being able to cool boiled wort to safe yeast temperature in a matter of minutes instead of overnight. How about being able to chill bottled beer in the heat of summertime on demand?

The brewing nerd in me also perked up at this little collection of hydrometers.

Hydrometers

The tour, of course, ends with one of the famous beers of the house. This brewery is well knows for its family of Brugse Zot- or Bruges Fool. Like other Belgian brewers, this comes in standard, dupel, and tripel varieties- each one darker and stronger than the last.

Brugse Zot

We found that very little goes better with Belgian beer than Belgian chocolate, which we still had from the day before. Even on a cool early Spring day, we savored every little bit.

mmm... Chocolate

After our standard Brugse Zot, we had to try the darker and stronger varieties. We stepped up with a dupel Zot and a tripel Straffe Hendrik.

Dupel Zot and Tripel Straffe Hendrik

Wow! What flavor! These dark ales are full of hop and spice punch to offset the high malt and alcohol content. The Belgians treat their beers like the southern Europeans treat their wines, with love and care. Belgian brewers traditionally stayed away from the German Reinheitsgebot, or beer purity law. This law required that all beer must contain, and could only contain barley, water, and hops.

The Belgian monks had much more freedom and experimented with cloves, cinnamon, fruit, and herbs in their beers, creating tastes that are unfamiliar but wonderful for the first time taster. Man I love this country!