Flanders Day 3: Bruges—Venice of the North

Rik and I hopped on a train for Bruges--directly west of Ghent and where Rik grew up (his parents owned a hotel called The Golden Horn). Our first stop was the Burg. The Burg is a spacious area where the Hôtel de Ville (town hall), belfry and Basilica of the Sacred Blood are located. The Basilica was my favorite church because its Gothic interior was so colorful (it’s also got an austere Romanesque lower chapel, but it wasn’t quite as cool). Only managed to take one picture because pictures weren’t allowed. The reason it’s called “Holy Blood” is because it houses a piece of cloth contains blood that Joseph of Arimathea wiped from Jesus’ body. Various myths surround it, but the most likely history is that the relic was sent from Constantinople to Bruges in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade. Of course, whether or not it’s actually Jesus’ blood is subject to debate.

Next up were some churches and museums. In Bruge’s Notre Dame there was a marble statue of the “Virgin and Child” by Michelangelo that faintly resembles the “Pièta.”
The Groeninge Museum is home to Jan van Eyck’ “Madonna with Canon Joris van der Paele,” Hiëronymus Bosch’s “Last Judgment,” works by Hugo van der Goes, Marcel Broodthaers, Jan Brusselmans, René Magritte, James Ensor, and other Flemish painters. Van Eyck’s “Madonna” was beautiful with astonishing details like light from the windows reflecting off the knight’s armor. Bosch’s piece was creepy because it showed people being tortured and skinned alive. I prefer his other, more famous piece “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” the other one gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Bruges is known as “Venice of the North” so naturally we had to take a canal ride. Again, the boat ride was wonderful. We passed about 20 swans just napping in the grass and navigated in between the buildings on either side of the canal. I’m so impressed that these buildings stayed intact through both World Wars. Each building was marvelously different from the one next to it.

In the streets there were many horse drawn carriages pulling people about making the city, making it feel even more like a time capsule. We even came across a woman making lace (another thing Bruges is known for.) Our last stop was the Beguinage which is sort of like a monastery or convent, but less strict. God seeking or spiritually minded women could live in this small community and seek refuge from the outside world. They took vows of obedience and chastity, but not of poverty and could leave the community at any time they wished.

We returned home and I got a tour of the Verbeke’s apartment which is almost a museum in its own right. They’ve got miniatures from all over the world: China, Thailand, the US, Africa, etc. Rik also showed me a bunch of photos from his military life in the Belgian Congo. He had some old black and white photos of his men cutting open an enormous snake and finding a partially digested antelope inside!

Rita made salmon and white asparagus (I’d thought there was only the green kind) for dinner, which we ate on the balcony. And then we had sundaes with Belgian chocolate and chocolate “Conga” sprinkles.

Yum!

Heidi

P.S. There’s also a recent movie called In Bruges with Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes. If you liked Pulp Fiction, you’ll probably like it. It’s violent, has excessive swearing, and consists of black humor with elements both tragic and comic. The best part about it is that it gives you a good idea of what Bruges looks like.

Jan Brusselman's "Still Life with a Fan"

Portal into the Beguinage.

The Bruges Belfry.