Travels

Day 2 in Bruges began with a buffet breakfast in the basement dining room of the hotel.  Sometimes it feels a little odd to know that just a few feet away and a foot or two over ones head there is a canal full of water.

That fact, though, failed to dampen our spirits or our appetites.  We all ate a large (by European standards) breakfast of cheese, cold cuts, pastries, yoghurts and lots of tea.

Our plan for the day was to take a canal boat tour of Bruges and then, after lunch to bicycle to the nearby town of Damme to see the windmills and the countryside.

 

We all met up in front of the hotel and made our foray toward the Market Square ooh-ing and aah-ing as we pointed out to one another small architectural details that will never exist in the US.

We walked along in and out of various shops.  BJ bought some chocolate liquor, we tasted chocolate (more than once!!), until we got to the river.  Then we searched until we found the canal boat company that BJ had researched.  We bought our tickets and waited for the next departure.

Our captain was a down-to-earth kind of guy who has probably been doing this for years.  Soft job, laughing and joking with tourists as you brag about your town and drive your little 25’ runabout up and down the canals.  No wonder he was such a happy fellow!

He showed us the old ‘customs house’ and the wharves where we could picture 17^th century sailing vessels tied up.  A hotel which was the set for the movie “In Bruge”, the old convent and other sights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some had noticed that it looked like a lot of windows in the older buildings had been bricked up.

 

 

Our Skipper explained that in the 18^thcentury, taxes were levied according to the number of windows facing the street….so, residents simply bricked them in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the tour, we went back to the Market Square (by way of more chocolate stores)….that brings up the giant chocolate aardvark (I’ll bet he weighed more than 500 pounds) and the chocolate breasts and penises….you had to see it to believe it!

We all bought a bunch of chocolate that we promised ourselves to save until we were back in the US.  Needless to say, not much made it home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Market Square it was lunch.  The overwhelming vote was for more of the Mussels Provencial,  French Fries, much more beer and my traditional bowl of soup.

 

Then, after a leisurely repast, we made our way back to the Hotel to drop off treasures and prepare for our ride.

While BJ and I got our bikes out of the van, the Lisenbee/Kacirk clans walked back into town rented a tandem and a single, Jenny’s brother, Jay and his friend John each rented bikes and the Shumates opted to remain in Bruges to take a romantic bath (they had rented a suite) and pass the afternoon drinking champagne and making financial contributions to the local economy.

With all that sorted out we set off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, first things first.  How the heck to we get out of the town?  When all the streets are winding, narrow and poorly signed it can be a challenge.  However, we had in our party an Engineer, a former tech, a CFO and an artist….all of whom knew how to use an iPhone loaded with maps and a GPS.  So it only took us about 30 minutes and a couple of conferences to figure it all out.  ….and they’re off!

 

 

 

 

 

Damme lies roughly 7 kilometers (about 4.5 mi) northeast of Bruges on the banks of the Zwin river.  At one time Damme was actually the outport for Bruges.  The river and its silt levels played a large role in the rise and fall of Damme between 1180 and today.  There is a book called “The Zwin From Rags to Riches” but I haven’t yet been able to find it and I’m afraid I don’t know the authors name.

 

 

At any rate, once we found the correct path we crossed the drawbridges over the locks of Bruges and had a lovely ride along the banks of the Zwie.  Jenny and Jodie took turns riding ‘Stoker’ on the tandem behind Layne (Jenny liked this because she could sit up and take pictures as she rode without fear of crashing).  BJ and I were very content to follow along and just absorb the scenery.

 

 

 

It took us only about 45 minutes to arrive in the tiny town.  There were a lot of people in a lot of sidewalk cafes but pretty much everything else was closed.  The town itself was cute and old with architecture dominated by the Damme Church which was built beginning in 1225 and the tower of which is about three times taller than anything else around.

Other buildings of note are the old Town Hall which was build circa 1464 and is now a hotel and St Johns Hospital which dates back to before 1249.

 

 

 

We chained up our trusty steeds and wandered around the town discovering that virtually everything but the pubs and restaurants was closed.  We admired the architecture, snapped a few photos and finally gave in to the flow, found a café and ordered mid-afternoon snacks (ice cream, pie, sodas, beer).

For the ride back to Bruges, we chose the other, more rural side of the canal.  As we began we saw the ‘Lamme Goedzak”.  She is a paddle-wheel ferry that runs the Zwie several times a day between Damme and Bruges.  Pretty little boat.

The fietspad (bike path) took us past the Schellemolen where the ‘code of the tourist’ as well as the ‘sacred duty of the photographer’ caused us to stop for a while.  Schellemolen is a windmill across the Zwie from Damme.  Built in 1867 as an oil and corn mill.  It continued in use, wooden gears and all until it finally was damaged in 1963.  After that it pretty much languished until 1975 when it underwent restoration and is now again functional.

Even if you weren’t into windmills, (which we all were), this is a really cool looking one. (although like everything else it was also closed …. this was a Monday, it must have been some kind of local holiday, I never did find out)  As a bonus for us though, the windmill is surrounded by pasture land wherein we observed a group of shire horses grazing.  Even standing still those beasts look powerful.

 

 

 

 

As we approached Bruges we were held up by the drawbridge.  As we waited we watched a rather large canal barge (it seemed to fill the whole canal) being locked up to a different water level.  Interesting, but time consuming.

 

 

 

 

Finally the barge moved, the drawbridge came down and we made our way along the canal and back into the old city. We did notice several barges moored along the canal though.  Some sported pretty unique decor.

It seems that getting into the old city presented a similar  problem to that we’d had leaving…so we stopped to ask directions.  A fellow who seemed pretty well into his cups informed us that if we just follow this road (pointing) in that direction (pointing again) and turn at the outdoor café (you can’t miss it), that we’d find ourselves in the market square.  Oh, and you’re Americans aren’t you?….we just heard on the news that it looks like the American government is going to vote today on the budget impasse and debt ceiling.  What’s your position on that?

We have found during our travels that everyone in the world knows much more about politics in the US and the potential effects of American decisions on the rest of the world’s economy than do most US citizens.  It’s embarrassing to feel so ignorant.

Following the gentleman’s directions I headed down the road as ‘lead rider’…on the way I wound down a hill (that by itself was a surprise….I hadn’t see a hill for a while) and around a bend, whereupon I found myself sharing a very narrow road with a very large tour bus travelling in the opposite direction.  Well, there was just enough space to ride by, at least for me.  BJ met that same bus a couple of hundred yards behind me and was less than impressed with my choice of route.  A marginally comfortable couple of feet for me didn’t feel like nearly so comfortable for someone who is a little shakier on a bike.  I should have realized that and signaled everyone up onto the sidewalk…that was careless and unthinking of me…I hate it when I’m stupid!

Anyhow, we found our way back to the square and then to the hotel where we put away our bikes, grabbed a shower and a little nap and then met for happy hour and planning in the Shumate’s room.

 

 

We all went out for dinner again, ate more, drank more and had a great time walking around town and playing and joking around some of the stranger statuary and art and then it was time for bed.

 

 

The next morning found us back in the hotel dining room for one more continental b’fst.  Then Layne, Jenny and Allen took their bikes out to circumnavigate the old city on the path just outside the wall.  Jenny got some great shots in the morning light.

After a nice ride, they turned in their bikes while BJ & I stowed ours in the Van.  We all met back up and made a serious run at shopping in the town.

 

 

 

 

 

We found some nice lace, more chocolate and some other cool stuff.  Then decided it was about time to check out of the hotel, load up the VW and head back to Amsterdam.

Layne, Jenny, Jodie, Jay and John were going to be taking the Talus (a High Speed train) later in the day while the Shumate’s and we would drive the van back to Amsterdam (about 2.5 hours) and meet them there later.  We parted company with the Lisenbees, stopped in a Japanese restaurant to buy some bento boxes of sushi for lunch on the road, loaded up and set off.  Goodbye, Bruges.