Bonjour Sweet Friends,

Today, I’m writing from Bruges Belgium, a medieval city that boasts the best waffles, fries, Belgian chocolates and lace this side of Cracker Barrel. It is a gorgeous city right out of a fairy tale with wonderfully preserved/restored medieval buildings, cathedrals, castles, windmills and bell tower. The central area is Market Square lined with dozens of cafes and tourists. The main attraction is the bell tower with its 366 steps to the top for gorgeous views of the city and the coast. The belfry played a big part in the movie, In Bruges, with Colin Farrell. We watched the movie before coming and enjoyed seeing the city in the background. If you haven’t watched it, you should. It’s a black comedy/drama that highlights the city and its charms.

We took the train from Koln to Bruges yesterday and arrived around noon, so we immediately found a place for lunch – ‘t zuis, a jazz and blues restaurant/club. The food was good and we sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine. One thing I love about the restaurants here is the large, functional fireplaces! I love sitting close to the fire; but since it was sunny, we opted for an outside table and kept our jackets on!

After lunch, we went on a canal boat tour. Our guide spoke three different languages as he guided us through the city via canals. I was amazed at his ability to switch effortlessly between English, French and Italian! Jeez, it took me almost four years to learn Pidgin!! 🙂 I feel so lame living here and only knowing one language – English. Almost everyone I’ve met can speak at least two languages, and most people speak several. No wonder some Europeans think we are “stupid Americans!”

The tour gave us a very good orientation of the city, and afterwards, we started walking towards some of the major sites. We toured the Groening Museum that offers a small chronological overview of Flemish art and the Church of our Lady that houses Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child sculpture. It is one of very few Michelangelo sculptures outside of Italy and it’s quite famous. I then went to another museum that featured Picasso, Matisse and Miro exhibits with some Rodin, Renoir and other artists thrown it. It was a private collection and it was lovely. I went to the hospital museum for a glimpse of 15-16th century hospitals – uh, not a good place to be! Some of the instruments on view looked like something out of a torture chamber and I think the death rate in the hospitals was higher than the front line!

There are many churches and museums to be explored along with parks, restaurants and shops; so lots to do today! But first we eat breakfast so we are adequately prepared to climb the 366 steps in the Belfry! See all the Bruges pix by clicking on the Photos link above and selecting Bruges. More pix to come so stay tuned!!