Day One
After a smooth journey from Basingstoke to Kings Cross St Pancras International, James and I picked up our journey to Bruges. Our connecting train was at Brussels around 11.30am. We navigated ourselves to the platform and got our train that took us onwards to Bruges.
Once we had arrived in the attractive and ancient city of Bruges, we decided to sit down for lunch somewhere. We followed the crowd into the main shopping area, and then the restaurants started to reveal themselves. We selected a welcoming eatery just off the main city square. It was very near to the famous Belfry Tower that dominates the skyline. James had the renowned Flemish stew – beef with rocket and pureed apple with fries on the side. I had an extremely generous mushroom omelette with salad. We both enjoyed a delicious glass of house red wine. I can thoroughly recommend the friendly and swift service of the restaurant, La Belle Vue. The cuisine of this bistro was well executed and very tasty.
After lunch we checked into our hotel, The Martin’s Brugge, situated just behind the Belfry Tower. We had booked this cosy and eco-friendly hotel as a package deal with the Eurostar service. We experienced a friendly and speedy check-in, then went to our room to relax. I unpacked my bag and had a freshen-up before we headed back out to the city square.
The Belfry was on our list of sights to visit and immerse ourselves in. We found the ticket office in the entrance, which gave us the option to buy a 72-hour ticket for €33 (approximately £30). This worked out a good call as we could gain admittance to all the main museums. We knew it would be quite the climb to the top of the tower, but for me it was even more of a challenge. I was proud of myself (and James of course) as we reached the top of the narrow steps. I suffer a fear of heights and claustrophobia. I felt that I conquered both of these. On the way up we saw lots of facts and pictorial signs, telling us about the vast history and operation of the bells. The engineering feats of this incredible tower were on full view. The breeze hit us at the summit of the tower, but it was a welcome coolness after the efforts of the climb.
When we descended, we had another walk around, taking in the sunshine. Belgian waffles were on sale outside of the tower, so James bought one drizzled with chocolate sauce. Sitting in the square was a great and golden end to our day out.
Day Two
Perhaps we were naïve, but we had thought we could go out for breakfast at a reasonably early hour. It was 7.30am and sadly no local cafes were open, so it was back to the hotel to get stuck into the buffet breakfast. The charge for the breakfast was €20 which I thought was pretty good as it is what we would’ve spent in a café anyway. We couldn’t fault the amount of food on offer in the hotel restaurant. There wasn’t just continental staples of all sorts of breads, cheeses, and hams; but also cooked sausages, scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, cereals, and yoghurts. Phew and a well done Martin’s Brugge Hotel!
Once we’d had our fill of flavoursome food, we went back to our room to freshen up. Then we headed out for a day of activities in the city. First on our agenda we had decided was to enjoy a boat ride on the local canals. We arrived at the boat ride kiosk and the friendly vendor told us that we would need to get back there at 9.55am for the ride at 10am. There was about 20 minutes to spare so we walked around and took photos, taking in the picturesque views.
We got on board our boat at the allotted time and our charming host, Captain Mo, started the tour. He relayed anecdotes about Bruges (Brugge in the Flemish dialect) and gave us an educated history of the area. He made us chuckle greatly and entertained us; clearly a man who enjoyed his two years (so far) as a boat tour guide.
After the half-an-hour boat trip we navigated our way over to the museum quarter of the city for closer inspection. First of these was located at the Belfort/Belfry tower, next door in the gallery building. There, we viewed a Salvador Dali exhibition, which I enjoyed very much. It was a well-designed art space, with so many of the famous artist’s works on display.
We continued our cultural exploration at the Bruges Stadhuis Museum. This city hall is steeped in history – it was established in 1376. We took in the splendour of its murals and portraits, quite breath-taking. We couldn’t help but be awestruck in the great civic hall with its imposing grandeur and gothic design. I would put it down as a must-see for visitors to the city.
It was time for lunch, so James and I headed to our now favoured restaurant, La Belle Vue. Again, James was much more adventurous than me and chose the mussels in garlic butter with fries. I selected the house special of half a roast chicken with fries and salad. I didn’t let the team down though with my drink choice, the house red. James accompanied his meal with a mojito. I was totally stuffed after that so turned down a tempting dessert. He had a hot chocolate to take the edge of the slightly chilly breeze. We were lucky as the sun did shine most of the time on our city break, but the temperature stayed at a stubborn 14-15 degrees centigrade. We relaxed at the table for a while, paid for the meal and then moved on to look at some more historical art.
We restarted our cultural trail at the Groeninge Museum which had been recommended in the “Musea Brugge” guide that we had picked up. This stunning collection of Belgium’s most prestigious art was a remarkable sight. You could get fully immersed in paintings and works from Flemish artists like van Eyck, Magritte and Suvee. It was intricately curated with an enviable eye on the framing and lighting. It took us some time to walk through the museum’s many rooms.
Moving on from the Groeninge Museum, it was a natural progression to seek out the other major exhibition at the Gruuthusemuseum. This was situated close by and once we entered, we were struck by the beauty and craftmanship within. We viewed the incredibly detailed tapestries and sculptures displayed. We marvelled at the precious manuscripts that had been lovingly restored, with most of their original binding intact.
We unfortunately ran out of time to visit the neighbouring Church of Our Lady, but by that time in the afternoon we had taken in a lot of the city sights anyway. We concluded our sight-seeing and went back to the hotel to relax. As we had a reasonably early start the next day it was good to unwind and reflect on our fabulous city break.
Day 3
Thursday and time to bid a goodbye/adieu to Bruges. We had already packed our bags in readiness to leave – so we headed for breakfast at 7am. It was even busier than the previous day’s breakfast time, and the restaurant was almost full. The system seemed to be an organised chaotic whirl of activity. But all was fine, and we managed to fill up on a well-rounded breakfast. It was as well to get a fair amount of food on our plates because we had quite a journey back home ahead of us.
We gathered our bags and checked out of the hotel. We gave positive feedback to the reception manager. Then we headed back to the Bruges train station, and we noted it was the sunniest day so far that week.
To sum up the journey home, I’d say that it was manageable, but we did have a delay at the Eurostar station in Brussels. Thankfully, it was only half an hour and then we were speeding our way back on the train service to London. We arrived home in Basingstoke by 2.15pm and got stuck into lunch straight away. James and I reminisced about our holiday and agreed we felt rested and refreshed.
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