The Journey docked in Zeebrugge, a 20 kilometer ride to Bruges. To make the trip we first boarded a shuttle bus to the Blankenberge train station and then a train to our destination of Bruges. We departed the shuttle in front of St. Anthony’s Church in Blankenberge and made a mad dash for the train station which, as luck would have it, was only a couple of hundred meters away. Mad dash or not, and thanks to a person just in front of us buying train ticket after train ticket, we missed the train and had to wait an hour for the next one. In retrospect we were fortunate because we returned to St. Anthony’s for a peek inside. To our delight, the church was truly outstanding.
Sixty minutes later found us on the next train. A little bit about the history of the Bruges. It is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders. It is also the sixth largest city in Belgium. The historic city center is a World Heritage site of UNESCO. It’s architecture and canals make it quite charming.
The walk from the train station took us over a small foot bridge and through a park.
We then found ourselves as two of many in a long stream of tourists on a cobblestone street leading to the center of the historic section.
We passed this interesting house along the way which was typical of the houses in the area.
After a visit to the information centre, we stopped for a cold beer and a light lunch.
After lunch we made our way over to Saint Salvatore’s Church. Here are a few shots taken of this historic building.
In this photo, the man is holding the floor plan of the church.
Then, we continued our trek toward Burg Square, the Markt, which is the center of the old town, passing many interesting buildings along the way and finding ourselves in a real crush of people.
Here we are at the Markt. This monument is in the center and on one side is the Provincial Hof.
From there we went in search of the canals which run through the historic center. We would have enjoyed a canal cruise but time was not on our side, so a glimpse would have to do. Perhaps during another visit we can take that trip.
The canals and the town were really quite lovely.
We were able to capture this shot of the two of us as we were looking at the canal. There is always someone nearby willing to take a photo.
On our way back to the train station I captured a few other photos. Bruges is certainly a worthwhile visit.
Tomorrow we arrive in Amsterdam, our final port of call. We will be traveling to Rotterdam, a new city for us, for a visit. See you tomorrow.