To celebrate a recent three day weekend, we decided to drive to Bruges in Belgium. It is a 4 to 5 hour drive from our house.
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| Spot the sleeping teenager |
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| Muppets in Space! |
We rode under the English Channel on the Chunnel. It is super convenient, fast and easy.
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| Town Hall, Burg Square |
I fell madly in love with Bruges! It is the capital of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish region of Belgium. The city center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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| Heilig-Bloedbasiliek, Basilica of the Holy Blood |
It is charming and I would definitely go back in a heart beat. Anna and the boys loved it, and on our last morning both boys asked if we can come back soon.
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To celebrate a wedding a teeny car drove honking through the square,
stopped and unloaded gobs of balloons. Mazel tov! |
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- In the market-place of Bruges stands the belfry old and brown;
- Thrice consumed and thrice rebuilded, still it watches o'er the town.
- William Wordsworth Longfellow
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The bellfry contains a carillon, which consists of 47 bells that are played using a keyboard. Several times a day the bells play for minutes at a time. It is sublime.
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| Market Square |
The official language of the region is Dutch. The boys watched cartoons in Dutch and didn't seem to mind one bit, protesting with gusto when it was time to turn it off. Anna heard the characters say, "hey daar!" when you might expect them to say, "Hi There!"
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| The boys are troopers, lots of walking and little complaining. |
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| Such a picturesque town. |
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| This duo played beautiful music. |
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| Rainy told us to drink beer and we did! Yay for a drinking age of 18! |
Fun things I want to remember from this dinner...all of us taking turns crossing our eyes, and using Anna's iphone app to read our palms. According to the app Dominic is 'adaptable' and he said, "I'm adopted?''
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| Dominic's first muscle. Thumbs up! |
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| Notice stepped gable of building in the back, typical of Low Countries. |
We visited the Groeninge Museum, I was excited to see the Flemish Primitives, especially Jan Van Eyke. The boys both decided that one of their favorite paintings was this one.
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| The Flaying of Sisamnes, Gerard David, 1498. |
According to Herodotus, Sisamnes was a corrupt judge under Cambyses II of Persia. He accepted a bribe and delivered an unjust verdict. As a result, the king had him arrested and flayed alive. His skin was then used to cover the seat in which his son would sit in judgement. (Wikipedia)
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| We didn't expect to see this poster! Oh how we miss Tucson. |
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| Candy making demonstration inspired Dominic's new plan for future employment. |
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| Horse drawn carriages galore. |
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| Great spot for homemade pasta lunch, finished off with fresh waffle or crepe. |
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| Look for Porta Restaurant down this street. |
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| Holy Blood |
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| Dominic's turn. |
The story of the holy blood is that it was preserved by Joseph of Arimethea after washing the body of Jesus. Fast forward 1100 or so years, the cloth containing the blood is placed in a quartz crystal Byzanitine perfume bottle and sealed with gold wire and red wax, and brought from Jerusalem to Bruges by Thierry of Alsace during the 2nd Crusade (1147-1149). I have to say I did feel a powerful surge of something when I placed my hands on the relic. What I didn't do very well was to explain to the boys what exactly was happening. After Dominic turn, he asked me where the holy blood was. I told him that he had just laid his hands over the blood. "What?!" He nearly shouted..."all I saw was the man!" Referring to the woman attending the relic. ''I'm going back up there!" He insisted, but with a long line and other plans, it was not to be.
Anna said she didn't feel anything. I am into relics. One very cool thing about living in an area with so much history. I don't have an opinion on whether they are truly the items claimed to be. What I love about them is that someone took the time to collect and preserve them. In Saint Mark's cathedral in Venice we saw milk from the Virgin Mary, a nail from the crucifixion, a piece of the true cross, St. Catherine's arm bone, St. Titus's skull and lots of other shrivelled body parts.
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| Boat ride on the canals, blankie sniffing break time. |
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| Wooden fascade. |
We spent one of our days visting Brussels. Later we decided that we should have stayed in Bruges.
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| Throne for Dominic in Brussels. |
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| Thoughts of William. |
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Everard ’t Serclaes died on this site in 1388 resisting Flemish occupation.
Passers-by stroke the limbs of his bronze statue for luck,
Grand Place, Brussels.
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| Mike gave us a tour of the Grand Place |
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Manneken Pis
Rue de l'Étuve/Stoofstraat and Rue du Chêne/Eikstraat |
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30,000 souls running 20 kilometers,
Brussels. |
We visited the
Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique in Brussels. Mike's favorite artist is Rubens, and I was interested in the Margritte exhibit. We divide and conquer with the boys, so I took Dominic and Michael went with Mike. Anna decided to check out the Margritte exhibit also. Unfortunately, it was only mildly interesting for Dominic, so we zipped through 40 years of Magritte's work in 15 to 20 minutes, including bathroom break.
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Museum Paintings, St. Francis of Assisi
Michael |
A trick I discovered was to ask him where to stand to best view the artwork...it added seconds to admire the work. Magritte painted a canvas a day for part of his working life. Fortunately, Michael was inspired and sat down to copy a masterpiece or two.
Our last morning in Bruges, we rented bikes and toured the town.
I teared up, riding around such a beautiful place with my little men. I feel so lucky to be having this adventure.
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| Notice the fellows on the steps. |
Anna stayed behind at the hotel and chillaxed doing homework.
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| There are many niches of Mary. |
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| Ave Maria. |
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| Tiny patio of our hotel. |
We stayed at Hotel Malleberg, which is close to Market Square and Burg Square. The owners were very friendly, and the room was perfect for our family. We would definitely recommend it and stay there again.
