Brugge with Mum

My mom came over to London for my birthday this year and took me on a great trip to Brugge for 2 days to celebrate turning 31.  After a couple fun days of shopping and afternoon teas, we boarded the Eurostar train for Belgium.  We arrived around mid day and checked into our beautiful hotel, Oud Huis de Peelaert, right in the center of town, a 2 minute walk from the main city square, Markt.

After getting settled, we took off on a mini walking tour of the city, our first stop being the Burg square, site of the Stadhuis (town hall) and the Basilica of the Holy Blood chapel.

 Stadhuis:

 Basilica of the Holy Blood:

Next, on to the main square, Markt, on which sits the Belfry tower that can be seen throughout the city.  The architecture on this square is beautiful and it is the heart of shopping and tourism in Brugge.

 Belfry:

Belfry:

We then stopped in at a cute cafe just off Markt for a warming fish soup lunch.  The meal took a little longer than we hoped, causing us to start losing some daylight as we finished our walking tour but we still managed to get some great shots of the canals and find time to pop into a chocolate shop for some treats.  Brugge is one of those picture perfect cities that just gets cuter around every turn.  There is nothing better to do in this city than stroll along the canals snacking on delicious chocolates.

Rozenhoedkaai:

 Steenstraat shopping street:

 Sint Salvatorskathedraal:

 one of many, many chocolate shops:

That evening we went to a great restaurant in one of the oldest buildings in Brugge.  It was a tiny one room place with no more than 6 tables, run by a husband and wife who had grown up in the city and lived just upstairs.  They had great, home cooked, Belgian food and a cozy atmosphere.

The next morning we slept in and awoke to rainy weather.  We took our time getting up and having breakfast before making our way over to the Groening museum of fine arts.  It was a small museum but they had some nice Jan Van Eyck paintings, as well as other Flemish painters from the 15th century through to today.

Some shots of the neighborhood around the museum:

After Groening, we visited the Church of Our Lady, which is known for having the Brugge Madonna and Child by Michelangelo.  If you have seen the movie, Monument Men, you'll remember that this was one of the statues stolen by the Nazis and later recovered in a salt mine.  The interesting thing about the statue is that it shows Jesus as a young boy as opposed to an infant, as he is usually depicted.  The rest of the church was not much to see but it was worth visiting the Madonna and Child.

The Church of Our Lady:

Brugge Madonna and Child:

 When we bought our tickets at the Groeninge museum, we ended up buying a museum pass for the city which also included admission to a few other museums we may not have visited otherwise.  One, which was right across from the Church of Our Lady, was the Saint John's Hospital.  Saint John's operated as a hospital since the 13th century and the museum had information about the nuns and monks who worked there and what it was once like.

Following that museum, we took a break for some lovely hot chocolate in a cute shop on the Stevinplein square.

Next up, once the rain had subsided, we decided to climb the belfry tower.  There was lots of great history on the way up and the views from the top were great.  It was incredibly windy and cold up there so we didn't enjoy the views for long.  The Brugge Belfry was originally built in 1240 and has been a landmark of the city ever since.  Poems and books often mentioned the belfry and the elaborate bell system which allowed unique songs to be played when the bells tolled.

Our last stop for the day was the Stadhuis.  The main room of this town hall was stunning and although we didn't have much time to explore, there was some interesting information on the establishment and history of the city.

That night we stopped in at a little pub right on the Rozenhoedkaai canal for a local beer before heading to dinner at Pomperlut.  By far the best meal of our trip, Pomperlut was again in an adorable, historic building and run by two brothers who take great care in creating a unique daily menu and pairing it with great wine.  The food was outstanding and the warm wood burning stove was lovely. After returning from dinner, we spent some time down in the sauna and steam rooms at the hotel spa before bed.

The next morning, we awoke to bright sunny skies and headed out to the edge of the city to walk along the former city walls.  There were some really cute neighborhoods along the way, reminiscent of southern Sweden and Denmark, and beautiful old windmills lining the path along the canal.

From there, we headed back towards the center of town, stopping in another church, Our Lady of the Pottery, which also used to operate as a hospital.  Our Lady of the Pottery was located on another beautiful stretch of canal.

 Our Lady of the Pottery:

 The Old Bridge:

After another walk to the Markt square and a stroll around town, we did a little souvenir shopping. We went to a great beer shop and picked up some interesting beers for Dan, loaded up on chocolates, and got some beautiful lace Christmas ornaments.  We then popped into the Basilica of the Holy Blood, which is really just a small chapel, before heading to the oldest pub in town, Vlissinghe, for lunch.

 Vlissinghe's pup:

After lunch we headed for the train station and made our way back to London.  It was a perfect, easy trip and absolutely one of the cutest cities I have been to in Europe.  Thanks for a great Birthday Mum:-)