Shortly after arriving in Belgium, we traded the "autobahn" for a side road and ended up in Scherpenheuvel. In the center of town this 17th century church has been a stop on pilgimmage routes for hundreds of years. It was quiet for our Friday visit and it had a very pleasant, calming feel.
The building itself even seemed to be resting. Certainly the maintenance crew had rested because there were trees sprouting from the roof. However, even this contributed to the overall peace of the place. A great first-stop.
The rest of our trip was uneventful. We reached Brugge, found our way past the moat and inside the wall, found our hotel, and were soon walking around. It didn't take long to see this was a special place. Parts of Brugge are very polished - and touristy. The roof of the Old Recorder's house glowed with golded decoratiomns from Brugge's glory.
The main town square also glowed in the evening. This picture was shot at about 930pm as we strolled through the slow summer sunset. Like at home in Frankfurt, night darkenss doesn't happen until after 10:00pm.
In the morning, we went out to the canal that runs around much of the old city. In medieval times, it served as both the main highway from the sea and a protective moat. Today it's a perfect place for a stroll.
A few of the old windmills stand along the canal. One of these still grinds grain as it has for hundreds of years. We had first seen these all-rotating wooden windmills in Ukraine several years ago and the engineering - and longevity - still impresses me.
After our early walk we wandered through the back streets. Food started showing up everywhere. I think if we lived here, we'd use neighborhood delicatessens for half our meals!
Like Venice, Brugge was built with canals as main roads. Today they serve swans, ducks, and tourist boats but there is nothing more peaceful than these reflecting ponds and the old stone bridges.
Tourist boats. Lots of tourist boats. Normally we are not fond of crowds but, in this case, seeing so many smiling faces made crowds fun.
Speaking of smiling faces, the Brugge Lace and Folkcraft Centre was filled with them. Hand-made Belgian lace was originally part of the thriving textile business in Brugge, but today machines have taken over most of the production. But lacemaking was always a social event too and so has been revived as a way to keep traditions alive.
Even young kids spend time with bobbins and thread.
This is a piece of average complexity - for the adults. Some lacemakers had patterns with dozens of small wooden spindles and complex spinderwebs of thread leading to quite intricate designs.
The finest designs were still in the old pieces. This detail from the Folkcraft Museum shows a level of artistry that is hard to imagine.
Of course no Old-Europe visit is complete without a stop at a chapel, church, or cathedral. We saw some of all but this small chapel next to the Folkcraft Museum had the most "interesting" altarpiece. I suppose we should have gotten the full story, but I'm not sure I want to know!
Besides lace, Brugge and Belgium are most famous for chocolat. Brugge chocolat-makers range from the big and famous - Godiva - to the small and friendly. Sampling the treats of the Dumon family kitchen, we had to agree with our guide book that small is better. Yes, better than Godiva.
We also had to buy some lace examples. Even our little car can hold such souvenirs. Of the dozens of shops in town, we were charmed by Echte Kant and her family operation. In this picture she is holding the piece we bought, a piece she said she made herself. Whether all these "home made" stories are true or not, the friendliness of the story tellers seemed quite genuine.
One more walk through town and past the canals and we were ready to settle down in Brugge.
For the most part, the canal bridges of Brugge are still being used. Cars and trucks drive over structures that may be hundreds of years old. But the better use may be just to sit on the bridge with a friend.
On our return trip, we took a slight detour to the North, into Netherlands. The Atlantic coast and the coastal countryside was beautiful and, now that the sun came out, we could travel top-down. This Dutch windmill is relatively modern with a stationary base and a rotating top. Next time, we need to take pictures of the newest windmills, those based on these traditional designs and now sprouting up all over Europe to make electricity.