Bruges, Belgium

What a magical city Bruges is. It is located in the north west of Belgium not far from the Dutch border.
The historic city centre is a world heritage site of UNESCO and so attracts at least 3.2 million visitors a year.

Carolyna first travelled to Bruges when she was living in Holland about 30+ years ago and so was very excited to be back.  Unfortunately, we arrived late on a Sunday afternoon and only had one day in Bruges - Monday - and all museums were closed!!  So this visit we did not see any of the amazing art Bruges has to offer but it gave us time to wander and explore this quaint city in its entirety.

One of the canals in Bruge with houses on the water

Carolyna e Alan in Bruges. Rugged up. The temperature went down to -3 degrees.

Bruges has a population of 117,000 including 20,000 in its historic moated centre. The city has an economic importance thanks to its port.

Canal on Vismarkt Square.

The Burg square, one of two main squares in Bruges, is the centre of the cities administration. Note the Belfry tower in the Markt Square in the background.

Markt Square, the second main square in Bruges, is the medieval heart of the city. Here is the Provincial Court a great example of Neo Gothic architecture.

Carolyna in the Markt Square with a horse drawn carriage passing in front of the grand post office.

The Gothic Town Hall built in 1376 situated on the Burg.

Evening in a small square in the historical centre of town.

Ice skating on the Markt Square with the Belfry tower in the background.

Decorated shops and restaurants on the Markt Square.  

Tourists on a bridge over one of the canals

A canal running through Minnewater park (Lake of Love)

Early snow in the Minnewater

See the iced up canal here.........where do the ducks go?

Begijnhof, an area exclusively for women who do good work within the community.

Two nuns in the Begijnhof on their way to lunch (we heard the bells toll) after prayers in the Church situated in the Begijnhof.  In 1937 it became a monastry for Benedictine nuns.

Alan and Carolyna on the southern bridge at Minnewater Park. Part of the lake was frozen over (and so were we as after half an hour our toes were frozen and so we needed a hot drink to defrost regularly).

One of many statues dotted through the historic city (notice the fresh snow on top).

Carolyna at dinner after the best seafood bouillabaisse anyone could ever want to eat......

Bruges has some lovely restaurants with a lot of French and Dutch influences.  This one was called Cafedraal.

Overnight snow

some more fresh snow.......

it's everywhere.......

we were lucky to leave Bruges after we took this pic as it was still snowing heavily......traffic was slow and chaotic and the snow continued for the next few days.....

Tourists in the snow taking their own picture!

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