Voyage to Brugge

While my brother was  here, we decided to take a trip to the medieval town of Brugge, Belgium.  It was my brother's first high speed train ride, during which, he made the best of the situation...
 

That's some good sleep!

Brugge had some very lovely architecture.

In the window is some lace, which Belgium is well known for.

The architecture reminded me quite a bit of Holland.

Swans out the town's canals.

The Church of Our Lady, started in the 13th century.  It's the tallest brick church in the world.

Looking up at the different architectural styles of the Church of Our Lady.

The various façades of the buildings.  In the days before street numbers, the different shapes of the top were used to distinguish similar looking homes.

In the main square.  There were horses everywhere!

Outside of the Chapel of the Holy Blood.

The best part of any trip to Europe, is, of course, the pastries.

 

The city archive building, built in the 1500s.

The gilded in gold gateway between City Hall and Archives.

An interesting instrument.  We also had the opportunity to watch some lively tourists dancing to his music.

 

The very scenic canal Dijver.  Many of the houses have doors at water level for easy access to boats on the canals.

Of course, Belgium is well known for its beers.  In this shop, beer lined all the walls.

Nearby was the "Wall of Beer", which extended about 100 feet, displaying hundreds of various beers.

Along with some quotes from some famous people...

including Homer Simpson.

Klumpa of the world.

In the courtyard of St. John Hospital, which was founded in the 12th century, and served as both a hospital but also a hotel for travelers.

Inside St. Salvador.  It had intricate painting on the ceiling that was different at each location.

It was in the process of being restored.  The back of the church was bright white, reminiscent on how it used to look.

You could easily see the difference between the restored, clean, white ceiling, and what it used to look like (right).

We look up and see a cool nun enjoying the early spring weather.

Since it's Friday, I decide to try something new - mussels in white wine and garlic sauce.  After all, Belgium is probably one of the best places to try it! 

The next day we tour the Halve Maan (Half Moon) brewery.  Of course, what would be a better thing for Brugge to produce?

More bottles of beer on the wall.

100 of them!

Handles, labeled in Dutch.

The fancy new brewing equipment.

Of course, beer is half science.  To prove it, we saw test tubes, beakers, and guys in lab coats.

Science and its practical applications

A nice surprise of the tour was that our tour guide took us to the roof of the brewery, where we had an awesome view of Brugge.

Looking down at the canals.

Lots of brick.

Beer glasses.  When they brew a new beer, they bring in lots of glasses of different shapes to try it with.  They then pick "the" right glass to drink your beer with.  And you thought all beer glasses were the same!

Beer in tanks.

Of course, all this talk of beer makes Joey happy.

I showed a lot of the new equipment - here is some of the historic equipment. 

And at the end of the tour, a free beer.  Joey was even happier!

Back circling the canals.

Bram and I in front of the canals.

We discover some wild chickens. 

I know what you are thinking.  This was pre-road crossing.

An old mossy church off the beaten path.

Joey poses outside one of the gates of the city.

And yes!  Hope for spring!  The tulips are beginning, even in February.

The Powder Tower, which used to store powder during the Middle Ages.

On the way back, we took a first class train.  A nice ending to our trip.