June 21 Saturday: Brugge, Belgium

Jack's computer died. It was a netbook and we hardly ever use it at home, so we will not replace it. My netbook is working, but occasionally acts a little strange. I am backing up everyday, just in case!

We arranged for another night's stay here in the same campground, since we still haven't seen old town Brugge and that is why we are here. We bought a discounted package of ten bus tickets so we can go back and forth to the old town today and tonight, but when we got to the bus stop, we found the bus drivers were on a one-day strike. These one-day strikes are fairly common here.

 So we walked the 1 mile to the bridge over the moat that leads through the ancient gates into the town center and then walked another mile to get to the central square. This old part of town is large, probably two or three square miles and we spent the day wandering all around. We had lunch at an outdoor cafe that included a glass of Belgian beer – wonderful! We were surprised to find that none of these tiny streets were pedestrian only and traffic and tourists all competed for the small cobblestone sidewalks. And then there are the bicycles! We have never seen so many bicycles – not even in Colorado! They are everywhere, making walking and driving quite a challenge, especially in tight spaces and at crossroads.  

Grand Square where we had lunch

We took a horse carriage tour so we could get an overview of the city that is interspersed with canals and these wonderful swans.

We then went directly to the church with Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. This is reportedly the only Michelangelo sculpture that left Italy and is the one in the movie, Monument Men that they rescued from the Germans (and Russians) by pushing it out of the mine near the end of the movie.
 It was quite a distance away, so could not make out details and it appeared smaller than we expected, but we did notice that it seemed unusual that Mother and Child are looking away from each other.

We loved Brugge, but walking on cobblestones is very hard on the feet and legs, so when we had enough we grabbed a taxi back to the campground where they refunded our useless bus tickets. A quiet evening sitting outside in the beautiful weather. Are we really here????