Bruges - Day 2 Afternoon

Bruges - Day 2 Afternoon

So, having done all the holy stuff and the culture in the morning, I found the brewery tour which I had heard about on Rick Steves again..

If you're interested in watching and have the time, this is a great summary of Bruges..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZuI-dR9pfU

The brewery is called De Halve Maan and the deal is that you get the tour and a free beer for 8 Euros...

The tour was interesting and one good thing was the ability to take pics of Bruges from their roof top..

The guide told us that people in Bruges are not allowed to have any TV antennae or Satellite dishes on their roof tops to preserve that mediaeval feel. She  also told us that a few years ago the town of Bruges ripped up all the cobblestones to make the thoroughfares easier to navigate.... then 12 months later they ripped the latest roads up and reinstalled the cobblestones, to revert to that authentic middle ages feel.

At the end of the tour we  received that "free" beer and could sit in front of a nice open fire and just chill with a freshly brewed ale...  Nice!!!

I had one last visit in me, and the only thing I had really missed was the Groeninge Museum...

I took a few pics but quite a few of them didn't come out too well - it's hard to take pics in the museums where you are not allowed to use your flash, and the items are often surrounded by glass etc..

So here's a few humble offerings, but they don't do justice to the originals...

Judgement of Cambyses  1498  by Gerard David

Death of the Virgin 1470 by Hugo van der Goes

The legend of St Ursula

So that was my big day out in Bruges.

Tonight I went back to the Irish pub and had Shepherds Pie - lovely. And they had free wifi, so I could answer all my emails while  I was sipping on a very civilised glass of crisp white wine..

Now I just have to re-pack everything again, because my train for Brussels leaves at 10am. I have 4 nights in Brussels, so it will be good to just stay put for a while. Then I'm off via the Chunnel to London for 10 days. I'm looking forward to  a bit of staying in the same place for a while and I will hopefully discover a Laundromat soon to catch up on all the extra washing. Aaahhh the joys of life on the road...

So, it's goodnight from Bruges - a most delightful place.