Two days in Bruges – Day 2

There were so many things to do in Bruges that we couldn’t possibly do it all in two short days. However, that didn’t stop us from trying. Our boat tour in the morning offered a different perspective of the charms of Bruges from the picturesque canals. We did a little shopping after that and Pat, Marion and Anna also toured the Chocolate Museum. After the museum, we had a delicious lunch of Belgian waffles.

Next, we went inside the Church of Our Lady, circa 1220, to see the Madonna and Child, which was sculpted by Michelangelo in 1504-1505. Originally commissioned for a cathedral in Tuscany, it was instead purchased by a Bruges merchant and given to the Church. It is the only work of Michelangelo that left Italy in the artist’s lifetime. The Carrara marble statue is in excellent shape despite being stolen in 1794 (returned from Paris in 1816) and seized by the Germans in 1944 (returned in 1945).

Our next stop was a tour of De Halve Maan brewery, where we learned about beer making, admired the beautiful views of the red clay tiled houses from the top of the brewery, and then sampled the excellent blond beer that was brewed on site. Although there were 31 breweries in Bruges before WWI, De Halve Maan is the only one left inside the city centre.

While waiting for our tour to begin, we walked through the Beginhof, a walled complex with houses for a lay sisterhood that dates back to 1245. Benedictine nuns currently occupy one of the old houses and the church, circa 1602, is also open to the public. Following the brewery tour, we walked to the Burg, a town square, where we admired the gothic architecture of both the Town Hall that was built between 1376 and 1420, and its next door neighbour, the Basilica of the Holy Blood which is said to house a vial containing a few drops of Christ’s blood. Blind Donkey Alley is a narrow lane that leads from the Burg to the Vis-Markt, a square where fish were sold in the 18th century. Our hotel was near the Vis-Markt so we picked up our luggage as it was time to drive home.

This was my second visit to Bruges. I was there with Kevin and Justin on December 29th and 30th and had just as much fun this time. This visit we stayed at a lovely hotel in the City Centre called Hotel Jan Brito, which was named after the person who introduced book printing to the area. The hotel is a former mansion consisting of three original 16th century buildings that were combined and converted into a mansion in 1637. Following renovations aimed at preserving the architecture of the mansion, it opened as a hotel in 1995. This photo is of the hotel's beautiful courtyard.