Bruge Day One

Rooflines

Michelangelo Sculpture

Canal

Dewi

May 25, 2011- Learning Curve

Our guide, Dewi, took us on a quick walk around town. She pointed out ATMs, gelateria, cafes off the tourist track, & the grocery store. Of course, it was all academic since we didn't have any local lucre. We peeled away from the group at the end of the walk and went to the nearest ATM only to find that it didn't like micro-chipless American bank cards. We were directed to another ATM and successfully negotiated some Euros. Cash in hand we went in search of an authentic Belgian experience....chocolate. We managed to find a hole in the wall owned by two sisters where we combined two delicacies...chocolate and Belgian waffles. We made an Amaerican gaff though and asked for tap water to drink with the waffles. The server graciously brought us some but warned that her sister wouldn't be so kind. Although it's safe to drink, Belgians prefer bottled to tap water.

We were trying to stay awake until our 6 PM meeting where Dewi will outline our daily schedule and optional tours, but we failed. We'd set the alarm incorrectly and jerked awake at 6:15 PM. We scurried to the meeting in time to sign up for a trip to Flander's Field tomorrow then join two other couples for dinner. We wanted something light so I just had fish soup with a basket of bread, David had an omelette, fries & mayo for the fires (that's how they eat them here). We had bottled water & pop. The bill was $45 (30 euros). They charged for the mayo & bread. I guess it's better than the $45 pizza we had in Oslo.

And of course there are the wonderful dumb things we do that I report to you so you'll keep reading in hope there will be yet more. I needed to close the sink stopper so I could safely put my lenses in my eyes. The only way to close it was to press it down. But when I wanted to open it we couldn't figure it out. We later heard others discussing the problem. The solution was to push on it and it would pop up. I never would have figured it out.

Then there was the mystery of why my face was burning and getting blotchy. I put what I thought was moisturizer on it with bad results. I usually use whatever hand lotion the hotel provides but this was almost a disaster. I washed my face with clear water and it felt better. Using soap helped more. When I re-read the label on the bottle of hand cream I'd used it turned out to be shampoo. An "aha" moment.

May 26, 2011-still Brugge

Bruges is spelled variously as Bruges, Brugge & Brugges. There must be other ways as well.

We were broken up into sub-groups this morning for a walking tour of town. Our guide was Christian and he was miked which actually made it harder to understand him. But the one thing that came out clearly was that his pronunciation of California was identical to Schwartzenegger's. We got side-tracked from ancient to modern politics and he told us that Belgium hasn't had a government for a year. The issue is their version of state's rights. Unbelievable that this tiny country has three states. There's also a hot issue vote tonight about limiting the immigration to people who actually are skilled. That's how talk of California came up.

Notable history for our purposes started in the 9th century when the nobles from here started kidnapping wives from elsewhere. Thus began the "intimate" relationship with the Hapsburgs of Austria resulting in the tragic death of Maximillian's 25 year old wife in a riding accident. He was overwrought and high-tailed it to Antwerp to drown his sorrows taking with him business leaders and moving the center of power. The story here is familiar with Europe in general although I didn't know this had been a stronghold of Spain early on. Religious wars (Protestant vs Catholic) left their mark and to date there’s still a class struggle between French and Flemish. And to illustrate that there is nothing unique, people here were distraught to learn that their beloved bishop had been molesting his nephew. The statute of limitations had run out and so was the bishop who now lives in France.

There are two squares in Bruges. Burg Square is the smaller of the two and has a bell tower (belfry) featured in a movie called Bruges that we haven't yet seen. The other is Market Square which is larger. Christian gave names to the rooflines I love so well. The staggered ones are step gables, the rounded are Dutch facades mimicking bell shapes. Some roofs are crenellated. Stunning.

Preservation is popular here and we were fortunate to be able to see Michelangelo's statue in the Church of Our Lady before they started charging an entry fee next week. The statue was originally carved from white marble in Sienna and sold to the bishop there. He never paid for it so Michelangelo took it back and sold it to a businessman here. It was surprisingly small and reminiscent of the Pieta. The church was surprisingly dull. I've never seen one where the predominant color scheme was brown & beige.

We ended our morning with a canal boat ride. Only sixteen government owned boats are allowed on the canals and their speed is strictly controlled to avoid more erosion of canal-side buildings. The canals are narrow with scattered arched bridges adding to the charm. Trees overhang, swans and ducks glide by, & flowers create the needed color against the brick facades. If it hadn't been cold and windy it would have been perfect. The sun did peep out and it didn't rain so I consider us lucky.

We skipped going to the lace store for an instructional and commercial visit and headed back to the hotel. We met up with two other couples who decided that lunch was more important than lace and grabbed a quicky at Quick's, their version of McDonald's. It lived up to its name and McD quality. The best part about it was the huge staircase we had to climb to the eating area.

This afternoon we head to Flanders Field & I'll layer my clothing more. Although leggings are the style here I'm not ready to commit my body to that exposure to weather. I'm sticking to jeans for now. Dewi took a fall yesterday and is now wearing walking shoes. She's also in jeans and we teased her about looking like an American tourist.

Toby