Last week you could read about the exposition my daughter and I visited in Bruges (about Picasso and Miro). And this week’s travelpost is about the walk we did in the historical center of the lovely, medieval town Bruges.

I already made a travelpost about Bruges which you can read here. But as I regularly visit Flanders’ gem, I’m treating you to another Bruges-post… enjoy!

1.The Beguinage

One of the main sights in Bruges is the Beguinage (Begijnhof) which was founded in the 13th century. The ‘Princely Beguinage Ten Wijngaarde’ consists of white-coloured little houses surrounding a convent garden. It is truly very charming and these tiny houses once were the home of the beguines, emancipated women who led a pious and celibate life.

One house has been turned into a museum which gives you an idea of a ‘day in the life’ of a 17th century beguine.

Today the beguinage is inhabited by nuns. You can visit, but please keep the silence!

2.Canals and Minnewater

Bruges is often called ‘the Venice of the North’. It indeed has many canals on which you can of course do a boat trip to see Bruges from the other side of the water. A boat trip will let you experience Bruges from another point of view.

The Minnewater is situated near the Beguinage. It is a popular place to have a picknick or just to laze around in the sun.

 3.The Burg

The Burg was the base of operations of the Count of Flanders. On this place, a lot of ancient buildings are gathered.

• the Old Court of Justice (on the left of above picture)
• 14th century City Hall (in the middle of above picture)
• the Basilica of the Holy blood (picture below)

4.The Old St John Site

This site, which is located in the heart of the city, is a unique site combining art, culture and gastronomy.

On this site you can visit the museum St John’s Hospital, which is a representation of a medieval hospital with medieval wards, a chapel, an impressive collection of archives and art works and also six paintings by the Flemish Primitive Hans Memling.  You can also visit the pharmacy and the old dormitory.

On the site you also have several expostion rooms. You can visit permanent and temporary expositions. Last week you could read a post about the Picasso and Miro exposition my daughter and I at Saint John’s Hospital.

Besides all this, you can have a bite to eat in the restaurant or on the outdoor terrace which offers spectacular views on the canals.

5.Markt

The ‘Markt’ (or market place) is the centre of medieval Bruges. When you take a moment to look around carefully, you’ll be amazed at how many beautifully restored buildings you see…

Of course when you think of the Markt, you think of the Belfry which you can climb to have a spectacular view over the city.

On the square itself is a statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck, two heroes of Bruges who resisted French oppression during the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302.

The Provincial Palace is built in neo-Gothic style. Until the 18th century this used to be the Waterhalle, a covered warehouse where goods were loaded and unloaded. You can now visit a fabulous museum on this site: Historium, about the history of Bruges. Read more about this museum in a previous post about Bruges!

Another tip: have a nice Belgian Beer at the brasserie of Historium. The brasserie offers a stunning view on the Markt as you can see on the picture below!

6.Simon Stevinplein

Another cosy place in Bruges is the Simon Stevinplein. This place is surrounded by shops, tearooms and restaurants and when you’re lucky you can get a place on one of the many outdoor terraces on this place… enjoy!

By the way, this place is called after mathematician and physicist Simon Stevin who was born and who invented the decimal system for fractions and created the mathematical basis for the construction of fortifications… I thought I’d let you know… just in case you might find this interesting 😀

7.Amuni

One last thing I want to share with you… a restaurant tip!

As my daughter really likes pizza (and so do I!), we went looking for a pizzeria… but we ended up in a place so much better… ‘Amuni’.

Amuni is an amazing Italian restaurant which embraces the ‘slow food’ philosophy.

‘Slow food’ is a global organization founded to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures. It represents ‘good, clean & fair’ food meaning they only use food of high quality, which doesn’t harm the environment and with accesible prices for consumers and fair conditions and pay for producers. Beautiful philosophy, isn’t it?!

And you know what? I have never ever tasted a pizza this good… honestly! You could actually taste the quality of the products used.

Another plus is the trendy interior of the place and the friendly service you get. A visit to this Italian restaurant is definitely recommended when in Bruges!

Check the website here: http://www.amuni.be/

And that my dearest readers, concludes this post about Bruges… Have you ever been to this lovely town? I hope I inspired you for your (next) visit!

Love, Kathleen