Running & Reading in Rennes: In Bruges (but not like the movie, which we've never seen)

Daffodils at the convent, very Eastery (and slanted).

Belfry in the Grande Place.

On Easter Monday, Nathaniel, Lisa and I took a day trip to Bruges, about an hour train ride from Nathaniel and Maria's house in Brussels. Bruges is in the northwest part of Belgium, the Dutch part. In fact, about half-way through the train ride there, announcements stopped being made in both French and Dutch and started being made in only Dutch. Starting the 12th century, Bruges was major textile producer and a trade center, largely because a huge storm created a new channel for the river Zwin which allowed direct access to the ocean. Around 1500, this channel began silting up and Bruges began to lose its commercial importance. While it's still a fairly large city today (a couple hundred thousand people), much of its historic medieval buildings and canals have been preserved.

Canal where you could take a boat tour.

Convent church.

Unfortunately for us, though, it was a cold, windy, rainy day when we visited, making it more difficult to appreciate the city's charm. We started in a still-functioning convent on the street from the train station to the city center. It was a very simple and quiet place. The walls were painted a bright white, and the arches were Roman, giving the space a simpler and brighter feel. The nuns were preparing for a service, so we only stayed a few moments. It looked like they were going to have a bit of a crowd for such a small space - very different from most of the holy places we visit in France.

We also visited several small churches plus the cathedral where the organist was practicing throughout our entire visit. The cathedral was certainly different from the medieval churches we've seen in France - this one was brighter with white walls but also had many more paintings hanging on the walls. They also had a little museum in the old treasury, containing old grave markers, some illuminated manuscripts, lots of gold chalices and plates, and some clerical garments. We saw the central square, the town hall and the huge belfry, too.

Cathedral interior.

Depiction of Jesus skipping.

Belgian fries.

We ate a picnic lunch outside in the cold and rain (fortunately we found a bench in a parking lot that was under an overhang so we didn't get too wet!) and afterwards we tried fries at a restaurant next to the cathedral. Despite their name, French fries actually originated in Belgium so we thought what better place to try them? Sadly, they weren't very good. They were very fatty and not very salty or crisp. It was a bit of a disappointing experience. In the afternoon, while Nathaniel went to an art museum, Lisa and I did some shopping and tried more local specialties.

We had another Belgian waffle (this one was sort of cinnamon-y and not as caramelized as the one we had in Brussels) and some Belgian chocolates, too. Lisa had a cognac-cream-filled one which she said was the best chocolate she's every had. We also tried cuberdons, a Belgian candy specialty that's not really exported. It's a kind of waxy sugar cone containing raspberry syrup on the inside. We tried both raspberry (we didn't really like them) and licorice flavor (the licorice was better). Finally, in an attempt to warm up, we bought some hot chocolate, which consisted of heated milk and a piece of chocolate on a stick that you stir into the milk as it melts. It was pretty tasty (although in my haste to drink it while it was still warm, I managed to spill a decent amount down my coat!).

The porcupine was filled with cognac cream and was one of the best
chocolates Lisa has ever had.

A scenic shot.

Finally, when we had enough of the wind and rain (especially because our poor cheap umbrella was no match for the weather), we met up with Nathaniel and took the train back to Brussels. In the end, we found Bruges to be an odd place. It was very touristy and we heard lots of English (from both Americans and others), more than almost anywhere we've been outside of the UK, Paris, and Mont-Saint-Michel. But we couldn't really figure out why it was so touristy. It's a perfectly nice city and all, but we didn't really see anything we felt was terribly distinctive (although it's obviously different from what we see in France). It's just how I imagine Dutch cities to be - lots of brick buildings and canals. Then again, perhaps the bad weather didn't let the city show off its full glory!