Bruges (Belgium)
14 March 2016
14 March 2016
Irish contract killers Ray & Ken are sent to the medieval town of Brugge (Bruges) following a botched hit in London. Eight years later Inga & Henry show up in this fascinating ensemble of architecture, representative of multiple phases and periods within the commercial and cultural biography of this town. Funny how a movie can lead to someone else's alternate reality.
Antwerp station - Belgium
Have not seen a station as grand as Antwerp - quite impressive
Antwerp station - Belgium
Brugge - Belgium
Brugge - Belgium
It was the movie that brought us here, plain and simple. In Bruges which stars Colin Farrell is the reason that I had already become acquainted with the beauty of this town prior to visiting. The movie In Bruges is one of those black comedy style of movies, in the elk of Burn After Reading. Not to say that Bruges is in any way of the mould of a black comedy, the town itself is more the foil to the main story but in a way personifies or embodies the actual subtext to the plot. Beautiful, mysterious and honourable. The setting classically supports the characters and the ideals of honour and friendship in a world of oddly inept criminals. Side by side, the movie and the town do justice to one another.
From Amsterdam its approximately 3hrs one way to Bruge. From memory the connections were to get there went something like Amsterdam - Antwerp - Ghent - Brugge. It became a six hour break from our Amsterdam getaway which allowed me the time to essentially go and see a movie. So the question, was it worth it? Absolutely, Bruges has golden offerings, in spades.
The Belfry tower - Brugge - Belgium
A glass of Chimay in the square
Brugge - Belgium
Brugge - Belgium
Brugge - Belgium
The town is spectacular. Another contender in its own right for the moniker of being the Venice of the North, it competes along with its Dutch soulmate Amsterdam. The waterways of Bruge however offer something different again to that of the Dutch capital. An architectural time warp, a treasure trove of medieval structures that all seemed to fit perfectly within the whole make-up of a desperately beautiful town.
I had some expectations of Bruge, Inga had none. Now we were here, in the midst of the shadows of the mighty Bruges Belfry tower located in the Markt of Bruges. On this particular day we find ourselves a large slice of luck for a day in mid-March, the sun is out, its pleasant in the direct sunlight and the restaurants are full of people soaking in both the atmosphere and quality suds. Even as a non-beer drinker it didn't take much arm twisting for me to get into the Belgian stuff. I know it's good, too many Belgian Beer Cafes in Sydney & Melbourne haven't allowed me to make any sort of argument against that fact. Chimay, Kwak, Duvel, Stella, Hoegaarden. All familiar names and all wonderfully delicious but particularly so when partaking of the precious liquid in their country of origin.
Brugge - Belgium
Brugge - Belgium
Brugge - Belgium
Like Venice & Amsterdam it would also be difficult to walk away from the town without allowing ourselves the small indulgence of taking a canal cruise.. Offering a different perspective yet again, viewing the town whilst navigating the sometimes challenging twists and turns of the, in part, small canals, only sort to give Bruges another dimension of charm and beauty that is equally evident by impressions garnered fromwondering through its streets and lane ways. I couldn't say that the beauty of Bruges suprised me, because in a large way it was expected, but even the lofty expectations that I did have were surpassed by some distance.
Savouring as much as we could off the day also meant that we ended up at a place called the Beerwall in order to decompress and reflect on what we'd seen. The Beerwall itself occupies pride of place on probably the prettiest section of the Dijver Canal, one of the main canals of the town. It wasn't hard to see why so many people were holding up their phones in the immediate vicinity, and also, why so many bad photos were being taken. There's only so much artistry that can be afforded to mediocre photographers after downing the local amber ales. It has to be told with certainty, what they have in Belgium is priceless. This product, this drink that they make, it's like beer without frontiers, beer that is so egalitarian in its fine quality that even the most ardent Baptist would succumb to the wiliness of the collective offerings.
Brugge - Belgium
That's the Beerwall - what a great place to have a drink!
Brugge - Belgium
No fears for a Kwak or six
Inga & I spent a few hours in the Beerwall, for most of that time in the company of a chatty & cheeky Englishman, along with his silent Thai partner. He was one of those cocky, amusing types. One of those that could easily turn you off but somehow became more engaging with every additional drink in each passing moment. In fact we did find ourselves getting to a point in our stay where we realised that we were running a bit late for the last train out of Bruges and found ourselves literally having to run a few kms on the back of a gallon of good 'ole Belgian beer in order to make an ignominious exit.
Train boredom - somewhere in the Netherlands
The boredom continues
And that's how we made our exit, something churlishly making our exit without so much as a thank you or a tip of the hat to our most gracious of hosts. So to you Bruges I say, thank you, spending the day with you was just like being in a fucking fairytale!
