Monday 24 April, Day 4: Bruges
We felt vindicated when we woke up in the morning and the sun was shining and the sky was blue…. we were not going to get wet on our bike tour :)
We met under the Belfry before walking through some more cobbled backstreets to a car garage with bikes in it. All the bikes were the same colour, so to differentiate them from one another they that been given names on stickers on the front of the handle bars. I was Maggie, and Duncan was homer. We headed outside of the perimeter of Bruges into the country side. To do that we had to cross one of the many canals. The crossing was up, as a huge barge (probably carrying oil) was heading back to the Netherlands. The problem was the water level on the Bruges side was lower than the water level on the Amsterdam side of the junction. Because of this the boat was locked in a section and water was pumped in to make the water level equal to the Netherlands side this raised the barge in the canal allowing it enough space to move through. It was slow, but interesting.
After we crossed the intersection we cycled down the banks of a canal that was built by Napoleon to join with the sea, but never actually joined because of all of the problems salt water would have caused. It is lined with Poplars and was really lovely.
From there we went through the “country side” stopping at a real working windmill of Damme that still grinds grains for the village. From there it was only a short cycle to the centre of Damme. Bruges became a huge port down when the sea came right in over Europe, bringing the traders right to their doorstep. However a couple of hundred years later as the sea receded the port town moved from a huge bustling metropolitan Bruges to a smaller village Damme, until eventually the sea left there too.
Damme was surrounded by a star shape moat which was easier to defend and more difficult to attack. Parts of the moat still stand, and in other areas trees have been planted in the star shape to remember it. Even today the town remembers and honours the dog, particularly a black dog. Legend says that once many years ago, the dam kept conintually springing a leak and the townsfolk were worried that they would all be drowned. However one of the important towns people noticed that the shape of the latest hole was similar in shape to a stray black dog that had been following them around on their quest to find a solution. So they put the dog in the hole and sure enough the dog fit. They bricked up the hole from behind the dog (they didn’t trap him in there) and from then on he was a hero in the town. He is on the town flag, and the spire of the town hall and on all the town emblems!!
After some Belgian beer in a lovely beer garden, (mmmm cherry beer is yummy) we cycled back to Bruges through some different country side. It might not have any impressive mountains or gorges, but being the flattest country in the world makes it great for cycling :)
Once back in Bruges we had a couple of hours to kill before we needed to leave for our train. This we did in a pub! I can see what you are thinking, but it was recommended to us. They serve their own beer called Garre, which is a whopping 13%, and believe it or not it actually tasted delicious. Rumour has it that the proprietors won’t actually serve anyone more than two pints… although there were some people on a table across from us who had definitely had more than two ;). We shared a couple of drinks with a really nice Australian couple from Queensland who are also moving to the UK, he is a Duntroon boy and has been stationed in the UK for 10 months.
We made it back to the train station with little difficulty and had an uneventful ride home.
All in all Bruges is amazingly cliché but I reckon a must see!!! We had such a wonderful wonderful weekend.
We met under the Belfry before walking through some more cobbled backstreets to a car garage with bikes in it. All the bikes were the same colour, so to differentiate them from one another they that been given names on stickers on the front of the handle bars. I was Maggie, and Duncan was homer. We headed outside of the perimeter of Bruges into the country side. To do that we had to cross one of the many canals. The crossing was up, as a huge barge (probably carrying oil) was heading back to the Netherlands. The problem was the water level on the Bruges side was lower than the water level on the Amsterdam side of the junction. Because of this the boat was locked in a section and water was pumped in to make the water level equal to the Netherlands side this raised the barge in the canal allowing it enough space to move through. It was slow, but interesting.
After we crossed the intersection we cycled down the banks of a canal that was built by Napoleon to join with the sea, but never actually joined because of all of the problems salt water would have caused. It is lined with Poplars and was really lovely.
From there we went through the “country side” stopping at a real working windmill of Damme that still grinds grains for the village. From there it was only a short cycle to the centre of Damme. Bruges became a huge port down when the sea came right in over Europe, bringing the traders right to their doorstep. However a couple of hundred years later as the sea receded the port town moved from a huge bustling metropolitan Bruges to a smaller village Damme, until eventually the sea left there too.
Damme was surrounded by a star shape moat which was easier to defend and more difficult to attack. Parts of the moat still stand, and in other areas trees have been planted in the star shape to remember it. Even today the town remembers and honours the dog, particularly a black dog. Legend says that once many years ago, the dam kept conintually springing a leak and the townsfolk were worried that they would all be drowned. However one of the important towns people noticed that the shape of the latest hole was similar in shape to a stray black dog that had been following them around on their quest to find a solution. So they put the dog in the hole and sure enough the dog fit. They bricked up the hole from behind the dog (they didn’t trap him in there) and from then on he was a hero in the town. He is on the town flag, and the spire of the town hall and on all the town emblems!!
After some Belgian beer in a lovely beer garden, (mmmm cherry beer is yummy) we cycled back to Bruges through some different country side. It might not have any impressive mountains or gorges, but being the flattest country in the world makes it great for cycling :)
Once back in Bruges we had a couple of hours to kill before we needed to leave for our train. This we did in a pub! I can see what you are thinking, but it was recommended to us. They serve their own beer called Garre, which is a whopping 13%, and believe it or not it actually tasted delicious. Rumour has it that the proprietors won’t actually serve anyone more than two pints… although there were some people on a table across from us who had definitely had more than two ;). We shared a couple of drinks with a really nice Australian couple from Queensland who are also moving to the UK, he is a Duntroon boy and has been stationed in the UK for 10 months.
We made it back to the train station with little difficulty and had an uneventful ride home.
All in all Bruges is amazingly cliché but I reckon a must see!!! We had such a wonderful wonderful weekend.
posted by Gemma at
4:40 AM
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