Living the retirement dream

We are sharing our ideal retirement experiences.

Bruges & Ghent

We went to Bruges our first week here with Bill and Katiti and loved the little medieval town so much that we wanted to take Jen, Rob and Jack there also. Rob also wanted to see Ghent so we spent two nights in Bruges and did a day trip to Ghent by train.

On the train trip from Amsterdam to Bruges we had to change trains in Antwerp which has a beautiful train station.

We had some time to kill waiting for the train and had a delicious Belgian waffle with fresh strawberries and whipped cream adorned with the Belgium flag.

We stayed at the Hotel Sablon which is a small boutique hotel centrally located but we found it to be quite funky and somewhat annoying as they only had two people to service the bar and check in. The bar was mostly unattended and you had to search out someone to order and make drinks and serve snacks. The servers however were very pleasant despite the workload on their plate.

We decided to take a walking tour to learn about the town and it was very good. Above is a private home and not a church as it would appear to be. The guide explained that these medieval homes often had holy figures over the doors as people felt it would ward off evil spirits.

Bruges is in desperate need for nurses and provides free housing for them to entice them to work here. The modern building above was built for nurses and is very close to the hospital. Now that is a positive perk.

What you are looking at is a beer pipe line which runs three kilometers to bring beer from the brewery to the bottling plant as using heavy trucks for transporting was destroying their ancient cobblestone streets. Belgium is famous for beer and chocolate and I might add ingenuity.

The guide told us that the mayor of the town insisted that the architect include him and his wife as the faces of Adam and Eve on the Town Hall facade but they did not realize they would be naked. He cleverly posed them so their private parts are covered.

This is the Bonifaciusbrug (Boniface Bridge) which is also referred to as the Lovers Bridge as the story goes that when you finish walking across the bridge, the first person you see is the one you will marry. It was built in 1910 but meant to look much older. The guide also pointed out that the stones that lay flat on top of the bridge were actually recycled gravestone markers and you can see dates and names on them. Unfortunately it does not show in this picture.

This 83 meter high Belfry from the 13th century is one of the three iconic towers of Bruges. We climbed the 366 stairs on our last visit here. The carillon in the tower has 47 bells which are played by the town carillonneur on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday from 11am to 12 noon.

Spire of The Church of Our Lady is the third tallest brickwork tower in the world. It is 115.6 meters high. The church has a wealth of art treasures including Michelangelo’s world famous Madonna and Child.

Many nice restaurants line the town square.

We caught this marching band doing a practice run in the morning before the parade of the Holy Blood began later in the day.

This is a parking garage for just bikes.

Couldn’t resist this photo op.

On our second day in Bruges we left and went to Ghent. Jack was so enamored with Bruges that he opted to stay behind and participate in the Ascension Day (40 days after Easter) Procession of the Holy Blood. This commemoration dates back to the 13th century when a citizen of Bruges is said to have brought the Relic of the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ back from the Second Crusade. Each spring 30-45,000 spectators gather here to witness the Holy Blood pass by. Jack went to Mass and watched the parade while we spent the time in Ghent.

We decided to start our visit to Ghent with another “free tour”. For those unfamiliar with these it means you do not pay up front for the tour but after it is over you give the guide what you think the tour is worth. Our tour started later than the booked time because our guide was seen sitting on the steps smoking a joint and getting stoned! He is pictured here in the yellow overalls.

Ghent like Bruges is another beautiful Medieval town but we felt it lacked the charm of Bruges.

It was a very warm, sunny, hot day and the tour guide picked the least shady areas to stop and give his long dissertations which we found to be repetitive of what our tour guide in Bruges had told us.

Ghent Canal businesses.

This is now a Marriott Hotel which was once a brothel. We know this because most swans are depicted facing each other which creates the shape of a heart or true love. Brothel swans are facing away from each other signifying only transient “love”.

Gravensteen is a medieval castle in Ghent. It dates from 1180 and was the residence of the Counts of Flanders until 1300’s when the counts abandoned it and it became a courthouse and prison. Our tour guide we found out later gave us misinformation about this castle as he said it was fake and never used as a castle. He said it was a Disney sham.

? Ghent Town Hall but not sure as we abandoned the tour at this point and went for a Belgium beer and headed back to Bruges.

We returned to our hotel in Bruges and reunited with Jack and decided to go to the bar where a famous scene from the movie “In Bruges” was filmed. We sat in the exact seats that the actors did in the film. We have watched this film twice with our guests that we went there with. It stars Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes and is about two hitmen who get stuck in Bruges after an unsuccessful mission. It is an effective mix of dark comedy and crime thriller.

Enjoy the following photo of buildings in Bruges lit up at night.

We returned to our place in Amsterdam for our final night with this family and enjoyed cocktails on the roof and Joel and Lacy joined us.

Final Amsterdam sunsets for them taken on our roof deck.

We had a delightful dinner together of take out Thai food on their last night in Amsterdam. It was so great for Joel and Lacy to meet Jenn, Rob and Jack for the first time. Thanks Joel for capturing this selfie.

Goodbye and thanks for all the wonderful memories we have shared with you as we travel. It’s thanks to you guys for helping to make our nomadic life possible by providing us with a home base in New England.

Living our retirement dream

Bruges, Ghent, Sablon Hotel

3 responses to “Bruges & Ghent”

Cynthia Koulas Peters

May 25, 2024 at 4:19 am

Beautiful pictures, great history and sounds like a funky tour guide. So happy you two got to do this.Thanks for sharing Sandy & Dr. Happy Feet.

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Eugenea

May 24, 2024 at 4:22 pm

Really enjoyed reading this blog. Loved the pictures and sights. Brought back so much beautiful memory when we visited Bruges and Ghent. Thank you for sharing 🌸

Reply
Mark Neylon

May 24, 2024 at 1:49 pm

I loved seeing the photos of Bruges, and in particular, I loved reading about the transient swans! Your weather looks delightful! Enjoy your last days in Amsterdam.

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