While we were at the early planning stages of our holiday in France and Belgium, Heather suggested a day in Bruges and we all decided that it was a splendid idea. So this morning (Thursday) at 9.15 a.m. we turned up bright eyed and bushy tailed at Ypres railway station to take the train to Bruges. This early start meant that we had all day to explore the beautiful medieval city at our leisure. It was another gloriously sunny day, with not a cloud in the sky, and we had a fantastic time. We took a boat tour on the canal, and James and Heather expertly took us on a self guided city walk. We ate lunch sitting outside in a wee cobbled square, and climbed the 366 steps up the Belfry (towers are made to be climbed!) from which we could see all the way to the sea at Zeebrugge.
We briefly visited the Church of Our Lady, where we saw the tomb of Mary, the 15th century Duchess of Burgundy and the Low Countries, who died in a riding accident when she was only twenty-five. Her effigy looks so young and beautiful, wearing a jewelled hair net and a little crown. I was very moved by this for some reason; unlike some effigies she looks very real.
And of course we visited several of the chocolate shops for which Bruges is famous and were offered samples to try! By the time we took the train back to Ypres in the evening I was exhausted, although I was hungry enough for another lovely Belgian dinner in one of the restaurants on the Großmarkt. It was a truly perfect day.
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