Tuesday-Wednesday, , 11th-12th July, 2017 Bruges


Tuesday-Wednesday, 11th-12th July, 2017; Bruges

Ah. Bruges!. Wonderful place!  It  is what people say when  they hear about Bruges. They are right;  Bruges is old, beautiful and unspoiled by modernity. The  city has grown around  the old settlement  without changing it.  So, we walk around the Market Place, climb the tower (not me), admire the view and take a conducted tour. This is probably the best  we had;  we listen with delight to our guide who knows much about the history and culture of Holland and makes it sound  like  Guided by her we walk away from the Markt and discover the Burg,   with the 14h cent  Stadhuis (Town Hall) an newer   Renaisssance 'Landhuis van het Brugse Vrije, that is "liberty of Buges" . Just and administrative building but very impressive. We follow her to the Beguinage, like the one in Amsterdam  built originally for Crusaders' widows.  We walk along  old houses, some for the poor and some for the rich  and learn about the meaning of  plaques and sculptures
We feel as if we  have travelled back in time
 (At the end of the tour I buy a book on the history of the place.)


The Tower




It rains, but we decide to take a canal trip anyway

Must be such fun, to lookout from the window and see swans.

We finish with a visit to St.John's Hospital where paintings are displayed aslong with medical equipment


We finish with a visit to St.John's hospital where paintings are displayed along with medical equipment
I                                                            
   .

Memling's 'Portrait of a young girl' is haunting

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