8.1 kms walking
Woken again by bus
transfer downstairs. If I ever stay here again make sure not above the front
door. Breakfast at 7:30 and off on tram 2 to Central and the short walk down to
the office of the travel company at 8:45 for the trip to Bruges. Two buses for
all the people. I was on a double-decker bus on the top and on a window seat.
84 passengers. Unfortunately for me a group of 12 Indian/ Sri Lankan men were
sitting directly behind me who were rude and inconsiderate.
Our tour guide was
Marianne and our driver was Harry. Both were fabulous. Marianne had to give the
commentary in two languages- English and Spanish and she swapped so quickly!
The commentary was great. Lots of information, not an overload, but not much
rest time between for Marianne. The country side was just beautiful, so rural
and incredibly flat. Not a slight hill the whole way. Lots and lots of canals
and a few windmills. Many of these were destroyed when machine pumps took over,
but thankfully some were saved- for tourists and for their history.
8 million visit Bruges
each year. It has UNESCO world heritage listing because of the medieval town
and was saved twice from destruction in WW2. It took three hours to arrive When
we arrived outside Bruges we all queued up for the toilet- 50 p. Then it was
follow the leader with our head sets in and onto the various major sights.
Marianne had told us which stops we would be doing and I had marked them on the
map they provided. The whinging group of men complained the whole time, just
wanting to stop at a restaurant.
Finally at 2:15 it was
free time for the next 3 ½ hours and time to get some food and more water. I
retraced the places she had shown us on the way to the old square and took a
lot of photos because it was such a beautiful old town. I ate lunch sometime
after 3 pm – fries and water. Very cheap from a street vendor. Delicious, but
again a large serve even when I asked for a small. It was a perfect day for
walking and there was so much to see. The churches were amazing- baroque style.
Huge and so many in such a small town. I went through three.
In one was a cloth with
the” genuine blood of Christ”. In another was the only sculpture by
Michelangelo outside Italy. A beautiful Madonna and child. The churches had been so carefully restored.
The stain glass windows were incredible too.
I was finished under the
allocated time and waited back at the meeting point along with a few others.
Most were laden with chocolates and other goodies. We were all back on the bus
at 6 for the trip back again, returning the same way home because of a traffic
accident. We arrived back at Central as the sun was setting – 9:20. (The unruly
continued to be problematic on the return trip.)
Fortunately the
celebrations were finished by now and all the trams were running. May 4 is the
Dutch Remembrance Day for all those who died in WW2. Celebrations are held on
May 5, for Liberation Day. On the way to Bruges we passed by a huge Canadian
soldier’s cemetery. Brussels had very little damage done in WW2 because the
king was complicit with Hitler. He was removed from power as soon as the war
was over. However in WW1 there was huge destruction and loss of life.
I caught the 5 tram and
was back at the hotel at 10:15. It was a long day. I downloaded photos because
I was concerned about my cameras. Answered a few quick emails, packed my bag,
then bed after 12! 
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