On to the second leg of our trip! We are off to Belgium – first Bruges and then Brussels. We used Daytrip again on this trip to transport us directly from our hotel in Amsterdam to our hotel in Bruges. We were also stopping in Gouda for an hour to look around. The car was clean and very comfortable, and our driver was awesome!
Gouda is a town of about 75,000 people a little over an hour from Amsterdam. They are known for – wait for it – cheese! 😂 We were traveling on a Saturday, and were so lucky that there was a Farmer’s Market going on in the square. Lots of cheese, food, vegetables, bread, and other stuff. We sampled, looked around, and stopped for a coffee before getting back in the car and heading for Bruges.
We drove for another two and half hours until we arrived in Bruges. I have been wanting to come here ever since I saw the movie In Bruges starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. We were staying in the historical city center at Dukes’ Academie – and we absolutely loved this hotel! It is beautiful, in a great location, has a nice bar, and the people are super friendly. I would definitely stay here again!
Bruges is a lot smaller than Amsterdam, with about 117,000 total population, and 20,000 people living in the city center. It was nice to slow down and not have a lot planned for a few days, and just enjoy the surroundings.
We took a walk around town and ended up in the market square – if you have seen the movie In Bruges it will be quite familiar to you. There are lots of little cafes surrounding the square that are good for people watching.
The hotel recommended Julia’s for dinner, and we couldn’t have been happier. They were quite busy, but we had no issues with our food or service. In fact, it was delicious!
The next day it was raining off and on, so we decided to go to the Groeningemuseum, which houses a collection of Flemish and Belgian art. Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Last Judgment is housed here, and if you have seen the movie In Bruges, it is the painting that Brendan Gleeson’s character is staring at while visiting the museum. Also, Hieronymus (Harry) Bosch is one of my favorite TV detectives 😁!
After this we walked to the Basilica of the Holy Blood, located in Burg Square. The Basilica was built between 1134 and 1157, and houses a relic of the Holy Blood. It is very somber and at the same time beautiful place to visit.
On to our next church! Have I said how much I like churches? I really do! Our next stop was Church of Our Lady, which is known for its sculpture of Michelangelo’s Madonna and Child. This church and the sculpture were featured in the movie Monuments Men, when retreating German soldiers smuggled the sculpture to Germany.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped for one of Belgium’s famous waffles at Otto Waffle. There are two types of waffles – the traditional Belgian waffles, which is what we are most familiar with, having deep pockets, light and fluffy, and crispy on the outside; the liege waffles are smaller, denser, and have a caramelized sugar coating on the outside. Both are so delicious!
Dinner that night was at another fantastic place recommended by the hotel called In the Mood located in Minnewater Park. Another delicious meal in a beautiful setting.
The next day was Monday, and a lot of things are closed on that day. Plus it was raining. We decided to go to St. Salvatore’s Cathedral, Bruges’ oldest parish church originally built in the 12th century. It is free to enter and look around, so it is a perfect rainy day activity where you can look around at the beautiful art and architecture.
We decided to try another thing Belgium is famous for – their beer! We went to the De Halve Maan Brewery to see if we could get tickets to one of their scheduled tours, but a lot of people had that idea that day 😬. So, we opted to have lunch and drink a few pints of beer in the bar instead. Both the food and the beer were delicious!
It quit raining for a bit, so we walked over to the Beguinage, which is very similar to the Begijnhof we visited in Amsterdam. Traditionally, these areas were once home to the beguines, who are sort of like nuns but do not take the vows. This part of Bruges has been lived in continuously for centuries, and today some nuns as well as single women live in this tranquil spot.
We found a cute Christmas store on the way back to the hotel and purchased a wooden HolzMannl incense smoker – we had never seen one like this and love it!
That night for dinner we found a quaint restaurant not too far from the hotel called ‘T Nieuw Walnutje. We had a delicious dinner and wine, and called it a night.
The next day we left Bruges and took the train to Brussels. Brussels is a huge city and home of NATO and the European Union, among other things. We were staying at the 9Hotel Central, based on a couple of things: the location between the Grand Place and the Royal Palace, and the fact that we had stayed at a 9Hotel in Rome and loved it.
We get off the train, and it is chaos. It is a huge city, and we are in the central part of the city, but there is massive road construction going on everywhere, so if you are not familiar with the city you may not even know what street you are on, or how to get across the street. Lucky for us, the hotel was right next to the train station. Unlucky for us, the neighborhood around the train station can be a little seedy. If I was coming back to Brussels, I would probably try to book something closer to the Grand Place.
The hotel was very nice, and our room was fine except for the bed – it was as hard as a rock! I couldn’t believe it. Also, they have an honor bar in the lobby that is self-serve and they ran out of red wine after our first night – and it wasn’t our fault! LOL
We were hungry, so we started walking toward the Grand Place. For the longest time I thought it was “Grand Palace” instead of Grand Place. The Grand Place is basically a market square (a very fancy one) surrounded by the most beautiful, opulent buildings. And all of the quaint streets surrounding the Grand Place are full of shops, restaurants, and bars.
There were barricades in the Grand Place when we got there, so we asked somebody what was going on. The Duke of Luxembourg was visiting so some of the buildings were closing to the public so he could have a private tour. We still had time to go through the Brussels City Museum, which was located in The King’s House. It was fun and quick, and we were able to see the Duke’s entourage arrive in the square.
I had mussels in Brussels that night for dinner (I’ve always wanted to say that), and I have to say the ones I had were just okay. I think I’ve actually made them better myself, but at least I had some. And more french fries!
The next day we took a walk over to the Royal Palace, and even though it was not open to the public due to renovations, the walk was very pretty and nice.
It started to rain, so we decided to go to the BELvue Museum, which is next door to the palace. This is a great place to learn about the history of Belgium, which is fascinating. A couple of things I found especially interesting – (1) There are three official languages in Belgium – Dutch, French, and German. Lucky for us everybody spoke English very well! (2) As a country, Belgium is younger than the United States, becoming established in 1830.
In the basement of the museum is an archeological dig of the Coudenberg Palace, which was the residence and seat of power for those who ruled over the land from the 12th to the 18th century. These are two separate museums, requiring two tickets, but I thought they were both worth it. And it is a great way to spend a rainy day 🙂
After lunch we walked down to the Musical Instrument Museum, which is located in an old department store. There are over 8,000 instruments in this collection. I thought it was pretty good, especially since an audio guide was included with admission and you could hear the instruments being played.
It was time to find a place for a good Belgium beer. You can plan your own Brussels Beer Crawl by using this list in The Beer Connoisseur. We wandered back to the area around the Grand Place and had a beer at A La Mort Subite. I was searching for a lambic and found it!
The next place we went to was also very cool! It was called the Theatre Royal de Toone, and it is a 200-year-old puppet theater. In the lower level is a pub, and you can have a drink amongst the somewhat creepy marionettes. I loved it!
The next day we took a short walk to the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula. It is believed that construction began on the church in the 11th century, and completed sometime in the 16th century.
We decided to go back to the area around the Grand Palace and have a lunch of Belgian waffles at Maison Dandoy – 😋!
After lunch we walked to the Sablon area of Brussels, an area of quaint restaurants and boutique shops, and known for its twin squares, Grand Sablon and Petite Sablon. Our first stop was at the Church of our Blessed Lady of Sablon. It is another beautiful, old, church and a great example of gothic architecture.
We stopped for some wine and people watching, and then headed back to the area around our hotel.
This was our last night in Brussels, and we were heading to Cologne the next morning. Stay tuned!
Tales From The Wine Store 