By:Marcia Abramson
The Renaissance R8 Ship pulled into the port of Bruges- Zeebrugge, Belgium around noon after our second day at sea. I learned about the port and the city of Bruges, or Brugge, by just turning on the television in my state room. I found two channels with helpful hints as to how to get around and what to see at our first port in Belgium. Zeebrugge actually dates back to the 12th century and until the 15th century, it was the center of finance and commerce for all of Europe. All the prominent bankers and tradesmen from all the countries on the continent had offices here. Fortunately and unfortunately, when the Zwin River was filled with silt toward the end of the 1400s, the commercial leaders fled the city for Antwerp. Because of this decline in the city's fortunes, it remained unchanged for centuries. I was informed with a certainty that this is why Brugge (Bruges) is one of the best preserved medieval cities in all of Europe. The new port was built on the coast of the North Sea in 1907 and was baptized Zeebrugge by Belgium's King Baudouin in 1985.
My daughter and I left the ship to explore Brugge (Bruges) on our own. We took the shore excursion bus to the city center. However, the bus was parked outside the city since it was too large to traverse the narrow streets into the center of the town. We walked through a lovely scenic park to the town square determined to have our Belgian waffles (gaufres) and "frites." We learned never to ask for French fries in Belgium. It seems that the Belgians are fanatic about their "frites" where they are a national obsession and can be found in snack size portions everywhere in paper cones. Once we satisfied our yearning for these Belgian delicacies at a delightful outdoor cafe, we continued on our exploration of the "Venice of the North" on the banks of the Zwin River. We were impressed with the beautiful walks, the 13th century Grote Market (Market Square), the 272-foot belfry and world-famous 47-bell carillon. We decided to forego climbing to the top of the belfry for a spectacular view of the city in favor of a leisurely boat ride through the scenic canals. The important buildings including the 18th century 245-room Palace of Justice were pointed out to us as we sailed by. We did miss seeing the wedding couples in their finery who gather every Friday at the magnificent white 14th century town hall since the Renaissance Cruise Ship arrived on a Wednesday. But we did get to see Michelangelo's marble sculpture of the Madonna and Child in the Church of Our Lady and the Basilica of the Holy Blood which has a piece of cloth, dating from 1149, that is said to have been soaked with Christ's blood.
On this trip we did not chose to visit Ghent, another medieval city. We had seen the glorious Flemish artist, Jason van Eyck's masterpiece, "The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb," at the Saint Bravo Cathedral. My daughter and I were also familiar with the 800-year-old Castle of the Count of Flanders which was built to ward off the marauding Norsemen. We still remember seeing the well-equipped torture rooms in the castle and hearing the peeling of the 52-bell carillon in the 300-foot Belfry on a Sunday morning in the center of the city where we stayed. I still have fond memories of the Rump steak and frites that we ate on the recommendation of a Belgian baker that we met on the train from Brussels on that trip. We were very pleased with our visit to Brugge (Bruges) and returned to the ship ready to sail to our next destination, Antwerp.
We decided to explore Antwerp on our own since the harbor of Antwerp is in the center of town. We ambled through the narrow cobbled streets to Market Square, passed the splendid town hall with its fountain honoring the legendary Silvius Brabo and got on a double decker horse drawn carriage for a 40-minute ride through the city with the highlights pointed out by the driver. Upon completion of the tour we made our way to the gorgeous Cathedral of Our Lady which towers over the city to see the fabulous collection of paintings by Rubens. We also got to see the home and studio of Rubens at the Landmark Rubens House before heading back to the ship for our next destination, Amsterdam.
Copyright by Marcia Abramson
E-mail:mascribe@aol.com
