Beer and waffles in Bruges, Belgium

We went on a day trip to Bruges from Ghent as it was just around fifty kilometres away that could be covered in an hour.

Bruges, often referred to as the "Venice of the North," is a picturesque city in Belgium known for its well-preserved medieval architecture and enchanting canals. 

Its historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage site, features cobblestone streets, charming squares, and landmarks such as the Belfry of Bruges and the Basilica of the Holy Blood.

Bruges has a rich and complex history that dates back to the early medieval period. Originally a settlement of the Celtic tribe, it developed significantly during the 9th century as a trading post due to its strategic location near the North Sea.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Bruges flourished as a major commercial hub in Europe, especially in the wool trade. The construction of canals facilitated trade, connecting the city to the sea and enabling it to become a vital port. This period saw the rise of powerful merchant guilds and the establishment of the Bruges Bourse, one of the first stock exchanges.

The city reached its peak in the 14th century, becoming a cultural and artistic center. Notable works from this time include the famous Flemish Primitives, such as Jan van Eyck. However, by the 15th century, Bruges began to decline due to silting in its harbor, which reduced its trading capacity.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Bruges faced further economic challenges but managed to retain its artistic heritage. The Industrial Revolution brought some revitalization, but the city transformed into a quiet, medieval town.

Today, Bruges is celebrated for its historical significance and beauty, attracting millions of visitors each year who come to experience its rich cultural legacy. Its preservation as a UNESCO World Heritage site underscores its importance as a medieval urban center.

Our first item on the ‘to-do’ list was a boat cruise down the canal as we would manage to see most of the city without breaking into a sweat.

The cruise was wonderful with a knowledgeable boat captain who kept pointing out the various sights on the way. He had a great sense of humour too!

Next on our list was to try out the various beers of Belgium followed by a quick snack. Not to forget the ‘French’ fries that originated in Belgium and of course to satiate our sweet tooth, the world famous Belgian waffles!

Before long it was evening and time to get back to Ghent after a lovely satisfying day in Bruges, ending it on a sweet note!

Linking with image-in-ing

Souvenirs across countries - Book review.

 

Miniaturised Travel Stories: Souvenirs Across Countries by INDRANI GHOSE
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A unique travel book which deals with the cultures of various places via the popular souvenirs sold and bought.
Indrani has detailed different souvenirs of different countries and their history.
Each chapter is dedicated to a souvenir from a particular country like the cow bell from Switzerland. She has cleverly interlinked the different souvenirs to similar Indian objects too.
The book, like normal travelogues does not deal with travel, food and monuments but what the souvenir of that particular country represents.
This is definitely not a book to be completed in a sitting but to enjoy and relish each and every chapter.
If you like to travel and collect souvenirs this book is a must buy as a handybook to refer to, to help you decide which souvenir would be the best and why.
I bought the Kindle edition and have no regrets!
The language and narration is also wonderful and entertainingly educative.

View all my reviews

Second chance - Book reviewed

Just finished reading ‘Second chance’ by Deepika Muthusamy. It was sent to me for a review.

It has a typical romantic storyline for a potboiler Hindi film. The editing is not up to the mark.

It has a hero, a heroine who are childhood family friends, get married, separated and given a second chance… Read the book if you wish to know how it ended. Of course there is a villain too who makes his appearance to spice up matters.

It has dealt with patriarchy, woman empowerment, and also how the children, despite getting married, still remain under the strong influence of their parents which does lead to some hilarious situations.

You will like it if old school romance is your cup of tea.

Soulful Serenade - Book reviewed

A short review of a short book (83 pages) of poems by Marina Gomes. I have known her as a blogger and we are friends in the virtual world. She requested me to review this book for her so here it is!

The book titled ‘Soulful Serenade’ is divided into five sections with each section containing eight poems each.

1)     Budding – All eight poems in this are visually evocative. Beautiful imagery.

2)     Sensual – Here the words are sensual and have a lovely flow.

3)     Confused – All are very descriptive, almost prosaic but make interesting reading.

4)     Despair – As the title suggests it’s all about despair.

5)     Hope – The book ends with eight poems filled with fond hopes.

 

A beautiful book overall which starts about budding love which goes on to become sensual leading to confusion followed by despair and finally with hopes for happy endings!

Ghent, Belgium

Ghent, or Gent in Dutch, is a historic city in Belgium. It is known for its rich cultural heritage, medieval architecture, vibrant arts scene, and a lively student population.

Ghent combines the charm of a small town with the vibrancy of a bustling city. Its canals, historic buildings, and lively squares create a picturesque and inviting atmosphere. Whether you're exploring its rich history, enjoying its contemporary art scene, or savoring its culinary delights, Ghent offers a unique and enriching experience for all who visit.

Most of these landmarks are within walking distances from each other.

The Gravensteen Castle - a medieval castle, built in 1180, is one of Ghent's most iconic landmarks and provides a glimpse into the city's feudal past. The current castle was the residence of the Counts of

Flanders until 1353. It was subsequently re-purposed as a court, prison, mint, and even as a cotton factory. It was restored over 1893–1903 and is now a museum and a major landmark in the city.

Belfry of Ghent: A UNESCO World Heritage Site, this belfry offers panoramic views of the city and is a symbol of civic freedom. Construction of the tower began in 1313 after a design by master mason Jan van Haelst. The work reached completion in 1380. 

The uppermost parts of the building have been rebuilt several times, in part to accommodate the growing number of bells.

Saint Bavo's Cathedral is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. Construction of the Gothic church began around 1274. In the subsequent period from the 14th through 16th centuries, nearly continuous expansion projects in the Gothic style were executed on the structure. 

When the Diocese of Ghent was founded in 1559, the church became its cathedral. Construction was considered complete on 7 June 1569.

St. Nicholas Church is one of the oldest and most prominent landmarks in Ghent, Belgium. Begun in the early 13th century as a replacement for an earlier Romanesque church, construction continued through the rest of the century in the local Scheldt Gothic style. 

Typical of this style is the use of blue-gray stone from the Tournai area, the single large tower above the crossing, and the slender turrets at the building's corners.

The City Hall of Ghent is a four-sided complex surrounded by the Botermarkt, the Hoogpoort, the Stadhuissteeg and the Poeljemarkt. The main wings are the late-Gothic alderman's house of De Keure and the alderman's house of Gedele in the Renaissance style. The building has 51 halls.

Ghent's City Hall seen from the Grote Markt

The Royal Flemish Academy of Dutch Language and Literature is a government organization which was established in 1886 by Royal Decree as Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde.

In 1972 the name of The Royal Flemish Academy for language and literature was changed to The Royal Academy of Dutch language and literature, and in 1981 the existence of the Academy was confirmed by a decree of the Council for Cultural Affairs for the Dutch cultural community (the predecessor of the Flemish Parliament) (decree of 13 February 1980). The KANTL is now an institution of the Flemish Government.

 St-Jacobskerk - The Romanesque twin towers of this iconic church date from the 12th century but the church itself has undergone numerous expansions, renovations and reconstructions over its long history. 

It's believed there has been a place of worship on the site since the 7th century, with the first church constructed in 1093. Today the square surrounding it is regarded as the epicentre of the Gentse Feesten; it also hosts the town's favourite flea market.

And last but not the least if you like murals/graffiti do visit the lane that is filled with it. It’s an amazing experience. Check out the brief video below.

 

 

Of flowers, architecture and windmills in Netherlands

Netherlands is truly a country for artists and their art be it horticulture or architecture as evidenced by the Tulip festival in Keukenhof and quirky architecture in Zandaam and the open air museum of the historic windmills in Zaanse Schans.

Our first visit was to Keukenhof to revel in the floral fantasy of not only tulips but so many other flowers like hyacinth, daffodils and amaryllis.

The history of Keukenhof dates back to the 15th century. Countess Jacoba van Beieren [Jacqueline of Bavaria] (1401-1436) used 'Keukenduyn' [kitchen dunes] as hunting ground for the kitchen of Teylingen Castle. Keukenhof Castle was built in 1641 and the estate grew to encompass an area of over 200 hectares.

Landscape architects Jan David Zocher and his son Louis Paul Zocher, who also designed Amsterdam's Vondelpark, redesigned the castle gardens in 1857. That park, in the English landscape style, still constitutes the basis of Keukenhof.

In 1949 a group of 20 leading flower bulb growers and exporters came up with the plan to use the estate to exhibit spring-flowering bulbs, signaling the birth of Keukenhof as a spring park. The park opened its gates to the public in 1950 and was an instant success, with 236,000 visitors in the first year alone. 2024 will be the 75th edition of Keukenhof. During the past 74 years Keukenhof developed into a world-famous attraction.

You can buy bulbs of tulip plants if you wish to and there are eateries where you can relax and re energize.

Check out the slide show of the beauties of Keukenhof.

Zaandam and Zanse Schans are neighbours, both close to Amsterdam. There are more tourists here than locals.

Zandaam is located on the river Zaan, just north of Amsterdam. It was an important shipbuilding centre in the 17^th century. It is now famous for its quirky architecture. 

Zaanse Schans in the neighbourhood is an open air museum of Netherlands history of windmills and cheese.

There are beautiful walkways which take you to the different sight seeing spots in town. 

Windmills, houses, clog making workshops and of course cafes to fill your tummies.

No one in Netherlands seems to be in a hurry. Possibly because almost all commute by bicycle or take the public transport. They have made it very difficult to use cars by making parking very expensive and most of the streets are majorly cyclist friendly.

Amsterdam

We landed in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on a cold, rainy, windy afternoon. 

Not a very welcome sign but we soon realised that the weather in Amsterdam is indeed very fickle. Shine, rain, windy, cold, warm all in a day’s work! Hence, while in Amsterdam, don’t look for the perfect weather to go out. Just pick up your itinerary, raincoat and set out to enjoy your day! So, without any further ado we headed towards Foodhallen, the happening food court in Amsterdam on a Saturday 

evening and wow we were infected by the enthusiasm of the people gathered there for a lovely evening of music, food, companionship and Heineken to wash it all down.

The first thing I noticed was that the parking area for cycles was much larger than that for cars and while there were quite a few spots left for car parking, the cycles were filling up fast and furious!

After hustling for a while, we managed to get a table to sit together and enjoy world cuisine. We started off with the famous Bitterballen, a classic Dutch snack, followed by Thai, Mediterranean snacks.

Next morning we set out for a bicycle tour of Amsterdam. 

This was the prime reason of my visit to Amsterdam, the most cycle friendly city in the world. 

We cycled through some interesting places like the Anne Frank Museum, the Skinny bridge (so called because once upon a time the poorest of the poor lived there), 

the narrowest house, the beautiful Vondel park where we saw an intriguing piece of Picasso’s art.

The tour guide explained the strange narrow fronts of the houses in Amsterdam. The houses were taxed depending on the width of the houses but now of course it isn’t so but these are prohibitively expensive due to its heritage value. You will also find houses tilting to one side as these houses were built on swamp land on wooden pillars which are now slowly sinking.

While in Amsterdam I did not want to miss the unique Street Art Museum – Straat! It was absolutely amazing!

The boat tour of Amsterdam is another way to see all the beauty of Amsterdam, which we did. Our canal boat tour guide mentioned that the canals are nine feet deep of which three feet is mud, three feet are bicycles and three feet is water!

The Grand Centraal station is an amazing, impressive structure. The parking lot for cycles is in the basement and they have an escalator to wheel your cycles up and down!

Then of course we visited Keukenhof, Zaandam and Zaanse Schans which deserve individual posts. Stay tuned!

My only regret is I could not meet up with a blogger friend due to sheer lack of time. He blogs about Amsterdam at sccollections . Spoke to him on the phone and hoped to meet up sometime! Do visit his blog for more local insights.