(In) Bruges

Conveniently, my hotel is about one block from the Central train station. In going through a shopping passageway, I was in the middle of the station in minutes. I bought my round trip ticket to Bruges and the trip took about an hour.

Two reasons why my trip is designed the way it is: 1) I really wanted to go to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam and 2) go to Bruges after having seen the movie "In Bruges" - it just seemed like a really special city. Here's a link about the movie for those who don't know (ahem, dad...): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780536/

I also had made dinner reservations at De Karmeliet about 2 months ago. I had looked up the Greatest Restaurants in the World rankings which I often do before I travel. Many on the list that were in the Netherlands and Belgium, weren't near the major cities as they were true farm to table. However, De Karmeliet is in Bruge center. De Karmeliet has been awarded 3 Michelin stars.

So what I saw today in beautiful Bruges:





Lots of canals! Right? Well, when I arrived, I learned there was a trade union strike of municipal workers including museum employees per the signage and the news (http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-workers-protest-belgian-labor-reform-100413429.html):



So no....

• Michelangelo statue of "Mother and Son" in the Church of Our Lady which was in the movie, "Monuments Men" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2177771/) 
• Van Eycks or Memlings in the converted hospital turn museum
• Bosch's "The Last Judgment" in the art museum 
• Walk up the Belfry like in the movie 

Tour groups walked around standing in front of famous sites without being able to go in. Spanish ones. Italian ones. Old lady ones. 

I wondered if I should have stayed in Brussels or gone to Ghent today instead? But I learned this strike was national, but just for one day. So my decision to change plans would have been moot and per the news, it appears there were some clashes with the police and about 50 - 60 people were injured near the southern train station in Brussels.

So I went to the Begijnhof or Béguinage, similar to the one in Amsterdam. Women who were devout, but not necessarily nuns resided here. Now it's a monastery and very pretty. There was a church and museum you could visit. Essentially, a B-List tour site. A pretty picture below of the white-washed residences:



I then walked up to the Markt (it's spelled without the "e") or city square. Here's a picture of the Belfry where supposedly, there are breathtaking views of the city:



While sitting in the square and getting pretty hungry, I decided perhaps I could switch my dinner reservation at De Karmeliet to lunch. About 650 meters away from the square, I walked over when it began to rain. The service team was very polite and kindly accommodated my request. I told them I didn't know what I would do with myself until 7 pm, if everything is closed and I came in from Brussels.

The meal was fantastic, but even more wonderful was the service. I ordered the following (pasted from the website):

• Roasted French scallops, burrata cheese, risotto with cepe mushrooms and iberico ham 
• Pheasant with green cabbage, parmentier of the legs, seasonal vegetables and fruits

Then I had a choice of a chocolate or fruit dessert, and I picked chocolate. I would never have ordered the pheasant, but one of my many waiters said it was in season. I'm so glad I ordered it as it was super tender and the parmentier was excellent. I also had 2 glasses of wine - one white paired with my scallops and one red with my pheasant, both selected by the nice sommelier.

The waiters were impressive as I heard them explain dishes in French, Dutch, German - the 3 official languages of Belgium and also in Engliah. The amount of detail to explain high end cooking makes my head spin in English, so I was impressed with their explanations. They also gave me a book of the best restaurants in the world which obviously includes them. Here's a photo of my meal with the various amuse-bouches:



It stopped raining and the sun was out by the time my 2.5 hour lunch was over. I walked over to the Burg, the old site of a 10th century castle and the Town Hall. It forms a square with various buildings including the Basilica of the Holy Blood. The church was unique and its prized reliquary was a vial of Jesus' blood which was out for veneration. I, of course, took the time to pray in front of it. Here's a photo of the church:



Underneath the Basilica, is St. Basil's Chapel which was dark and austere. Both places felt super Holy.

I then wandered the afternoon visiting canals and meandering the cobble stone streets, and popped into St. Salvator's Cathedral. A little sad that I couldn't see and do the same things that Colin Farrell did in the movie, but here's a selfie as the sun started to set:



Although I was sad, this dog made me smile as it watched canal boat tours passing by:



I walked toward the station, and decided to stop into a teahouse as my throat was sore. I've been trying to stave off a cold and wanted to get some rest. I was also in no hurry to rush back to Brussels. It's probably for the better that I took it easy today (I did, however, walk over 17,000 steps).

When I arrived back in Brussels, you could hear the music from the Grand Place where there was a light and music show that projected on the Town Hall and Guildhalls. Here's a video: https://youtu.be/zwIl1P1qD8g

I ended up having dinner at the restaurant across the street from my hotel. I orderd meatballs in tomato sauce and fries which is apparently very Belgian and a framboise lambic beer as shown below:



Although I'm sad that I didn't see everything I wanted to, I had a relaxing day and have something to look forward to in the future!