Brugge, Day Three
Christmas Day. We slept as late as we could and had breakfast downstairs. Afterward I went out for some longer walks with the camera.
Brugge was the 2002 European Capital of Culture (I think Liverpool gets the nod in 2007) and this was built for it atop the foundations of a historic building.
The canal that rings/spirals the town centre used to be a moat, and there used to be a wall around the city with several gates like these for access.
There are four windmills spread across one of the canal banks.
Walking by this building, I admired the diversity of the owner's renovations. It's similar to the way terraced flats in the UK will vary by paint and roofing tiles, even though it's all one building, but this even varies by window and door styling.
A statue of the painter Jan van Eyck where the canal spiral terminates.
And here we are back in the central square. This side of the square consists of restaurants that mostly cater to tourists.
On another walk in a different direction I found shopping streets with less-touristy shopping (clothes, electronics, music, food), all closed of course. I found this plaza; on the right is an arts centre.
Here's a closer picture of the plaza's fountain. Bikes and nude women - how could I not take a photo?
Serious commuter bikes. I thought my last bike was cool, but look at these brakes in the hubs. The rear-wheel locks are beefier (I think they're sufficient security - I don't remember seeing a single Kryptonite lock around town). And I like how the front light is better integrated with the fork.
Before dinner I took Sarah skating. Margo met us there and got these pictures.
Here's that row of restaurants again, lit up at night. We ended up having our Christmas dinner in one of them.
Brugge was the 2002 European Capital of Culture (I think Liverpool gets the nod in 2007) and this was built for it atop the foundations of a historic building.
The canal that rings/spirals the town centre used to be a moat, and there used to be a wall around the city with several gates like these for access.
There are four windmills spread across one of the canal banks.
Walking by this building, I admired the diversity of the owner's renovations. It's similar to the way terraced flats in the UK will vary by paint and roofing tiles, even though it's all one building, but this even varies by window and door styling.
A statue of the painter Jan van Eyck where the canal spiral terminates.
And here we are back in the central square. This side of the square consists of restaurants that mostly cater to tourists.
On another walk in a different direction I found shopping streets with less-touristy shopping (clothes, electronics, music, food), all closed of course. I found this plaza; on the right is an arts centre.
Here's a closer picture of the plaza's fountain. Bikes and nude women - how could I not take a photo?
Serious commuter bikes. I thought my last bike was cool, but look at these brakes in the hubs. The rear-wheel locks are beefier (I think they're sufficient security - I don't remember seeing a single Kryptonite lock around town). And I like how the front light is better integrated with the fork.
Before dinner I took Sarah skating. Margo met us there and got these pictures.
Here's that row of restaurants again, lit up at night. We ended up having our Christmas dinner in one of them.
posted by Michael Nelson at 1:28 pm
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