The alcoves in the Koningin Astrid Park aren’t really how I imagined them. There’s strolling paths through this park but there aren’t the nooks and crannies I’d have expected as a recommended place to assassinate someone in Bruges (as discussed in In Bruges [2008]). It’s a lovely park but it’s certainly not in my top five places to shoot someone.
As the forecast for tomorrow calls for rain, I thought I’d take today’s merely overcast weather as an opportunity to take one of the walking tours in the Bruges Visitors Guide my host Christine leant me. I decided to go with silent Bruges as it offered a tour of the four remaining windmills in town and was the longest walk of the three options. It was 4 km. The starting point was ChocoWorld, a museum slash demo chocolate factory.
ChocoWorld offered a three-fer museum pass. One museum was 8 euros but all three was 15. I kinda wanted to see the Frite Museum so went all in, adding the third light fixture museum (!!) on a whim.
The frite museum was a major letdown. Sure, sure. They went through excruciating detail into the history of the potato on the ground floor… so much so that by the time I walked upstairs to the frite section I was already mashed (Ha! Ha!).
It’s gonna be one of those days.
A potato mobile.
The potato death star? I don’t know.
First sentence: “Fries are of Belgian origin.” Second sentence: “There is no scientific or historical proof relating to the origin of fries.” Um…
Lucifer fries?
This is a replica of the fries that went into space… but then fell back to earth?
A CGI enhanced photo opportunity.
ChocoWorld was equally detailed oriented and I found my eyes glazing over like a praline dipped in chocolate. At least they gave out free samples.
It was the Playmobil dioramas that finally had me shaking my head and moving quickly along. I imagine they were for the kids but honestly they were probably more engaging to me than the verbiage on the walls.
The chocolate demonstration included a room with various works of “art” in chocolate. Lady and the Tramp was cute…
But the self-eating family? Beyond creepy. Way, way, WAY beyond creepy.
Still, did I mention the free samples? Pretty darn good chocolate.
The light fixture museum was batshit crazy. Some guy’s 50 year obsession, which included collecting over 6500 lamps, was on display with such passion and detail I have to say I kinda was won over. It wasn’t anything I was interested in per se, though I love light, don’t get me wrong. But I was more impressed with the commitment to the museum. There really were thousands of lamps from the dawn of man to this morning all on display.
I dated a girl once who in primary school had to illustrate a million of something for a class project. Her dad printed out at work a million “1”s on paper. Just reams and reams of 1s. I guess it taught perspective? But a million of anything… or 6500+ lamps… a huge collection of anything can make a real impression. I don’t know if I learned anything per se at the Lumina Domestic Lamp Museum. But I admired the commitment.
***
I embarked on the walking tour and quickly decided I wanted to try and recreate the guidebook photos as best I could as I went along. I therefore present to you the Run Kevin Run Dot Com Strolling Through Silent Bruges Tour Tribute Album:
First stop – Saint Walburga’s Church, a Baroque building from the mid 1600s.
From there it was a stroll through merchant and artisan lands of old.
Saint Giles’ Church was next… and though the guidebook made mention of walked up windows on the surrounding buildings as a way around the ludicrous window tax of 1800, I only saw one or two. What is with taxing housewares? I think the US taxed doorknobs. As if we all didn’t hate taxes enough they try levying these kinds of taxes as a method of reform?
Passing along the canals eventually I’d come to the Vesten (ramparts) that supposedly “surround the city like a ring of green.” Here in the 16th century more than 30 windmills spinning. Today only four remain (and one I found out is a recreation). In the 18th century the rise of potatoes lead to the fall of bread consumption so the millers were oversupplied for under demand.
I would swing by the 15th Century Jerusalem Chapel, built by the Adornes Family. Ansrlm Adornes returned from the Crusades and built an exact copy of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. They were charging admission and I just felt like I’d been religious’d out. I don’t even know what they were charging but I weighed my options – see this thing or to have a beer at the oldest bar/cafe in Bruges.
Cafe Vlissinghe has been a tavern since 1515. I had the special but proved once again why I never made it at bartending school. I sat waiting for my poured foam to dissipate…
I miss wine. You open it, you pour it, you drink it. Simple. Easy. Delicious.
***
In the afternoon I did an abbreviated walking tour out of order. I stopped by the Van Eyk statue (with a name placard on both the front and back… which felt weird to me).
He’s near the famed Bruges Bear…
And then I thought I’d see Michaelangelo’s Madonna and Child. But I couldn’t find the ticket booth. I kept getting directed other places or told I was in the wrong place. When I finally found it I was in such a snit that I decided I’d wait and try tomorrow. But here’s a pic of me with the poster for it. Close enough, right?
On a whim, I decided to check out a free harp concert. This happens sometimes. Low expectations coupled with a shrug of the shoulders leads to pleasant surprises. It was a pretty stellar 40 minutes of harp playing. The guy only plays his own compositions and runs strolls about the stage playing various instruments of the harp family – including one of his own design hung in the wall with something like 200 strings. Good stuff. I gave him 5 euros… and I just may review him on TripAdvisor!
***
As the sun sets once more in the city of Bruges, I contemplate tomorrow. As an addendum to this morning’s post, not only am I feeling old and wrinkled and heavy, but my hip is bugging me from the fall in China. It’s getting cooler here and I wonder if this is my chronic weather predictor that comes with age and the body’s inability to heal completely any longer. A note of sadness, one I refuse to end this piece on… so here’s a photo of my second speculoo waffle in Bruges.
If you’re gonna go, go with a smile… and if there’s crumbs of cookies falling from my face then so much the better.