Bruge, Belgium

Bruge, Bruge…. What to say about Bruge that can do it justice???? It’s our favorite excursion of the whole trip! We did the “Romantic Bruge” tour. It certainly lived up to its name! The city is kind of tucked away out of view, kinda like Cambria. It just had so much charm. It seemed not just “cute,” but kind of “untouched” by a lot of big chains. Not a single Burger King, Starbucks, or McDonald’s. The only chains that I think were visible were the snooty-tootie clothing retail stores, but even they were pretty low key. The walk was nice, but we couldn’t understand our tour guide. She was very quiet :o) She walked us over to a canal tour, though, and the boat had a nice little amplification system!

Oh yes… in our walking tour, we stopped in at “Our Lady’s Church”. It was very special! Sure, there was the only Michaelangelo that was allowed to leave Italy inside there, but it was really dwarfed by the other items. Our guide said (this much I actually heard) that people who wanted to be buried inside the cathedral had to donate something valuable to the church. There were many beautiful statues and ornate carvings of the pulpit… a potpourri of ethral gifts. However, over the altar was the organ, and in front of the pipes was this huge cross with Jesus on it. It just sucked the focus there and the backdrop on the wall far behind it was the stained glass… it was breathtaking! Michaelangelo was quickly forgotten, in the face of such a striking picture. It was a very special church. I found it ore moving than the Sistine or the Vatican. Maybe it was the effect of the proportions of the small church and the large Christ… I dunno. Maybe it was so surprising, because it wasn’t featured on greeting cards, desktop wallpaper, and textbooks.

We only had 45 mins of free time (grrr! But I will soon let go of that complaint), and Corey and I spent it in two shops! One was a chocolatier who only used butter –no oils in his chocolate. The other was a fascinating woodcraft shop.

Not much to say… I’m just gonna post pictures, since they’ll say more :o)