Bruges
It was an easy start to our day with the morning at sea. After a fine breakfast, we started off with an even finer morning talks by our historians David Barnes, Ron Suny, and Ian Bullock about the history of the Netherlands. By late morning, we rolled into Oostend, Belgium for our visit to Bruges, our next stop on this European odyssey. As we tied up to the pier, it was a pleasant surprise to see a local Dixie-swing quintet of musicians welcoming us into their country with fun music. We ate an early lunch and then hopped onto the buses to ride past the shipyards into the medieval town of Bruges.
This city was founded in the 9th century when the king of France gave the originally swampy territory to his son, Count Baldwin of Flanders. Here, he built a fortress to protect against Viking invasions and drained the land with canals and mills. As a giant storm blew out the silted river Zwin to the ocean, the city opened up for direct outside trade. Bruges flourished over the next several centuries into a central hub for textiles, pilgrimages, and shipping. However, this flourishing city came to an end when along came Maximilian, the Hapsburg Prince in 1484. After being such a mean, tax imposing and oppressive ruler, the citizens of Bruges revolted and nearly executed him. But with smooth tongued villainy he talked his way out of execution and escaped, only to return with an army of Germans to destroy all of his former people. How nice of him! At roughly the same time, the river Zwin silted up again and left the city high and dry. Oddly convenient for us, these events left the beautiful city of Bruges rather unchanged and undeveloped for the next several centuries until now, when we are able to walk the streets of these medieval buildings and explore its nooks and crannies.
Many of the folks in our group rode into town on horse drawn carriages while the rest walked along the cobblestone paths amongst the ivy covered brick houses. We walked through the St. Elizabeth beguinage - a historical convent for catholic women that still houses 18 Benedictine nuns. Continuing on, we meandered over bridges of stone and brick, passing by beautiful, white swans (originally protected by good old Maximilian himself) swimming around the canals. It seemed that each and every house of that city was worthy of a photograph, as were the cobblestone streets, the church, the palace squares, and the many cafes serving all things Belgian: tasty waffles, coffee, french fries and beer. After a guided walk, we took a fine boat tour of the canals, this time passing underneath the various bridges to observe the city of brick and ivy from a lower angle and catch a glimpse of the hidden gardens and homes. At last, our guides cut us loose for some free time to go out and explore on our own and maybe eat a Belgian waffle or drink a draft of an original Belgian brew. Smiling and contented, we let our walk-weary feet finally relax as we rode the buses back to the National Geographic Endeavour for the continuation of our European odyssey.
It was an easy start to our day with the morning at sea. After a fine breakfast, we started off with an even finer morning talks by our historians David Barnes, Ron Suny, and Ian Bullock about the history of the Netherlands. By late morning, we rolled into Oostend, Belgium for our visit to Bruges, our next stop on this European odyssey. As we tied up to the pier, it was a pleasant surprise to see a local Dixie-swing quintet of musicians welcoming us into their country with fun music. We ate an early lunch and then hopped onto the buses to ride past the shipyards into the medieval town of Bruges.
This city was founded in the 9th century when the king of France gave the originally swampy territory to his son, Count Baldwin of Flanders. Here, he built a fortress to protect against Viking invasions and drained the land with canals and mills. As a giant storm blew out the silted river Zwin to the ocean, the city opened up for direct outside trade. Bruges flourished over the next several centuries into a central hub for textiles, pilgrimages, and shipping. However, this flourishing city came to an end when along came Maximilian, the Hapsburg Prince in 1484. After being such a mean, tax imposing and oppressive ruler, the citizens of Bruges revolted and nearly executed him. But with smooth tongued villainy he talked his way out of execution and escaped, only to return with an army of Germans to destroy all of his former people. How nice of him! At roughly the same time, the river Zwin silted up again and left the city high and dry. Oddly convenient for us, these events left the beautiful city of Bruges rather unchanged and undeveloped for the next several centuries until now, when we are able to walk the streets of these medieval buildings and explore its nooks and crannies.
Many of the folks in our group rode into town on horse drawn carriages while the rest walked along the cobblestone paths amongst the ivy covered brick houses. We walked through the St. Elizabeth beguinage - a historical convent for catholic women that still houses 18 Benedictine nuns. Continuing on, we meandered over bridges of stone and brick, passing by beautiful, white swans (originally protected by good old Maximilian himself) swimming around the canals. It seemed that each and every house of that city was worthy of a photograph, as were the cobblestone streets, the church, the palace squares, and the many cafes serving all things Belgian: tasty waffles, coffee, french fries and beer. After a guided walk, we took a fine boat tour of the canals, this time passing underneath the various bridges to observe the city of brick and ivy from a lower angle and catch a glimpse of the hidden gardens and homes. At last, our guides cut us loose for some free time to go out and explore on our own and maybe eat a Belgian waffle or drink a draft of an original Belgian brew. Smiling and contented, we let our walk-weary feet finally relax as we rode the buses back to the National Geographic Endeavour for the continuation of our European odyssey.
