In Bruges!

Let's rewind (again) to the beginning of the month when I was in Belgium for the winter holidays. Bruges is about an hour away from Brussels. The weather was terrible during the week A. Ruiz and I spent in Belgium. However there was one day when the sun came out and that was on the day we spent in Bruges. We stayed at St. Christopher Bauhaus which is a great (and reasonable) hotel situated very close to the centre.
Bruges is really my kind of place. It has really old architecture, great cafés, bookstores, antique stores and there is nothing disturbingly modern about it. We didn't know much about the city and so we spent our one night and two days wandering about the quaint neighbourhoods and taking pictures of the Bruges' treasures, big, small, edible, non edible, sensible, non sensible, etc.

 

In Bruges, you love the little iron lamps and iron birds on doors.

 

In Bruges, you love the criss crossed buildings and the town square.

You of course love the castle and the canals, the houses by the canals, the windows on the houses by the canals. In Bruges. 

In Bruges, you can sit in a café and enjoy a Viennese chocolate, you can find French books in old bookstores. You can buy cream filled delights and eat them over "Le Rouge et Le Noir" by one of your favourite authors, Stendhal . 

Horses! That's one of the main reason you fell in love with Bruges. Horses that are friendly, horses that are busy, horses that are tired, horses that couldn't care less about you. But handsome horses all the same. In Bruges.

In Bruges' shops, you will find the nicest of things. A curious dog, an antique weighing machine, a hundred jars of tea and your favourite antique, a chandelier!

Ah yes, the colour Red! Your favourite colour to see. You love to see it on the doors, windows and post boxes in Bruges.

Door knobs, keyholes, knockers, lamps, shadows, wreaths and all the little marvels that go unnoticed. But not in Bruges.

I still think about the city. In the remote corners of my minds, I still dream about horse carriages, castles, canals, narrow cobblestone streets and houses with scarlet or sea shade doors. And I know that place is not a dream. It's only a few hours away, safe and sound. Awaiting for me to return. Beautiful Bruges.

Street leading to the centre square.

Street lamps outside the town hall.

     The market place.

One of the many charming horse drawn carriages.