Bruges Photos

One of the city's entry gates over a canal

The belfry dominates the skyline and can be seen from almost everywhere in the city.

The belfry has a market place inside its base and is just one of many impressive buildings that line the main square, the markt.

The belfry imposes itself over the markt.

Another beautiful building in the Markt

The covered passageway leads from a major square to a small, quaint bridge over a canal.

The rain didn't stop me from enjoying Bruges' incredible charm!

This is the platter of hot chocolate we ordered at lunch. It may not look like a drink, but it comes with a bowl-sized mug of steaming milk which you drop the chocolate into and stir with a mini whisk. It was fantastic! Mine is the one on the far right.

Here you can see my resulting hot chocolate and my mouthwatering Belgian waffle, served with banana, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream!

This was one of many beautiful details of the windows in the Old Chocolate House, where we had lunch.

We were still on a sugar high from the morning! Again, you can see the belfry behind us.

This is the Michelangelo sculpture inside the Church of Our Lady.

These might be the most elaborate confessionals I've seen to date. They're located in the Church of Our Lady, Bruges.

Every building along the canal seemed more charming than the next.

One exciting aspect of our day was wandering from large, grand squares, to beautiful canals, to lovely, little gardens.

Here is a silly picture from the history museum we visited. It shared what Bruges was like in its Golden Age by telling a dramatic fictional story based on the making of Jan van Eyck's "Madonna and Child with Canon van der Paele." Its seasonal decorations helped fill our Halloween void!

Here is a statue of Jan van Eyck in Jan van Eyckplein, one of Burges' busiest harbors during its Golden Age. Many embassies and markets line the square. In fact, a short distance away is were the stock exchange originated.

One of the buildings on Jan van Eyckplein incorporates the statue of the bear, a beloved symbol tied to mythical origins of the city. It even appears on the coat of arms.

This picture is of the Huis Ter Beurze where the stock exchange was created. The name of the family who owned it, the Beurze, can be seen in the etymology of words pertaining to the stock market in various languages. One example in English is reimBURSEment.