Belgium: Bruges

It is an approximately three hour train trip from Amsterdam to Bruges, Belgium.  So, in order to see as much of Bruges (and Belgium) as possible Louise and I left Amsterdam at the crack of dawn.  That was fine at first, we slept on the train.  But by 5:00 in the evening it was pretty rough going.  Bruges is in the northern half of Belgium, not too far from the sea.

Bruges is a city that was very important during the Middle Ages; after the Middle Ages its power began to decline, and the appearance of the city is very much frozen to its peak years. 

Walking into Bruges.

A Knocker of Bruges.

These next three images are various points around the main square of Bruges.

A you can seen, Louise is wearing a backpack.  We did this trip old-school backpacking style.  Staying in a hostel in Bruges, wearing nearly the same clothes twice in a row, buying a big bottle of water at the grocery store...

A little further from the square.

One of the bell towers glowing in the setting sun.

Canals in the evening.  During the day, Louise and I took one of the tour-boats that run through the canals.  Unlike Amsterdam canals, these ones do not run through the city, they are more like a natural river that has been forced into a human-determined course.

One of the many cathedrals in the late evening.  We were walking around in the evening and stumbled upon a large open-air concert in one of the large squares.  The band, which conveniently sang in English, was very good and as the weather was perfect for a summer evening concert, we ended up staying.