Monday, March 17, 2014

From Place To Space: Quaint Bruges In Belgium




Traveling keeps my mind alert, my spirit alive and my curiosity perpetuated. Unfortunately, it also makes me eat too much, indulge too often and blow my budget. Bruges, the quaint little town in Belgium, was especially guilty for the former shortcoming. Do I need to stress that Bruges is considered the chocolate capital of the world? Well, guilty as charged - but still, every single moment was worth the guilty pleasures in this beautiful little medieval Belgian town.




In Bruges I spent a relaxed and very sunny weekend back in February. It was unusually mild and ideal for a full discovery of the old town: Bruges is rather compact and small so you can see most of the old medieval town by foot. Moreover, Bruges is known as the 'Venice of the North' and is enwrought with canals and thus perfect to discover by boat, too. Most boat trips take around 25 minutes and lead you around the central parts of Bruges where you will behold landmark sights like the famous Belfry, the Beguinage or the Groenerei. Almost all boat trips depart from the popular Rozenhoedkaai. Even though it can get pretty busy here, it is a wonderful place to take a break and enjoy a coffee under the sun in the cute little 'Café 'T Klein Venetie' - little Venice café. Obviously!





The central square of Bruges called 'Markt' features a whole line-up of colorful town houses in the typical Flemish architecture as well as the impressive 'Provinciaal Hof'. Walking from the canals to the central square takes just five minutes but be warned - in these five minutes you will pass around a dozen chocolate boutiques in only one street (and believe me, there are many, many more in the surrounding streets)! It is almost a little (pleasant) torture to walk by and not actually pop into any chocolaterie on your way. I succumbed to the temptations and brought back a little mountain of divine Belgian chocolates. Real chocoholics will also head to the museum 'Choco Story' which includes a live chocolate manufacturing session at the end including tasting.





One of the benchmark chocolatiers in Belgium, Dominique Persoone, runs a boutique called 'The Chocolate Line' where you will find the most experimental concoctions with chocolate - you can even buy chocolate to sniff. Why not - after all chocolate is almost a sort of (good and legal) drug! As an interiors blogger I couldn't help but notice the charming Dille & Kamille store right next door - it is a Dutch kitchenware brand with a lovely selection of products. 



If you ever consider visiting Bruges for a romantic getaway I can warmly recommend the charming hotel 'De Tuileriëen' which is located just in front of the main canal Dijver and an excellent starting point for all discoveries. Moreover, this luxurious and noble residence stems from the 15th century and has dreamy interiors - you will be taken away when taking a tea in the salon with an open fire place. I felt a bit like in Downton Abbey. 

But enough daydreaming for today - back to Monday and a new and hopefully happy week! Have a great one!

Photography by Igor Josifovic

17 comments :

  1. J'adore Bruges! On y passera en mai sur notre route vers Amsterdam, j'ai hâte!!

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  2. Brugge is SO nice! Your pictures show exactly how I remember it, apart from the chocolate. Somehow I completely missed out on that! Can you believe it?! (my excuse is that it has been quite a few years since my last visit hahahaa).

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  3. Oh, was für ein wunderschönes Städtchen! Seit "Brügge sehen und sterben" steht es auf meiner Travel-Liste. ^^ Jetzt ist es ein paar Plätze nach oben gerückt. ;-)
    Liebe Grüße, Kathy

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  4. Oh Igor, Bruges is so romantic! Beautiful pics.
    xoxo
    Elodie

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  5. Great photos. Bruges looks really nice and is now on my "travel-to-do-list". I spent an afternoon on Brussels once, which is similar but without the canals ;)
    I know exactly what you mean with the eating too much, spending too much money-problem, it always happens to me, I am so inconsequent!!

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  6. My eyes almost started to well up when going through these images - they brought on just a touch of Belgium-homesickness. This is one of my favourite cities, and Dille & Kamille (in Antwerp) was my 2nd home; I could spend hours in there.

    That photo through the hotel room window is gorgeous! Well done, my friend, well done!

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  7. Als reisender Blogger, schau gleich mal genau nach, hängen sich immer ein paar Blogfans wie Putzerfische an, die dann weder zu viel essen, noch ihr Budget ruinieren... aber ganz heimlich, still und leise mitreisen (Schokoladen- Kaffee- Caféhausduft not included ;o))
    Eine schöne Woche
    Angelika

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  8. Bruges looks stunning, my friend spent her honeymoon there. How lovely do those chocolates look? Yum!

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    1. Thanks for your visit to our chocolate museum! We are glad to see you enjoyed your stay in Bruges.

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    2. Thank you for stopping by - I enjoyed the visit very much indeed!

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  9. Oh I wish I would have done more Europe travel. This town looks so dreamy. And the chocolates!!!!

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    1. Maybe you should plan a Europe trip soon - Bruges is really not far away from Hamburg for example:-)

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  10. Bruges is so quaint and lovely! Last time I visited was 15 years ago but I can vividly remember the atmosphere. I have the exact same photo as your opening shot. I think another trip is in order soon...

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    1. Oh my Louise, you should definitely plan a new trip there! I mean you live so close by:-) I really loved it for a weekend getaway!

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  11. I guess the chocolate is reason enough to visit Bruges. A lovely overview Igor. I can tell it would be a little bit too traditional for me, but I do love some of the houses you showed - that second pic in particular. Thanks mister.

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  12. Hallo Igor, ganz lieben Dank für diesen charmanten Reisetipp und dass Du Deinen Lesern Belgien bzw. Brügge ans Herz legst. ich selbst habe ein Faible für Flandern und kann eine Reise in das kleine Land nur wärmstens empfehlen.. Und allen, die Angst vor zu viel geschichtsträchtigen Kontext haben, empfehle ich einen Blick auf die coolen Floristen der Stadt zu werfen. Cooles Design made in Belgium gibts übrigens auch reichlich, z. b. Von domani, dmdepot oder serax...
    Wenn ich mal wieder Muße habe, schreibe ich auf meinebelgischeseite.de weiter. Bis dahin freue ich mich über solche Blogger wie Dich... Und empfehle deinen Lesern Brügge an Ostern. Da blühen im Begijnenhof die Osterglocken... Grüße, Heidy

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    1. Danke für das nette Feedback, Heidy. Freut mich, dass Dir der Beitrag so gut gefallen hat, wie mir Brügge:-)

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