In Brugge

Brugge, Belgium

The city of Brugge (Bruges in English) is a stunning medieval town in northwest Belgium. You may know it from that classic* Colin Farrell film In Bruges. It’s the city of waffles, chocolate and lace. During our time in the city we made sure to really hone in on one of those three things – I’ll let you guess which one…

Chocolate in Bruges

In addition to all of the incredibly adorable and stunning streets and canals that make up Brugge, one of the first things you’ll notice is the smell of the city. That sounds weird, but honestly Brugge smells amazing! Every other store is dedicated to either waffles or chocolate and the sugary sweet aroma fills the air making it hard not to fall in love with this city.

The Chocolate Line

At the recommendation of our CS host, Mac and I visited The Chocolate Line. This shop is managed by Dominique – a man with a passion for chocolate. The chocolate beans come from plantations all over the world that Dominique personally knows and supports. This is fair trade chocolate at its finest, and it’s super delicious too!

Mac and I sampled the three chocolates they had without milk; pistachio, marzipan, and beetroot. Beetroot was definitely my favourite! Inside the chocolate cone was a chocolate beet syrup that explodes in your mouth when you eat it. Aside from these specialty chocolate bites, the Chocolate Line also has plenty of bars of varying cacao percentage, as well as chocolate disks, and other novelty items. We even saw some bottles for chocolate pills! Now that’s a pharmaceutical I can get on board with!

Hot Chocolate at The Old Chocolate House

We enjoyed our chocolate in the square just outside the Chocolate Line Store. It was here where we met an American couple who graciously invited us to get some hot chocolate with them. Considering the beautifully hot day, I considered not going. But I’m SO glad we did because this hot chocolate was one of the best things ever!

The Old Chocolate House serves their hot chocolate a bit differently. Their huge menu involves selecting a type of chocolate you’d like, as well as the type of milk you’d prefer. They have coconut, almond, and soy milk as non-dairy options. Your chocolate selection comes on a plate, followed by a steaming mug of milk. You drop the chocolate into the milk and whisk away to create the most amazing hot beverage in the world. Okay, I may be slightly exaggerating, but this drink was SO delicious! And how could it not be, with the chocolate cup full of chocolate chips?!

The Old Chocolate House also has pre-mixed hot beverage options such as tiramisu, peanut butter & marshmallow, and many more. Plus the upstairs tea room is one of the cutest venues ever!

Buildings & Architecture

After the delicious smells wafting through the air, the second thing you’ll notice about Brugge is the buildings & architecture! The city centre has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2000, and many of its medieval buildings are extremely well-preserved. The cobblestone streets lined with charming brick facades, the intricate details on the churches, and main square filled with organized chaos amidst medieval charm – all of these add up to make Brugge one of the most eye-catching cities we’ve seen so far!

The Market Place (Markt) in Bruges is surrounded by amazing buildings. Most notably is probably the Provinciaal Hof – once a government building, but now a ceremonial location.

Kitty corner to the Gothic facade of the Provinciaal Hof is the belfry. For 12 euros, you can climb the 366 steps to the top of this brick tower. There is also a 48 bell carillon that plays wonderful bell ‘concerts’ throughout the day.

Continuing from the Markt down one of the many winding streets you’ll find the City Hall in Burg Square. Even though Brugge was occupied by the Germans in both World Wars, the city centre escaped ruin and damage. The city hall building was constructed in the 1300’s and still stands as one of the many stunning buildings in the city.

The Church of Our Lady is the second tallest brick structure in the world. At 115 metres in height, it’s hard to miss. The church towers over a neighbouring canal and dates way back to the 12th century.

Canals

Brugge is often called the Venice of the North (although they like to say Venice is the Brugge of the south!). The seemingly never-ending network of canals makes for a city filled with bridges and boats. The city itself is egg-shaped with a river surrounding it. There are four gates remaining from medieval times that cross the river leading into the city. Our meandering around coupled with the night walking tour we went on took us alongside (and across) many of the canals. They were downright dreamy and I couldn’t stop taking photos!

Historic Details & Interesting Facts

Like I’ve been mentioning, Brugge is a medieval city. Its harbour was once the most important link with the Mediterranean Sea. Our night walk tour guide pointed out some pretty incredible details about buildings surrounding the main port. The Old Tollhouse is where traders and merchants would pay their tolls prior to unloading their goods from the ships. Most of the unloading was done by heaving the goods on their backs to take from the ships to the city. You can see little details of this tradition carved into the stone facade of the Old Tollhouse.

Though Brugge flourished in the 12th-14th century, the development of Antwerp’s port left Brugge’s unused and sent the city into a state of decline. The 1600’s to the 1800’s were dark years for Brugge. The textile industry that had encapsulated the city declined and many women took to making lace to help support their families. The lace legacy can still be seen in the many storefronts displaying the textile today.

As part of a 5 month exhibition – Triennial – works of art are displayed all over the city. One of the most notable pieces (and in my opinion, one of the most interesting) is SKYSCRAPER (The Bruges Whale). This four storey-tall blue whale is made entirely of plastic waste collected from the Pacific Ocean. The artists worked with the World Wildlife Foundation and the Surfrider Foundation to collect plastic from the shores of Hawaii, the NYC waterways (where the artists are based) as well as Zeebrugge (the harbour near the city). In only four months they managed to collect over five tonnes of plastic waste.

The resulting whale is a stark reminder that we need to be kinder to our planet. The rate at which we produce plastic waste is 100% unsustainable and if we don’t change our habits soon, the damage on the planet will be irreversible.

I easily could have spent many more days in Brugge. It reminded me a bit of Gent, but smaller and more charming. The city itself was quite full of tourists (as you’d imagine with a city this pretty!), but taking the streets less travelled and getting lost in the network of canals and cobblestone pathways made for an amazing and memorable visit.

*I wouldn’t go so far as to honour this film with the ‘classic’ title, but apparently In Bruges is a wonderful movie and many of the historical buildings are mentioned. I have yet to see it, but it’s been recommended by many that have travelled there.

Have you been to Brugge? What would you rather have, chocolate or waffles??

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]

Never Miss a Post!

Enter your email address to subscribe to A Taste of Trace and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Email Address:

Sign Me Up!

[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]