Fun things to do in Brugge

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Brugge's houses are lovely, and so are their gables. But even better are the little details that you often find on top of the gables. Brugge's inhabitants came up with very creative ideas to adorn their roofs, such as special weathervanes or little figures. One of these gable details I particularly liked was the "mathematician" - he seems to be very busy using his pair of compasses.

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'T Zand is a large square that was once used for jousting and executions from its earliest days. The ring road used to pass here but some years ago was put underground at this spot allowing thus large square to be opened up again. The bus station is here as well as the Concert Hall and the cafes here seem to be used more by locals than tourists. There are public toilets here too (one of the great mysteries of the world to English people - how do people manage with so few public toilets) and the tourist office.
In the square is a bronze sculpture from 1985 depicting cycling, the polder landscape, fishermen and four women bathing. Rather ugly and it spoils the square.

The neo classical , colonadded Fish Market was built in 1820/1 and is of a Dutch design as it was built at a time of Dutch rule.
From Tuesday to Saturday mornings , fishmongers display fish caught by the fishermen of Zeebrugge and Ostend , although on the day of our visit they had left by lunchtime and a few craft stalls were open in their place.

Brugge has several famous art museums, none of which I have visited up to now.

I am especially looking forward to visiting the Groeningemuseum, which has a large collection of Flemish art works from six centuries.

(Despite the name, this museum does not have anything to do with the Dutch city of Groningen, as far as I know.)

Next: Sculpture at the theatre

This amazing auditorium is designed by architects Paul Robbrecht and Hilde Daem. Its design is inspired by the three famous towers of the city and its red bricks. Hosts plays, classical music concerts and dance performances.

Este asombroso auditorio, es obra de los arquitectos Paul Robbrecht y Hilde daem. Su diseño está inspirado en las tres famosas torres de las ciudad y en sus ladrillos rojos. Acoge obras de teatro, conciertos de música clásica y espectáculos de danza.

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Common inhabitants of Bruges water are swans. These animals have here an old legend. In the fifteenth century there was a local revolt against Maximilian of Austria, because of a tax increase. Then, the revolutionaries beheaded a high dignitary whose coat of arms had a swan. Dominated the revolt, Maximilian ordered the men of the city that from the time the swans feed channel as a way to punish the crime.

Habitantes habituales de las aguas de Brujas son los cisnes. Estos animales tienen aquí una vieja leyenda. En el siglo XV hubo una revuelta local contra Maximilano de Austria, a causa de una subida de impuestos. Entonces, los revolucionarios decapitaron a un alto dignatario cuyo escudo de armas llevaba un cisne. Dominada la revuelta, Maximiliano ordenó a los hombres de la urbe que a partir de aquel momento alimentaran a los cisnes de los canales, como forma de penar el crimen.%c*

Cringe with touristy-ness, but a nice thing to do if you are on a romantic trip or with the kids. The carriages leave from the main square and take you around the cobbled streets. Maybe a nice alternative if you are scared of water, however at about €35 it might be a bit pricey for some, depends on how many people you have in your carriage though. I was by myself, but that was OK.

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The Belfort (belfry) at Market square is the landmark of Brugge and like in many other Belgium cities gives you a chance to have a great view over the city. The octagonal bell tower is 83 meter high and was built in 13th century. It was destroyed by fire in 1280, was rebuilt and then in late 15th century the octagonal shape was added. It was used as a watchtower but also stored treasury and documents. At the back side you can see the formet market hall and a nice inner courtyard (pic 2)

One small problem is the expensive entrance fee, up to 8 euros in 2012, lot of people just skipped it. Hopefully for us it was free with our 3day card (that costs 15euros and includes every museum in town)

For security reasons they accept maximum 70 persons at the same time. That explains why we had to wait more than 30’ until we got our ticket and pass through.

There are 366 steps, most of them narrow and steep, I saw some people barely could breath, obviously you need right shoes and some physical effort to the top.

Along the way you can make small stops in several levels so to check some artifacts, old pictures or the carillon room where there are 47 bells or ok lets be honest we did all these stops to save ourrself from fading :)

The Belfry is open from 9.30-17.00 Tuesday to Sunday
Entrance fee is 8 euros but we preferred to buy the 3day museum card that costs 15 euros and gave us free access to every museum in Brugge!