Benelux April 2013 -- Early Women's Sanctuaries and Homes for the Poor

I was very touched when I read about the Begijnhof in Bruges. Beguines were religious women who lived in communities together but did not take the formal vows of nuns. These communities provided shelter and work especially for women who were without other means of support. However, some communities only admitted ladies of high degree while others were reserved for persons in humble circumstances. Still others opened their doors wide to women of every condition and these were the most densely peopled.


This one in Bruges was founded in the late 13th century, although the date over the gate is from 1776. The dates of the houses built around the courtyard in typical Beguinage style vary, but many are quite old, some going back to the 15th century.

Our timing was perfect.  We got there just as the daffodils were in bloom.  We met someone who told us that only lasts for 2 weeks each spring.  There were lots of people there because of the blooming, but it wasn't crowded at all.

If you see anyone out in the middle of the daffodils, they are not supposed to be there.

We went into the small chapel and got there just in time for Evensong.  There weren't many nuns (the Begijnhof became a monastery for the Benedictine order in 1937), but they sang well in this lovely little chapel.  The original 13th century church burned in the late 16th century, was rebuilt around 1609 and later remodeled in the baroque style.  At least the interior was.  The exterior is still a simple 17th century church.

After the service, the nuns headed back for dinner, at least that's my guess.

Except for one that you can see just to the left of the entrance door to the church.  She's tiny, so you need to click on the picture to see her better.

She was paused there to tell these people to get out of the daffodils.  When they didn't move, she got a little more aggressive about telling them.

Trout did take a picture of me at the entrance.  Please note that I am not standing in the daffodils.  I read the signs.

Here you can see someone behind me not following the rules.

We ran into a couple who wanted their picture taken.  Fortunately, they had the same camera as I did, so we swapped cameras and took each other's pictures.  I think their pictures of us turned out better than my pictures of them.  If I remember correctly, they spoke French.

This is another similar facility, but with no religious folk and totally for people of limited means.

Started as early as the 14th century rich families and corporations of Flemish cities built houses for poor and needy widows and widowers. This one is one of the most lovely, Godshuis de Meulenaere, from 1613.

The inhabitants created little gardens in the courtyard and got their water there. Even today, most Godshuizen are occupied by elderly people. They are now run by the Bruges Department of  Social Care. The occupants get food and basic care, just like when they were established. The names of the Godshuizen are based on the benefactor and the year built. There are several in the city.

It is perfectly okay to go through the gate to see the inside, like we did.

Seeing these places, literally only a couple of blocks away from the Halve Maan, was a nice respite from the rest of the well-populated Bruges streets.

Benelux April 2013 -- Odd Museums, Naughty Chocolate and Beer in Bruges

We spent a week in Bruges, so we had plenty of time to explore the unusual.  Bruges, and indeed, Belgium, is known for friet, chocolate and beer.  For some people that would be the 3 main food groups.  We made sure to visit museums devoted to the first two and the only brewery still functioning within the limits of  old town Bruges.

We both found the Friet Museum surprisingly informative and entertaining.  At the end, we were able to buy "authentically cooked" friet and they were very tasty.  The cone-shaped bag on the left of the picture is what they were served in.  I got a free one to bring home.  We each got a discount coupon, for the little friet shop, but we only got one bag of friet.  It was huge.

There was far too much historical and nutrition information on the walls to take  pictures of all of it, but this is an example of the kind of information designed especially for kids.  It was low on the wall and presented in Flemish and English.  As with the rest of the textual pictures, you will need to click on them to read the text.

Potatoes came to Europe when the Spanish explorers returned with them from South America.

This is the kind of  presentation designed for taller people.  Ergotism was a disease caused by the fungus that grew on rye grain, the primary grain used for bread.  It was also known as St. Anthony's Fire.  By the end of the 17th century, it started to abate because people were eating more potatoes and less rye bread.

Of course, there is always someone who thinks anything new is the work of the devil.

Potato cultivation advanced in Ireland faster than anywhere else.

Potatoes are a nutritious and delicious source of  vitamin C, magnesium, iron and potassium.

Now for that other vitamin C, chocolate.  The Chocolate Museum is devoted to the history of chocolate, not only the cultivation of it and the manufacture of candies, but also how it came to be a relished drink with specialized cups and saucers developed for drinking it.  If you go to the link, you can get to most of what we saw.  I took no pictures besides this one of  Trout.  We did partake of the chocolate drops as we entered and we did watch the demonstration at the end and sample what was made right there.  Two food groups down and one to go.

But before we go on to beer, these are some pictures from shop windows along the street.  There are several chocolate shops in Bruges, many that make their own.  Easter was over, but this guy was still in the window of this shop.  Not exactly the kind of Easter bunny we're used to seeing.  Belgian chocolate makes you strong!

This is pretty typical of what you might see in a window.

As are these pictures.  They are examples of some of the things you see in Europe that shock Americans.  No biggie over there, regardless of country.

It didn't matter what was displayed in the shop windows, no one was supposed to sit on the window sills.  At least these spikes weren't too pointy.

Now for the beer.  Trout didn't try as many kinds of beer as I expected him to.  We saw more than one shop like this one with a huge variety of beers and the kind of glass each is supposed to be served in.

We did take a special tour of De Halve Maan (half moon) brewery.  Click on the link to learn about its history.  There were many breweries in the town of Bruges, but this is the last one downtown that is still brewing beer.  

The tour is fascinating, but not accessible for anyone with mobility issues -- too many stairs and narrow stairways that you have to go down backwards.  These are pictures from the roof.

Trout wanted to make sure I got the smokestack.

This view is down to the part of the canal where the swans are.

Here you can see down into the courtyard and see two of the modern brewing vats.

After the tour, we went into the restaurant for our free beer.  Trout actually got a beer and I got a soda.  We did have a lovely meal, made all the more lovely because it was late for lunch and there were only a few people there.

After lunch, we decided it was time to get souvenirs.  I chose this University of Brugge T-shirt.  I like the color and the date the university was established.

 Things are so close and easy to walk to in Bruges, that we took in the Diamond Museum when we couldn't get tickets to the first Halve Maan tour we wanted to go on.  I could take no pictures, but the link has good information about the museum.  We were not able to time our visit so as to see the polishing demonstration.

This is it for the secular Bruges postings.  The rest should be more religious.

Benelux April 2013 -- Busy Bruges Streets

Bruges is a great walking town.  It's pretty flat and the cobblestones are well maintained for us tourists.  We did a lot of walking.  These pictures are some of what we saw along the way.

This is a city band.  I think they had just played for awhile in the square and we caught them as they were marching away.

People were waiting to see them go by.

They must have been freezing because it was very cold and windy that day.

We did some more exploring and were lucky that most of the tourist sites were not full of people.  This is the interior courtyard behind the city hall.

You may remember these buildings with the 1608 and 1614 dates from the canal boat trip posting.

People were paused here in their walk across the bridge to listen to these two young boys play.

People do have cars in Bruges, but you must have special stickers to park in some places, just like in any inner city.  Trees like this are common in Europe.  They are heavily pruned so as to provide maximum light in winter and shade in summer and so that they don't get too big for the area.

 Little markets like this one were set up in some places.

These pruned trees are espaliered.

This picture is really about the scooter.

Here we are heading for the Begijnhof.  More about that in another posting.

I took lots of pictures of this pair of swans before I got what I was hoping for.

Perfect!

For us these days it's hard to imagine the work that went into some of these buildings.  It's also doubtful that many people have these kinds of skills or that anyone would pay for them if they did.

Bruges has a line of windmills around part of the perimeter.  This was the best one, but not open when we were there.

The windmills are on a built up dike with a paved path up and a nice view.

 As we were walking around the windmill, a bunch of teenagers hit the area after school let out.

There was no lack of construction in the city.

We turned down a street and were in the midst of a bunch of other kids, mostly headed in the opposite direction from the windmills.  They were moving fast.

They needed to get to the bus stop to get home.  Note that these kids are all in uniform, unlike the ones near the windmill.

We probably should have gone to this old restaurant.

I mentioned earlier that it was very windy.  While we were having lunch, I tried to get a good picture of that.  This is a central transportation area and there are some indications of the wind.

This guy's hair had too much product to blow around much.

 This is the best picture I got to illustrate the windy conditions.

We were glad we were inside, cozy and warm, at least for the moment.