Photos from Bruges

Photos from Ghent

 

Belgium April 2026 Bruges

On our first morning in Bruges we were up early for breakfast and then out the door to meet our tour guide for a two hour guided tour of the city. I booked this tour through WithLocals again and our tour guide Igor was very interesting. He is a historian and had just come home from an archaeology dig. 

We saw many lovely canals and crossed over the oldest market bridge in the city. We visited the Beguinage which was a community where single women stayed, saw more guild halls and many, many chocolate shops as well. We learned the history associated with the swans of Bruges and why they are legally protected, it involves the execution of a good friend of the Emporer Maximilian I of Austria and his decree in the 15th century that the swans would be cared for by the Belgians until the end of time. 

We had heard of the Madonna of Bruges because of its mention in the movie Monuments Men about the US Army group that was assigned with finding, recovering and returning priceless works of art stolen by the German Army during World War II.  It was returned to Bruges where you can see it today in the Church of Our Lady. It was sculpted by Michelangelo in the very early 1500's and I believe was his only sculpture to leave Italy in his lifetime. (Incidentally the Ghent altarpiece was found hidden in the same salt mine as the Madonna.) We were able to see the sculpture and some other interesting exhibits in that church. 

We also visited the Church of the Holy Blood where you can actually see two churches. One is the subterranean Romanesque church and the other is a small Gothic church with a very important relic. We are not Catholic and we view religious relics with a skeptical eye because you never really know if they are truly what they are supposed to be. This church has a piece of cloth that is said to be soaked with the blood of Jesus. We went inside and the small chapel with the display altar was pretty full so we took a seat in the adjoining room which faced left from the first room. We decided to wait because someone said they would bring the relic out shortly. As we waited, a bell rang and a door opened in a chapel that we were facing and two priests (I don't know if the Catholic Church has female priests but one of them was a female. I don't know what she would be called if she's not a priest, sorry.) came out and one of them was  holding a glass container with a stained cloth in it. Our seats were right on the aisle so the container passed within 12 inches of us as they proceeded to the display case. If it truly was the blood of Jesus then that was a remarkable moment. 

We had to do some laundry while we were in Bruges and Mike had a fun time watching a giant crane truck trying to back out of a work site onto the tiny street. I think the driver made something like twenty  attempts due to the tiny street behind it and the edges of the buildings across the street and impatient drivers. The truck driver finally managed  though without any damage to the truck or the buildings. Bravo! 

Bruges was really a lovely city and we wish we had spent another day here. Our hotel (Hotel Heritage) was lovely with a really comfy bed and hot eggs cooked to order for breakfast. There was also a coffee shop across the street and many restaurants on the Grand Place and surrounding streets. 

Belgium April 2026 Ghent

After leaving Kinderdjik in the Netherlands, we drove to Ghent where we would spend the night before moving on to Bruges. It was a little disconcerting when we arrived because the power was out at our hotel and the parking garage was pitch black so it was hard to see exactly where the hotel entrance was located. Everyone was walking around the garage using their phones as flashlights. We found the elevator and the lights came on just as we were trying to figure out where the stairs were located. I happily pushed the elevator button and stepped in, but Mike was a little more reluctant since the power had only just come on and the thought of getting stuck on the elevator if the power went out again was making him pretty apprehensive. I convinced him to get in and we indeed made it up to the lobby level without any issues. 

Once in the lobby, we joined a large queue of people waiting to check in. We were told that since the power had been out for 3-4 hours our room may not be ready as the cleaning staff had not been able to service the rooms entirely. We waited in the lobby about 45 minutes before our room was ready. Mike ventured out for a few minutes while I waited but the wind was blowing really hard outside and it was getting dark so we opted for room service and went to bed early. 

We had arranged for a city tour with a guide from WithLocals and were very pleased with our guide Benedikt. He was entertaining, knowledgeable, and friendly and just nice to spend time with. We saw historic sites, learned local legends, tried some Belgian chocolate, and learned about the different guild houses along the river bank. He took us into St. Bavo's cathedral and explained the various panels of the famous altarpiece. The price of the admission to see the altarpiece was not included in our tour so we viewed that after Ben said goodbye. 

Unfortunately Mike was bitten by a dog as we crossed the plaza on our way to the church. He didn't even look at the dog, I don't know why it bit him. A smaller dog companion barked at us and I guess the larger dog just reacted to that. I also have no idea why the little dog barked. The dog's owner was very apologetic and stayed around while Ben found a place for Mike to go and have a better look to be sure he wasn't actually bleeding. Luckily he had thick cotton pants on and the dog's tooth scraped his skin rather than penetrating it.  I was sitting outside with Ben and wondering if our travel insurance would cover rabies vaccine but thankfully we didn't have to find out. Ben was quite upset by the incident too. 

Once we left the cathedral we decided to have lunch and found a riverside table outside of a Marriott hotel on Korenlei. I had a delicious bowl of tomato soup and we also some very good chicken strips. We spent a leisurely lunch watching the boats go by and people-watching. After lunch we got the car and headed to Bruges for our next stop. 

Photos from Kinderdjik

Kinderdjik UNESCO World Heritage Site - April 2026

Kinderdjik was a favorite of ours. We walked along the canal path and looked at all of the windmills. We went inside one that is set up as if a family were living it. It seems pretty cramped by modern standards but these windmills were built in the 1700's so heating a larger space would be problematic and also perhaps difficult to do structurally given you have huge blades revolving around the exterior of your home! The blades are massive and make a distinctive whoosh sound as they rotate, especially impactful if you're standing directly under one! You also have to be able to climb multiple flights of stairs several times a day and listen to the sound of the wooden mechanism turning which is located inside the windmill. I stood at the kitchen sink in the windmill and the motion of the blades rotating past the window every few seconds actually made me a little dizzy! I told Mike that would probably be the hardest thing to get used to. 

We walked to the end of the path and then took the shuttle boat back to the visitor center. One of the workers on the boat saw me counting up the number of windmills on the map, and started telling us what it takes to live in one of these windmills now.  There are several windmills that still function and to live in one of those (for 500 Euro per month) you have to become a certified miller. This is because you are required to operate the windmill for a minimum of 60,000 cycles per year. In order to do that you need to know not only the operation of the mill and sails but also wind speed and other factors. I didn't realize that the entire top of the mill can rotate, not just the blades. That way you can adjust the position of the mill according to the direction of the wind. It was very interesting and we enjoyed talking to him very much. There are windmills spread around the countryside here and there but Kinderdjik is the place to go if you want to see several at once and be able to go inside one.

Photos from Keukenhof Gardens