Our day in Bruges got off to a very rocky start. We were scheduled to arrive at 9:00 am. Walk a short distance to catch a hired bus that would take us to the city center. Then join a 2½ hour free walking tour at 11:00 am. Be back at the ship by 3:30 pm for a 4:00 pm departure. Sounded so simple. Until the insanity.

First, the ship was 30 minutes late getting into port because of a docking issue.  Second, there was a group of people on our ship that had visa issues. The port staff wouldn’t let anyone off the ship until these were resolved. You could tell that the Cruise Director was annoyed. She kept apologizing for the delay over the loudspeaker. But she also made a snarky comment about having informed these people to resolve their problems the night before. Hmmm. A small number of folks ruin it for everyone else. That’s never happened before.

By now it was getting close to 10:00 am. But that wasn’t the end of it.

When we got off the ship we could see the Cruise Terminal about 100 yards ahead of us. There were two sets of buses waiting. The buses on the left would drive us to the Cruise Terminal 100 yards away. Walking was not permitted. For the buses on the right, a guy from the port was shouting that those buses would take us to the city center at no cost. That sounded better so we started heading toward the buses on the right.

But then one of the port workers wearing an orange vest told us that the right buses were NOT going to the city center; they were going to the train station which would then take you to the city. We’d have to buy a ticket for the train. So, then we headed back toward the left buses. Meanwhile, folks were arguing with guy shouting incorrect information. By that time, we had missed one of the left buses (which had already departed) and waited in line for the next bus.

After we survived the 100-yard bus ride to the Cruise Terminal, we ended up in another line to catch a bus for the 30-minute ride to the city center. But this logistical nightmare still wasn’t over. Our bus ride to the city ended at the bus station which was a 25-minute walk to the center. At the end of it all, we arrived in Bruges at 11:30 am, missed the walking tour, and realized that we had less than three hours left to see the city.

Nonetheless, the town of Bruges was absolutely beautiful. Except for the annoying cruise ship tourists wandering around, it was definitely a place where I could spend a few days. It reminded me of Hallstatt, Austria, except that it wasn’t on a beautiful lake. I don’t know the right words to describe the place: quaint, picturesque, charming, etc. But all would apply.

The Bruges area was frequently attacked by Vikings until the 9^th century. The name “Bruges” is likely an old Norse word meaning “landing stage” or “wharf.”

Christian missionaries came to Bruges around the 7^th century.  In 850 Count Baldwin I fortified Bruges to defend against Vikings. The earliest significant Christian site was the Cathedral of St. Donatian, named after the Roman Bishop of Reims, France (90 miles northeast of Paris), who was martyred around 390 AD. In the 9th century, Count Baldwin I brought Donatian’s relics from Reims to Bruges, which became the centerpiece of a new St. Salvatore church built in the 10^th century. The Church of St. Donatian was destroyed by mobs during the French Revolution in 1799

By the 12^th century, Bruges was a commercial capital of Northern Europe linking the Baltic states to the Mediterranean.  It also was one of the first places to use bills of exchange and letters of credit.

It was also during this time that Bruges became a pilgrimage destination due to the Relic of the Holy Blood. According to legend, Christ’s blood collected by Joseph of Arimathea was brought to Bruges by Thierry of Alsace, Count of Flanders, during the Second Crusade (1147–1149). Historical accounts suggest Thierry received it from the Patriarch of Jerusalem as a reward for his service.

Interestingly enough, on May 31^st of this year, 45000 people attended Bruges’ procession of the Holy Blood. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264433/45000-attend-bruges-holy-blood-procession-honoring-christ-s-relic

The relic was placed in the Count of Flander’s private chapel dedicated to St. Basil. An upper chapel was built over the St. Basil chapel, with the entire structure called the Church of the Holy Blood. In 1923, Pope Pius XI elevated the church to a minor Basilica.

By the late 1400s, the estuary began silting up the river, cutting Bruges off from the sea, and it was no longer a port for trade (much like what happened to Ephesus in Turkey. As I mentioned above, our ship docked about 30 minutes away from the city center.

The other church of significance is the Church of Our Lady, constructed in the 13^th century. It is know for housing the Madonna and Child sculpture by Michelangelo—the only sculpture to leave Italy during Michaelangelo’s lifetime. The sculpture was stolen by the Nazi’s in 1944 by smuggling it under mattresses inside a Red Cross truck. It was later found in an Austrian salt mine and returned.

While in Bruges, we wandered around visiting the three Churches. We wanted to take the boat ride along the canal, but we didn’t have enough time during our 3-hour “day.” For lunch I had a Belgian waffle, a Belgian beer, and a piece of Belgian chocolate. It wasn’t ideal, but I wanted to feel Belgian for meal. I learned that people in Belgium speak primarily French, a version of Dutch (Flemish, I think it’s called), and some German.

When we returned to the ship, I watched a group of women taking disco dance lessons in the lounge where I was writing this up. I wasn’t going to join. I had already tried that in 1978.