Oh goodness...Brugge me

One of the gates into the city of Bruges (or Brugge)

Brugge is one the most charming places we have ever been to! It doesn't even seem real it's so idealic. Brugge is a medieval city that is called the "Venice of Belgium" due to the canals that flow through the city. Unlike Venice, they do have cars. They've done an excellent job of keeping the true character of the city despite the enormous tourist population that make their way there year. The population is 107,000 and they have 1.3 million visitors a year!

We got in late Friday night to rain, cold and lots of wind. Our GPS wouldn't work, par for the course for "Nancy," no city map, information booth was closed, there were no cabs to be had and to make matters worse, our B&B is the one address we didn't have for the entire trip. We were in serious trouble! Ragan picks a hotel reservation phone in the train station hoping to get any help someone is willing to give. It ended up being a line directly to a hostel, but the girl who answered the phone was very nice and told him the B&B was close to their place and would be at least a 40 minute walk. Great news seeing as we couldn't get a cab! Our angel that God gave us the night was waiting by the buses. He worked for the transit system and was there that night to make sure things were running smoothly. He obviously could tell that things were not running for smoothly for us! He came and asked Ragan and I where we were going. We told him our predictiment and he was doing his best for us by trying to find our B&B on his map. After the last cab stopped to pick up a specific passenger and we just missed all the buses leave the station, our angel came up to Ragan and I said,"if you buy a bus ticket, I will take you to your hotel." We were estatic! Ragan said, "I'll buy whatever you tell me to!" It was truly the Lord providing for us, because we literally had NO options. Thankful is not a good enough word for this man! He took us right to the door of the B&B and gave us all kinds of tips about his home town along the way, even showed us where our bus stop to go back on Sunday was located. Ragan tried to give him money for his generous gift and he refused. (*sigh*)

After a very long day of traveling from Heidelberg and the castrophe at the train station, I was SO happy to see that Ragan had booked us in the coziest and most adorable B&B we'd ever stayed in! I crawled in that big fluffy bed and crashed! I was in heaven when we woke up to the best breakfast we've had since we arrived in Europe. After that, we were off to a perfect day!

In in the Burg Square they were doing an exhibition of the daily lives of people from western and centeal Europe. The photos were taken by a school in Bruge and on display. I thought I'd share some of my faves....

Burg Square was also home to another stop for the day. In the corner of the square you will find Basilica of the Holy Blood. As the legend goes, "after Christ's cruxification, Joseph of Arimathea wiped blood from the body of Christ and perseved the cloth. The relic remained their until the Second Crusade." At which point, it was given to the King of Jerusalem who gave it to his brother-in-law and it was brought to Bruge in April of 1150 and it was placed in the church he had built. I am not sure if they have much validity beyond the legend, but we wanted to stop by regardless.

This was the "keeper"of the holy blood that day. She sat there with the vile that is in a larger glass vile. Most everyone stopped and said a prayer, some kissed the vile and then moved on. Luckily, she wipes it down after every visitor. It was interesting to see.

I am not sure what the prayer request was for when this candle was lit, not sure that I want to know...but someone was sure getting their monies worth! That thing looks like the burning bush! Moses...Moses...

Here are some other pictures from around town....

One of the other big attraction in this adorable little town is one of the few Michaelangelo pieces found outside of Italy. This is Madonna and Child. Everytime I see a piece by Michaelangelo, I am always amazed by how much this man accompolished in his life!

This will be the last picture I will leave you with from the saccharine sweet little town.  Do you think you see a large naked man floating over my head? You're eyes do not deceive you! He was located in the square of the major weekend market. We totally don't get it, but it was a show stopper.

Brugge, Belgium ended up being our final city to visit before we headed to Brussels to fly home. Bless our innkeeper at the B&B for mentioning that the train system was going on strike and we might have trouble traveling on Monday and Tuesday. HELLO!! So, with that information, we cancelled our stop in Ghent and headed straight into Brussels before the chaos ensued. There will be one last post before we say good bye for now.