Back from Europe 2016 – Part the Last!
This is the way my life has been lately. It’s the middle of 2017, and I still haven’t finished recounting a travel story that took place last year! But that’s the kind of busy that I’ve been dealing with lately. It seems that between writing and editing (upcoming book release!), there’s been very little time for anecdotes. But I found my way clear to some free time, so I thought I’d wrap this story up!
So welcome to the final installment of my tale of the Williams family Eurotrip, the 2016 edition! To pick up where I left off, the last leg of our trip involved finishing our tour of Belgium and checking out some of the famous art that was the subject of the story (and film adaptation) Monuments Men. We then paid a visit to The Netherlands, swung back through Belgium, and then stayed in the city of Beauvais (north of Paris) before flying home.
Here are some of the highlights…
Ghent and Bruges:
After leaving Ypres, we decided to head to what is, by all accounts, Belgium’s most touristy place – the city of Bruges. This city, which consists of a modern ring surrounding a medieval core, is famous for its canals, breweries, Beer Museum, chocolatiers, and many, many stores! Seriously, people who love shopping would LOVE this town!
[image error] One of Bruges many canals, taken from the medieval core of the city
But before stopping there, we swung by what is arguably the less-touristy version of Bruges. Ghent, located not far away and to the northwest, consists of a well-preserved medieval core surrounded by modern burroughs. Much like Bruges, Ghent is famous its canals, medieval and Baroque architecture, and rich history. While there, we stopped for some lunch at a lovely bakery – consisting of baguette sandwiches and apple tarts – and then began wandering to see some of wonderful sites. Some of these were planned, some we just saw along the way.
For instance, after lunch, we walked down the street and saw the “Dulle Griet” (trans. “evil woman”), which is a massive cast-iron cannon that was built in the 15th century and used in the siege of Oudenaarde. Today, it is a historic landmark that sits next to Ghent’s largest river – the Lelle. Speaking of which, we then decided to follow this river as we made our way to planned stop of St. Pavo’s Cathedral. On the way, we got some great pictures of the waterways, a lovely shop with hundreds of different bottles of beer in the window, and the castle of Gravensteen.
We then made our way to St. Bavo’s Cathedral, where the purpose for our visit was waiting for us. This would be the “The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb”, otherwise known as the Ghent Altarpiece. This tableau, which features some of the most detailed religious art from the High Middle Ages, was created by the Flemish artists Hubert and Jan van Eyck in the 15th century. And, as Monuments Men addresses, the altarpiece was stolen by the Nazis during World War II, and repatriated thanks to the efforts of the Allies.
[image error] The Bruges Madonna
As you would expect, seeing it means cramming into a small alcove and listening to an audio guide explaining the history of the altarpiece and giving an in-depth description of every image it holds. Once that was done, we packed and drove for Bruges, arriving in the mid-afternoon. After finding our way to Bruge’s medieval core, we dropped our kit at the BandB and grabbed some dinner. The next day, we proceeded to find the Church of our Lady, which is located near the heart of the Medieval core and is the location of the Bruges Madonna.
To give you a quick rundown on the Bruges Madonna, this Rennaissance work of art has had a turbulent history. It was created by none-other than Michaelangelo himself and was bought by a wealthy family of cloth merchants in Bruges. Since its creation, it left the country twice. The first was after the French Revolution when, in 1794, the French army took it as the spoils of war and brought it to Paris. It was returned in 1815 after Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo. In 1944, the Nazis removed it during their retreat from Belgium. Thanks to the efforts of the Monuments Men, it was retrieved from a hidden cache of stolen art in Austria the following year and again returned to Bruges.
As the days went by, we took in a number of other lovely attractions. These included the many restaurants that dot the canals, the extensive shops – never seen so many ways to get chocolate, waffles, beer, tobacco and french fries! But the coolest thing, after seeing the Madonna, was definitely the Bruges Beer Museum! This edifice is right in the old town square, a medieval building that has several levels dedicated to recounting the city’s long history of brewing. And of course, on the ground floor, there is a bar where lots of samples can be enjoyed.
[image error] View from one of the bridges that spans one of Bruges many canals
A tour consists of them giving you a specialized tablet and earphone. You walk around the top two floors, point the tablet at a display, and it reads the icon there. Information and images then flow from your tablet, telling you about an important piece of beer history, and how the town of Bruges featured prominently in it. As one of Belgium’s oldest cities, the town was at the center of a lot of developments, ranging from the rise of Trappist brewing, the birth of brewing as a modern profession, the war years, the resurgence of Belgian brewing, and the rise of craft brewing.
One of the biggest lessons I learned on that visit was the identity of the patron Saint of brewing – St. Bernardus. This medieval Benedictine monk became a local hero when it an epidemic was traced to the town’s water supply. He urged the townspeople to drink beer instead of water, a measure which helped end the outbreak. Today, many Belgian beers are named after him or feature his likeness, which shows him holding a mash paddle – a key brewers instrument that is used for stirring malted grains as they are being boiled.
I learned of several beers while I was there, which included Bruges Zot, a local favorite brewed by the Halve Maan (Half Moon) brewery that takes it name from an old joke that claimed that the people of Bruges were all insane! Speaking of which, one thing we learned after the trip – much to our chagrin! – was that the historic Halve Maan (Half Moon) brewery had just finished work on a beer pipeline! That’s right, this brewery created an underground pipeline so that beer trucks (which are 40 tonnes each and play havoc with the old cobblestone streets) would no longer be making runs. From that point onward, drinking establishments all over town could just hook up to the pipeline and pull the tap! Though we did wonder if people might try to hook up taps of their own along the way 
