The medieval magic of Bruges - Part 3

Whilst walking to our hotel on our first day I spotted the most gorgeous pair of red boots. It was all I could do to drag myself away, but I didn't stop then as I thought it would be easy to find the shop again later on in our stay. Best laid plans, my quest for the red boots had us walking the same route three times before finally stumbling on it somewhere completely different from where I'd remembered it. Aarrgh!! Anyway by this time, exhausted and cold, I was relieved to find they had just the right size and they fit like a glove. Kismet!

These boots were made for walking...

Wrapped up well against the damp weather, we did a lot of walking along the pretty canals. Bruges is utterly charming, especially with its autumn glow - there's lots to see and no shortage of coffee shops to dive into when you're flagging.

Regal lion presides over this bridge

Pretty lace at many windows

It was just a delight to explore the backstreets and criss-cross the canals over the ancient bridges, in fact everywhere we looked was a perfect photo opportunity. The locals are obviously into interiors and we saw some interesting little touches along the way.

One very cold but pretty bear :(

Love this garland

Preparing for Hanukkah

You've probably been wondering by now if we found any yarn shops. And yes, we did find three but don't hold your breath. One was closed, one had a very limited selection and the other one, big and inviting just off one of the main squares, did have a larger selection mostly of novelty yarns. Unfortunately though, it had such a bad smell of fetid water from the canal that I felt sick and couldn't bear to be in there. So all in all, not a great yarn experience, but then again Bruges more than compensates for that with all the other treasures that you can find there.

This shop sells wool but mainly for needlepoint

This shop was closed

One of the great pleasures of the trip was visiting the Groeninge Museum, which is heaving with Flemish Primitives paintings from the 15th century. I don't have the slightest idea why they're called 'primitive' as to my mind they're anything but, their detail and colour is just dazzling. Apparently the school became famous in the artists' own lifetimes, largely because they were the first to use pigments mixed with linseed oil instead of egg yolk, making the colour much more vibrant and revolutionising art in the Middle Ages. Their depiction of textiles, rugs and hair is so realistic and intricate, that you feel you can almost touch them.

We also visited a couple of smaller museums on our travels and found some interesting sculptures in the streets along the way.

The Arendshuis Museum

Horse sculpture in front of small gallery

Not technically a sculpture but rather grand object

Groeninge Museum

Our last night in Bruges was magical. We had a scrumptious meal in a little cafe off one of the squares serving freshly cooked local food, then off to see our friend Lieven Tavernier, who was playing with An Pierlé & White Velvet at the Stadsschouwburg Theatre.  It was a fabulous evening, ending in the artists' bar where we were able to catch up with Lieven and the band over several Belgian beers.

Stadsshouwburg Theatre

Lieven and the band on stage

View of the theatre seen from the stage

The final bonus was to be able to view the theatre in its full glory from the stage - yet another work of art - and such a wonderful ending to our stay in Bruges.