Our first full day in Bruges. After a great nights sleep we slowly emerged to a world that has no right to be as hot as it is right now! Bruges is suffering the same as the rest of Europe with parched brown grass along with unnaturally high temperatures. Whilst I know we Brits are renowned for complaining about the weather and I’m reluctant to give in to that particular stereotype, it does take some of the fun out of exploring a new city while you’re dodging into shade at every opportunity to save your old bald head from frying in the heat!
After saying goodbye to our new friends Martin and Sue who were moving on to Ypres today, we got the bus and went into Bruges centre. For me this was a location scouting trip to check out what I would want to photograph later this evening.
Bruges is an absolutely beautiful city and as mentioned in my previous blog we were impressed with how spotlessly clean it is. It’s definitely one of those places where every corner turned reveals more sights to marvel at. I heard someone in passing say it’s called the Venice of the north and I can see why. It has canals with tourist boats everywhere and with this weather there’s even a whiff of the drains every now and then. Yeah, just like Venice!
We stopped off and had Belgian waffles accompanied by a beer. Never had Belgian waffles before (unbelievable I know!) and they were delicious. Great service and a free lesson in Belgian language from the young guy serving us. Actually he was good enough to point out that I was pronouncing Hoegaarden (beer) wrong.
Anyway we wandered around and I found my location for photography. I’d like to say it’s something original but actually it’s an iconic shot seen probably millions of times before but I didn’t let that stop me shooting it anyway. My photography is always for my benefit alone so I don’t worry too much about whether or not it’s been done before.
As I write I’ve just read through my first blog and realised that in one place I’ve spelt Bruce instead of Bruges in relation to how clean the city is. How embarrassing, I’ll have to sack my proof reader now!
Back to-day 2, This evening we went back into Bruges only this time we walked. It’s about 2 miles and took us some 50 minutes. Is that a long time? How long does it take normal people to walk 2 miles? Not a clue really but the seemingly long time might be explained by me stopping to take photographs every 5 minutes. We found my preferred location but it was way too early. The plan was to photograph it in the blue hour with the buildings lit up. The above image was the result. Whilst waiting for the right light we sat outside a nearby bar and had a couple of beers. Why do we always manage to sit next to the gobshite English guy who thinks it’s ok to use the f word every 2 minutes. Maybe I’m just old-fashioned that way, I definitely think there’s a time and a place!
The second image in today’s blog is of a huge whale made entirely from 5 tons of plastic taken from the Pacific Ocean. The project was for the 2018 Bruges Triennial. For some reason they decided to call it Skyscraper. I know plastic in the oceans is kind of a big deal these days but it really hits home when you see something on this scale!
Later we walked back to camp not getting in till after midnight. I find it amazing to walk through the dark streets of a strange city without feeling uncomfortable or a hint of any danger. I would think twice about doing that these days back home in Birmingham!
So, signing off for now. Another day in Bruges tomorrow.
Wandering Wildman 