With my trip home becoming imminent, (then being cancelled, then being 'back on', then postponed for a year), Gert and I went wandering in Belgium. I had wanted to see the much talked about Bruges, and being the man that he is, he took a few days off work to wander with me.
Weather in Antwerpen, in Belgium really, could be called capricious. One can never quite count on anything more than the fact that the hot weather won't go on endlessly ... in fact, 2 or 3 days of heat has been rather exciting. Clever old me, I seem to have discovered one of the only spots in the world that just might have a climate like Dunedin ...
Bruges ... we hit the E34 early and it was fascinating for me to study the 'country of origin' badges on the back of the many trucks on the road ... France, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, etc ...
The Port of Antwerpen is the second largest port in Europe; it's one of the 10 largest ports in the world and it's incredibly productive ... it covers some 13,500 hectares ... just 'slightly' larger than our great Port of Otago (and I have a bridge to sell you) hence the massive european truck flow on the roads. Well okay, the port of Rotterdam might contribute to this as well.
But back on the road to Damme ... I could have been in New Zealand, with sheep and cows grazing in the paddocks (fields), in countryside that looked remarkably like the Taieri Plains, lacking the surrounding hills, of course.
Damme started to take shape back in 1180, and unbelievably, it was once a 'dynamic transhipment port'. Today it is a sleepy village of 11,000 people, set next to a picturesque canal that takes one to Bruges.
The highlight was the 'Church of Our Lady'. The oldest section dates back to 1225, but the present church is newer, only built in the 14th century ...
If one isn't thinking, one can climb the 43 metre high tower, though the 'pigeon loft', which had me hoping that Bird Flu hadn't made inroads into Europe via migrating geese (BBC has a lot to answer for, putting thoughts like that in my head).
In Rome, I climbed a tower too, and made my way up the uncountable steps of St Peter's Basiilica ... to 119m, for an unrivalled view out over the city of Roma. 43 metres is high enough for the view out over Damme. It's peaceful there, I can't imagine much changing if we'd gone higher.
You too, can wander in Damme: http://www.vvvdamme.be/ (in Dutch).
Needless to say, we moved on ... not disappointed, just ready for the more heady delights of Bruges. It's a unique little town, dominated by architecture from the 15th,16th, 17th and 18th centuries. They told us that it had 'an unsurpassed flowering during the Middle Ages'; and coins from careless 9th century Vikings had been found there, indicating a long history. They had a golden age in the 14th century, then globalisation and market forces hit home, and they lost a lot of their cloth industry to a competitive foreign market... imagine that.
Anyway, today it lures people in with its authentic medieval atmosphere. It is known as the 'Venice of the North', so we took a boat ride round the canals, and were both surprised to find ourselves enjoying something so touristy, but Bruges is a bit special.
There are stories attached to everything, whether it be a bridge, a building, or a window. They even have one of Michaelangelo's statues, donated to a church there back in 1514 ... rumoured to be one of the only sculptures to leave Italy in Michaelangelo's lifetime.
And Bruges is a town of swans, frightening but true however, no viscious attacks were carried out on my person, so I can only assume that these swans have a sense of decorum with regard to their role in Bruges.
There is a 'swan' legend ... Maximillian of Austria wanted to perpetuate the memory of a bailiff named Peter Lanckhals (long neck = Lanckhals), who was murdered there in 1488, so Maxmillian punished the inhabitants of Bruges by forcing them to keep the long-necked swans until the end of time.
We wandered into a free art exhibition ... here's the website, if you want a slice of the 'art scene' in Bruges. http://www.artgalleryartifex.be/
The website for Brugge is http://www.brugge.be/internet/en/index.htm
Saving the best to last, and in my defense, Vegemite is a New Zealand childhood thing ... Gert and I were strolling through the corridors of the Hospital of St John, the oldest written source from it dates back to 1181, when we happened upon an 'Australian Shop'. Startling stuff, but even better, I located a wee jar of Vegemite for a mere 1.50euro! This is an incredible price when you check out the http://www.homesick-kiwi.com/
site, and find that a 445g jar of Vegemite costs 5.90nz PLUS 35.86nz dollars for postage. Suddenly Vegemite is 41.76, and quite frankly, it's simple to do without at that price.
Actually, as an aside, that homesick kiwi site made me homesick ... and then sicker still when I realised the items were rather pricey. I'm not sure it's a good thing.
But enough from me .. tot ziens.
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