Eurostar to Bruges (Belgium)

By Elizabeth Johnstone

Brugse Zot, ‘Bruges Fool’, is a delicious beer brewed in the picture perfect Flemish town of the same name. It could also describe those like myself who fall under the town’s spell.
Bruges by Eurostar is a popular destination from the south of England. I booked hotel and train as a Cresta Holidays package through my local Co-op Travel. Ever since the ash cloud, I have booked ATOL-protected packages where possible, although I grant that Eurostar is unlikely to be disrupted by volcanic rumblings in Iceland.

My husband and I live just north of London and our train line goes into Kings Cross Station. It is literally a few steps across the road (avoiding the pupils en route to Hogwarts on Platform 9¾) to St Pancras Station, from where Eurostar leaves. I was impressed by my first trip on Eurostar. The whole operation was slick, and check-in and security were faster than at the airport. We went out in Standard Class, which was not over-spacious but slightly better than the plane. We were upgraded for our return to Standard Premier Class which was definitely roomier and included a light meal with wine. I love being abroad, but I am not a good traveller. The advantage of Eurostar is that the worst bit – the Tunnel – only represents about 20-25 minutes underground. You can easily do that travelling about in London (but then I don’t like that either!)

We left the Eurostar at Brussels South Station. Unfortunately, our connection to Bruges was running late and a twenty minute wait turned into nearly an hour. Once aboard, however, the journey was a pleasant ramble through a flat countryside enlivened by the odd windmill and dozens, if not hundreds, of solar energy installations. The serried ranks of bikes in the bike park at Gent St Pieters Station were absolutely spectacular.

On arrival at Bruges (which, incidentally, is its only name in the UK– no-one has heard of Brugge), we decided to walk into the historic centre. As we trudged past sunbathers in shirtsleeves snoozing in the park, we rather wished we’d taken the bus. We checked into the Hotel Aragon but our room wasn’t ready, so we headed back out into the city. The hotel is well located, a couple of blocks from the Markt, or main square. It was unspectacular but clean and cosy. An unhurried breakfast is always a treat on these trips, and the Hotel Aragon proved no exception.

We bought a three-day Museum Card for 15 euros each and more than got our money’s worth. Unfortunately the Belfort, the 83 metre high tower in the main square, was closed for renovation, but we visited almost everything else on the card. For me, the highlights were the Groeninge Museum with room after room of Flemish masters, the Hospitaal Museum with the fabulous Memling in St-Jan and the Onthaalkerk Onze-Lieve-Vrouw with one of the very few Michaelangelos outside Italy. But, in my opinion, the charm of the place is not so much in outstanding individual pieces. It is a harmonious ensemble of many beautiful buildings whose perspectives are constantly changing as you stumble across a bridge, a reflection or a gilded detail. 
        
Eating and drinking were fabulous. We treated ourselves to excellent meals at 'tHuidevettershuis in a lovely location overlooking the canal and at De Koetse not too far from the Markt. I adored the gracious living of the Pâtisserie Prestige – a perfect venue for “ladies who lunch”. Prices were not cheap, however we are used to London prices. It was a no-brainer that the nearer you were to the Markt, the pricier everything would be.

As for famous Belgian food and drink – we made a thorough investigation of the following items, purely for scientific purposes, you understand...

• Chocolate: Belgian chocolate is our gold standard. Can one town support so many fabulous, expensive, artisan chocolate shops? Evidently yes. Some of the goods are obviously bought in, but in many shops you can see the chocolate and other sweets being made at the back. We could hardly walk past these shops without exclaiming to each other at how exquisitely everything was displayed. And of course with Easter coming up, there were lots of bunnies, eggs etc.

• Mussels: I love these and had them twice in different restaurants. The easiest implement with which to extract them is an empty but still hinged pair of shells. Don't forget crusty bread to mop up the broth.

• Belgian chips – under no circumstances to be called French fries - are simply perfection, made from fine local potatoes and cooked twice for extra crispness. The mayonnaise with which they are served is more of a mustardy dip. Delicious and surprisingly chic in their dainty paper cones balancing in a wire frame.

As for beer… 600-700+ varieties? Choose your beer from a menu as carefully as you would choose wine, and look out for the strength. Some get up into the 6, 7, 8, 9% strengths, the strongest being those brewed by the monks. I wonder why? My fellow countrymen are famous for coming over and deliberately or naively knocking back these mighty brews as though they were weak English beer with predictable results. Bruges fools, indeed.
Waffles: plain and crisp are best, I think. I had a waffle with bottled cherries which was delicious, but it made the waffle soggy.

Bread and pâtisserie: I shall get into trouble for saying this, but these are up to French standards both in variety and quality. Yes, yes, I too am a native of a small, proud nation perched on the shoulder of its bigger neighbour…

A highlight of the trip was the monthly get-together of West Flanders Mensa in De Vlissinghe which claims to be the oldest pub in town, dating back to 1515. The format was a Games Evening, and our hosts courteously spoke perfect English to us and to each other. Super fun and friendly – Mensa at its best. Just as enjoyable was a delightful long walk out to the windmills and drinks with a Mensan friend on the Sunday afternoon, talking about everything and nothing. I was intrigued about the languages we would find in a bilingual country. The default language of hospitality in a tourist honeypot is English and Bruges was no exception. As a languages teacher, I am always keen to speak in a language other than English, but I was concerned that French might not go down too well in Flanders. I need not have had any such concern. I have a neutral look and could be any northern European nationality. If I was not actually consulting a map, I was addressed variously in Dutch, French and English and any responses in French were met with Gallic courtesy.

My husband and I did all the touristy things except for a horse and carriage trip. I know from experience I am horrendously allergic to whatever a horse swishes around with its tail. The canal boat trip was a better bet and gave a different perspective on the architecture we had admired while strolling about.

Our return trip was straightforward. No problems getting to Brussels, although we had some time to kill once we got there. The Eurostar pulled out of the station just before 3pm local time and I was walking through my front door 3 hours and 15 minutes later. The new concourse at King’s Cross, open that day for the first time, is quite something.

I am a definite convert to Eurostar now and I will retain fond memories of Mensan hospitality in the treasure house which is Bruges. Or even Brugge!

First published in VISA 103 (Jun 2012)