In Bruges

"Two weeks? In f*ckin Bruges?"

This past Sunday, my friend and I took a day trip to see Ghent and Bruges in Belgium. In "preparation" for Bruges, he had me watch the Colin Farrell movie, "In Bruges." It was actually a decent introduction to the city (and where I got this line from... it's so much better in an Irish accent). I am not a fan of Colin Farrell but I found the dialog of the movie to be great. Very inappropriate and quotable (okay most of the good parts in this trailer..). Parts of the story were a little too far-fetched for me to allow me to enjoy the movie, but I found myself thinking about the movie's meaning for long after we finished.

In any case, both towns are very charming and worth visiting. I wish we had more time in each, but it was a good introduction. Ghent's city center appears to have a massive church/cathedral on every other block. For a small city, that was impressive. The old church was fantastic, with one of the most beautiful pulpits I have ever seen. It was made out of wood and marble, and the sculpture just had a very natural yet ethereal style to it.

Bruges is a well-preserved medieval town-- practically the entire city center is a UNESCO world heritage site. For me, this meant it departed slightly from the narrow buildings that I had become accustomed to, but it still has many similarities with the other Belgian and some Dutch towns. Canals and all.

I love the color gradient on the vine-covered tower....

Church of the Holy Blood-- supposedly Jesus Christ's actual blood is contained here.