BELGIUM: Bruges

Bruges has been on my Bucket List for a long time.

From our home base in The Hague it wasn't exactly a hop, skip and a jump. 

It took 3 trains and 3 hours, but, we finally got there.

Bruges is one of Europe’s best-preserved cities. 

Large parts of the medieval heritage remain intact from that period and therefore has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site. 

In the Middle Ages Bruges was one of the most important trading centres in Europe. 

The city's canals linked them to the sea, which was where the wealth was made. 

International merchants built Bruges into one of the largest cities and it flourished in the 15th century. 

As the Zwijn estuary silted up in the 15th century, the city began to decline as a trade centre.

However, it remained powerful as the court of the Dukes of Burgundy and as an artistic centre and of the Flemish school of painting. 

Bruges reached its commercial zenith in the 15th century. Then with the religious and political struggles of the 16th century Bruges prominence declined even further. That stagnation is what preserved the medieval side of the city. Being a UNESCO site ensures it will stay preserved.

It remained a sleepy medieval town until the construction of the port of Zeebrugge and the cutting of a connecting canal in 1907. This revived trade and stimulated industry and tourism. 

Bicycling is a big part of the culture. 

We rented bikes and biked along the canals to the port of Zeebrugge. 

Unfortunately, when we got to the coast the weather looked ominous so we didn't stay very long, turned around and biked back. 

As a reward we turned our attention to the beer culture. 

Its cultural value was formally recognised in 2016 when it was added to UNESCO's "Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity" list. Once again, this was something I had never heard of before.

Almost 1,500 types of beer are produced in the country using different fermentation methods. There are certain regions, which are known for their particular varieties. Sustainable practice has also become part of the culture with recyclable packaging encouraged and new technologies to reduce water usage in production processes.

There are now only 2 breweries in the old city. This is partly because of the narrow streets and difficulty of getting the quantities of beer from the old city to their market. 

Bruwerji De Halve Mann (Half Moon Brewery) in the city centre is a family business that goes back 6 generations to 1856.

Brouwerji De Halve Maan's solution to get the beer through the narrow streets was to construct an underground beer pipeline in 2016 to transport the beer 3km to the bottling plant in the suburbs.

Someone was happy embracing the beer culture and felt well rewarded for our gruelling bike ride. 

Good things come to those who are patient.