Flashback Friday: Get Lost in Medieval Bruges

Flashback Friday: Get Lost in Medieval Bruges

For for so Oh soul Glor hosana In All Oh [Applause] [Applause] [Laughter] [Laughter] d [Laughter] [Laughter] D [Applause] D [Applause] [Applause] Sorry See [Applause] yes The J J Oh Wor J Really Oh H E You Ch [Applause] [Applause] To I and welcome in Bru that’s where we are right now and I just was thinking to get you already little in the medieval feeling and hello everyone uh to get you already little in the medieval feeling because we are now in Bru one of the most pristine places I think in the

World where you can on some days really feel that you’re going back into back to the Middle Ages so uh just a short introduction and people that have been doing more tours with me know that I love to have a little uh a pre- tour so

To say like in the 15 minutes in advance I can do already start already sometimes I’m just talking to everyone sometimes I’m using music I love to find some music that really fits with the tour so uh hopefully that work today and uh I’m on my way back from France and I thought

From between France between duner where I was yesterday evening and Amsterdam you have one of my favorite cities and that is the city of Bru and I was thinking it’s maybe one of the last times that I can go here where there are not a million people because this is

Also Bruce is also one of the most uh one of the most popular places in Belgium one of the most touristic places in Belgium and I was thinking maybe it is still not that bad during a weekday just just just a Tuesday so maybe that that that works that works

Better and we are lucky we are really lucky because until 30 minutes ago some of you have been doing my tour before I know that it was really raining it was raining a lot so and it was also raining over here in BR so and that’s also by

The way I’m always bringing the rain to BR if I’m coming over here but the good thing is that tourists don’t don’t like rain so they’re all inside and it’s also almost the dinner time so there not a lot of people on the streets so that’s the that’s really the nice thing about

This by the way my name is ston I’m a guide both in the Netherlands and in Belgium um we’ll take you the coming 45 minutes through one of my favorite cities the city of bru and we’re going to see a lot of medieval places and I’m gonna of course going to tell you

Stories G to tell you things about what we what we are seeing uh and uh I’m I’m ready I’m ready for it so uh hopefully you too uh and I think maybe there are some uh some trolls in the tour so then you know how to report it so uh you know how

That uh uh how that how that works so uh okay I’m going to change the screen and then we’re going to start the tour when where we are right now where we are right now is we are in an area of Bru that’s a little in the Souther in

The southern part of the city and here at the other side we have parts of the big the big n of Bru and at this moment it is closed already and uh it’s closed already we can see see that over here there is the entrance and normally it’s open until

6:30 in the evening why is my gimbal not turning oh no oh no I have an unwilling wait just give me one moment I have an unwilling gimbal sometimes it helps to do this one moment and it is beautiful yeah I’m just going to turn it on and off so we’re getting a

Little this is the theme park Bruce okay there we are oh come on come on come on come on yeah there we are again I think it’s now it’s now working again and yes this is already very beautiful where I’m standing right now and of course I’m going to take you

Through the city hopefully it stays dry I see some sun coming through so let me show you there are still quite dark clouds but there is some some I even see some blue sky a little further away so if we’re lucky that that’s coming more nearby so and let’s walk into let’s walk

And uh go to so I can show you a little better the beash and tell you something about Bru Bru the medieval city Bru the one of the most powerful cities in the 15th century so we have to go back a long time and in the 15th century it was

Really the Golden Age the gold age of Bru but Bru itself is already a lot older than that so the first uh the first time that Bru that people were talking about Bru that is written down somewhere uh is already in the 9th century so in the 9th century the first

Times people were writing down Bru and then people are asking me like St where is that name coming from what does Bru mean and there are several stories there are several stories but uh one of them is that the word Bru in a viking language it means

Harbor and I will tell you later that Bru was in Harbor and uh in the old local language over here it’s uh doesn’t mean Bridges no you would say that because also the Dutch word for uh bridge is BR so it’s coming nearby but it’s moing it’s moing so that’s what it

What it means and yes the architecture is extremely beautiful over here and a lot of it uh a lot of it is uh from the Middle Ages and what we see over there uh what we see over there at the other side at the other side of the water is

The beage the beage of Bru one of the most beautiful parts and it’s to be precise let me uh tell you the whole name it is the princely be so and yeah they’re also a lot of ducks and not only Ducks by the way we will see some other animals too soon but

Also a lot of ducks for sure uh now but the beash we have to go for bashes there are not only one in uh in Bru also for example in Amsterdam and some other areas in this part of the world you have bages and this one was founded in 12:45

So the 13th century so it’s quite old already and it was founded uh by the so-called beins and beins are women are all women by the way and all these women uh were decid were deciding that they did not do the normal Catholic life the normal Catholic life

In that time while we’re looking by the way at the onean over there the normal Catholic life meant that at a young age you were marrying with someone that you had to get kids and uh after that after that of course raising raising your kids no all

These women they were deciding we don’t want that we don’t want to get married we don’t want to have a husband no we want to do it different but at that moment in the 13th century that was really not done not done at all so so uh

They had to come up with a solution yeah they were the rebels of the 13th century yeah for sure so they were starting these bees uh uh basically just areas that were just living together uh behind walls so the rest of the city couldn’t could not see them and uh that’s what

Happened over here also with this big n nowadays uh it is by the way uh it’s still part of the uh so sorry now nowadays there’s still only women living living over there but it’s not a big anymore like it was in between the 13th and the 19th century the end of

The 19th century and I see now that over there it is still open so let me see if I can just get and then I will tell you later a little more about all these swans that we have over here so and yes Anna it is the Dutch word for be

Is so that’s the same as the one in Amsterdam and some of you have been taking there recently I think I’ve only done that one time on a tour that’s all because it was closed During the covid period because in also in Amsterdam there are a lot of older women living over there

So uh you love this place okay what I’m going to do in the meantime also is getting my earphones that’s talking a little easier and it is stunning for sure yeah there is a a small Church also in the area as you can see there in the

Middle and there are and we will see that when we go inside let me see connected now I can go to the other side this is the 18th century uh gate so that is placed on a on a later moment and so it was protected it was protected

And still nowadays in the evening times they’re closing the gate so normally that is at 6:30 at this moment it’s already after 7 so I wasn’t expecting that it was still open so just let’s take a little look over here through the gate it’s immediately calm over

Here and the four Riders of the Apocalypse we will come there later hna so don’t spoil spoil it yet we will be there but no don’t get logged in yeah that’s true that’s true and I’m logged in and nowadays there are about 80 different uh 80 different

Houses um and there are still only women living over here and originally the beash uh of course they were separate from the rest of the city so what they were doing is here in this middle part where we now have the trees and the grass and some uh by the way some old

Devs they’re not blooming anymore uh but originally this area in the middle they were using them they were using this for um to grow their own vegetables so they were growing their own vegetables all over here and uh so they were not relying on the city also they had their

Own animals for example so it was not necessary uh to go into the city of Bru and it’s also one of the oldest parts of the city and over here we still have it is now by the way the little part over here is Museum so one of the

Little houses is they turned into a museum but all the rest are we use so now and Trudy that’s that’s a that’s a good question only women were they nuns and a lot of people are thinking like yeah women living together that should be a nun and there’s a church that’s all

True so it looks a little like a place where ns are living but it is different because all these uh all the women over here they were coming here out of Free Will and not because they were believing in the gods yeah they were believing in

Gods but they came here out of free will to say like okay I just want another life I just want another life so it is a little exactly just free just free Marlene of course 13th century free at first by the way most of the buildings that you see nowadays over

Here the white buildings and the church are from the 18th century so they are newer and it’s now by by the way also world heritage over here so it’s heavily protected like a lot of parts of brsh are and also the bigaj over here okay now not necessarily in an abusive

Relationship it could also just be women that didn’t want to follow the norm in these times so and then here at the other side you were seeing it already before there are a lot and a lot and a lot of swans and for the swans there is a beautiful story about

That and we have to go back to the time uh that maximilan maximilan he was the ruler in a big part of Europe also in Bru he was the arch Duke of Austria by the way originally and also the uh he was the the king of Belgium at that at that time

And uh what happened is of course he wanted to have Bru because Bru in the time that he was living the end of the 15th century Bru was the most rich country in this part of the world so there was one very rich country very rich trading country uh country uh City

In the South uh what we now know as Venice and Bru was uh literally the Venice of the north we’re still sometimes calling it The Venice of the north because of all the uh all the water and all the canals and everything but it was the trade in the north was

Going via Bru the trade in the south of Europe was mainly going via uh via Venice of course not completely but um so maximilan wanted to have this city and he was thinking okay such a rich city so I’m gonna ask very high taxes and if there’s one thing that the people

From Bru did not like then it was Texas so they were revolting they were revolting against maximilan and what happened is that uh maximilan was asking one of his friends to become and these are not Gees these are swans Drea no he was asking he was asking one

Of his friends a guy named John L house to become the mayor of this place and then the Revolt was going on and on and maximan came here one day and then the people from bru captured them both maximilan but also John lals and what they were doing they were what they were

Doing is they were uh while maximilan here was in the prison they were bringing John lul to the Central Square and they were killing him they were cutting off his head that was a normal way of course in the 15th century so they were cutting off his hat and maximilan he was still

The king and they were saying like Okay we now did this with your mayor um if you’re not stopping with your high taxations you will be the next so maximan was thinking okay just maybe go for that deal so he was going for that deal uh but when he came out of Bru

When he came out of Bru he said like okay uh this is uh this is this is this is not GNA happen again because outside of Bruce he was still very powerful so he was cursing everyone in Bru and how he did that he said like okay um the

Dutch word L holes means long neck that means long neck so he was saying to until the end of time this means that the city of Bru have to take care of their long necks and these long necks are the swans that we see over here and

He was also saying the number he said like you have to take care of the 58 swans that we found in the city so since that time so the end at the end of the 15th century um there are 58 swans and they are taking care of them the the

People in Bru are feeding them there’s even the local government the local government has uh someone working for the city and his or her only job is to make sure that there are enough swans so if you’re coming to Bru please be kind to all the all the swans I’ve always

Been doing that but still it’s always raining when I’m coming here or it’s just after a rain Bru is also famous because of all the horses and the carriages that are going through the city and this is I think a beautiful oh way the sun is now coming through it’s

Even more beautiful um no there are so many carriages and horses that they have this place for the horses where they can drink and Joanne why know people around that has several reasons one of the reasons that it has just been raining before and it is just

A Tuesday and it’s not High season yet so but most probably this is one of the last times that I can uh that I can show you Bru without people because in a normal touristic season it is there are a lot of people over here okay and it was an interesting

Fountain yeah that’s for sure and of course it’s also l a city of bicycles it’s the bicycle capital of Belgium they say okay people coming to Bru not only uh for a lot of things one of the things that’s very popular over here is the chocolate of Bru so chocolate is one

Thing another thing is that Bru has several amazing really amazing um beers and then of course also for the things that we see over here and now chocolate I’m there and Robin yeah I will hopefully do uh hopefully do the chocolate again because I love that but that will be for another

Time so it’s already closed at this moment I’m late I’m late because I had to uh I had to travel so and nice to yeah and so the crowds of course are now coming back uh and by the way if you’ve done some of the tours that I did

In the uh Christmas time then you know also this place this is one of the most famous German shops is by the way called K K walart and they are selling all kind of things from wood Soh yeah oh sorry sorry there are so many lace makers oh yeah was I was not

Even finishing my story so chocolate beer and Lace that are the three things where people are coming for so if you want to see more of these and also with all these little figures uh then you have to come back with me during or around Christmas time

When I’m going to Germany again for the Christmas markets so but that’s another tour you have to follow me for that so and of course the other souvenirs are all the beers all the beers and also the glasses of course the best Belgian local beers they have thousands thousands of uh different

Beers and then there’s also a brewery over here in the middle of the city center just at the back over there is a brewer that’s just see a little part it’s a brewer that’s pull the h a man and that means the half moon and the entrance is by the way the

Official entrance is over there but we saw was the building where they are still brewing and I can I can smell it over here that’s interesting thing I can smell it over here over there we can see there’s a half moon and that’s one of the famous beers that you can get over

Here oh and more shops where you can get face of course there’s a lot but let me also show you a little more of the area where we are we are now on a little Courtyard over here and it’s again so calm and relaxed it’s unbelievable while the sun is now coming

Through and yes the horses are normally going over here over the cobblestones so you you will hear them if if there’s a horse you will hear it for for sure because it’s making a lot of sound over these cobblestones with your carriage and then over there some other beautiful buildings from the 16th

Centur the ones over there will let me go too B that there are cars parked over here that’s the only [Applause] thing your brother was born there in 1065 Marlene then your brother is quite old so I’m just getting through this small Street very small street and that’s also

One of the things that you always uh see in medieval towns let me get oh I don’t the contrast is a little hard you can see the tower and it’s a cool Corridor yeah for sure it’s getting wider over here a just a little wider and in these

Small corridors there all kind of uh there are all kind of Galleries and of course places where you can have chocolate so for example in here chorito there’s chocolate inside the name okay so I’m just getting to the end of this little Street most probably is going to be a

Little more busy over here because this the shopping street although it is already most of the shops are closed and I want to take you to the next place we’re going to the big church over there there the Church of our beloved lady one of the big churches in uh one

Of the big churches of course in uh in Bru there are several there are several ones and talking about chocolate look at this a very cute dog and some bunnies and docks and everything and my favorite one is the one over there where you can see Duvel Duvel is a beer brand so

If if you’re you can now have especially for men because men most of the time love chocolate a little less so they have a beer version of they have a chocolate version of the beer so that’s a nice way okay let’s go let’s go on there’s more to see and the thing is

There are in Bru about 50 different places where you can get chocolate so this is also a very famous One hello I can wave at you uh what they have uh 50 chocolate CHS and that means you can be a chocolate CH uh if you are making the chocolate yourself so all of

Them over here all these 50 are making the chocolate themselves and just to give you a little feeling look at this this is is heaven this is chocolate Heaven oh I love the Lego version that we have over here that’s the best Lego I can think of and

Inside they have a lot more so that’s the nice thing in the shop like this you can just go inside and then ask like I want two of these and five of these and four of these so and before you know your kilos are rising exactly before you know you have to pay

Extra when you’re taking your flight back [Applause] true here on the side here on the S side this is one of the other medieval buildings and this is part of the old hospital Sint Jan hospital and it’s just next to the water and maybe we can take just little Peak

Inside no Robin I uh I did not do a kayak tour over here that’s not allowed that was the other Belgian city that is the City of Kent and then the Church of our beloved lady with one of the highest Towers at least the highest tower in

Uh in Bru 120 M High a little over 120 M so what’s that is about 400 uh about 400 ft in total and by the way this is also interesting here at the site I don’t see them at this moment but they are digging up here uh so they’re digging in the in

The ground because they uh they found several Graves over here so they have been digging up the graves and it was I was just seeing that in one of the one of the newspapers okay let me first go just a peak and sus you know nobody is allowed

To uh to go there look at this we’re now entering St Jan’s Hospital one of the for me I think hidden gems if you don’t know this place you can see the name here on the top St J’s Hospital a 13 cent Hospital uh because Bru was

Already a big city was a famous city so they needed a hospital and they got one of the biggest oh we hear the church bells chiming by the way they got one of the biggest hospitals in that time of this part of the world and you can see it all around over

Here it’s really always it’s beautiful with the sun now let me just do one vertical shot so there’s a beautiful statue also of two monks over here yes it is a very nice building and not only the building also they still have and that was also originally

Here uh in the middle a Botanical Garden there is a Botanical Garden that was originally used to make all kind of medicine and we still have a small exactly the pharmacy was in the middle and there’s still some uh plants growing over here to get that feeling of the

Pharmacy look how beautiful it is with the blue sky and yeah APO is it saying in Dutch is the Dutch word for pharmacy and then over here we have these two monks together and it’s a beautiful statue it really gives the feeling of uh of how it was over here while we’re

Looking also at the other Tower one of the other Towers there’s so many towers and a belfree and everything so okay and I love these little details like what we see over here on the side we see Maria okay let’s go out again through the gate through the gate outside and then

I’m going to show you the area around the Church of our beloved lady and that’s one of my favorite parts of the city they can really see like how medieval this is looking I mean in these times the hospital needed protection need protection I mean you never know

When a army came here of course they wanted first to Rob or one of the first things that they wanted to Rob all the med the the pharmacy so it was also very well protected okay I’m going to the other side to show you around the church and

What I’m doing with with with this tour is just giving you a little feeling of Bru so there are so much more detail that I can uh that I can show and that I can tell but it’s only 45 minutes so just want to show you some of the highlights and yes

Originally originally all the churches Sean had a cemetery yeah and most of the most of the time the rich people were buried inside the church and the poor people who could not afford it were uh buried around and that’s by the way it’s a good question because then I can tell

You something about that uh in Dutch we have the saying that someone is stinking Reich that means stinky rich so filthy rich it’s almost the same in English by the way Filthy Rich and uh this is all related to these churches because imagine imagine that someone that was

Very rich in the old times was dying let’s say the 12th or 13th century so someone was dying on a Monday then uh what they what they were doing of course they were showing the body one or two times and then on the third day let’s say on the Wednesday they were burying

It inside the church so uh and then with when the Moss was there and it could also be by the way on a Thursday or on a fr Friday and then when the next M was there on a Sunday then the people coming inside the church they were saying like

Ah it’s stinky over here this is really filthy and they what what were they smelling they were smelling the filthy rich people that were just buried before in the days before so they say that the expression in Dutch stinking re stinky rich or filthy rich is origin coming from the

Fact that rich people were buried in the church and that other people coming there were smelling them Filthy Rich okay let’s go outside to one of my favorite locations so we’re going again through one of the gates the gates at the back part and this was originally the gate to the

Cemetery so we’re getting onto Holy Ground on the cemetery by the way also one of the things that I’m telling a lot and it’s not what you can see here so much but in a lot of churches all over the world uh or mostly in European countries of course um you have the

Cemetery and that is around the church but they were using the cemeter sometimes for hundreds of years and if you are using a cemetry for hundreds of years and every year you’re burying more and more buddies then after a while after a while the uh of course the

Ground is coming up because uh you’re adding every time a body to the ground so what you see in a lot of places is that the cemetery around or the the area around the church is a little higher can be like 30 40 50 cmet sometimes a meter

And that is because of all the bodies that have been placed under there originally okay over here we see by the way uh at the right side there is a a beautiful a really beautiful palace and at the left side we have the church and theor say a good question how

Many people live in the city at this moment it is less than 100,000 so it’s not a very big city it was one of the biggest cities in Western Europe almost as big imagine that almost as big almost as much inhabitants as Paris so uh that’s unbelievable we have

To go back to the 15th century for that at that time it was one of the biggest cities now the right side thank you Orga the right side we see a palace and that’s nowadays the G Museum uh and at the left side we see the church and the

Interesting thing is that this uh are there hopes Katherine you know what’s who what means that’s good that’s good I will tell you I will tell you no what you see over here is that the house at the right side is directly connected to the church and that is quite unique that’s normally

Never happening so um what happened over here is that the family UHA uh they were living here at the right side and is uh is an old word it is the way how beers were made in the in the times before we had hops nowadays uh

One of the main ingredients of beer is hops but there was a time that we didn’t in in invent that yet so they were using a combination of herbs and that combination of herbs was called gr and the owner of house over here at the right side that owner he had the

Monopoly in Belgium or in this area he had the Monopoly on the so he and of course in these times everyone was drinking beer so he made a lot of money he made so much money that he could afford to build a palace just next to

The church and even had his own entrance because in these times the more nearby the church you are living uh the more nearby God you are living thank you Susie and Hans and look at this this area over here this is really one of my favorit this feels like the Middle Ages isn’t

It and it’s so calm also right now we are lucky we’re lucky with the weather lucky with just a Tuesday Norm it is full with people on this bridge and not only the bridge is beautiful also the hous is here at the other side houses here at the other side

There’s still people living over here by the way um and um so this is a very dreamy place oh and there’s also a swan coming at the end can you see it now the houses the houses here are from the Middle Ages so they are from the 15th

Century 14th or 15th century and they’re still in they’re still youth so there’s still people living over there and what they did is originally there was no bridge and then in the 19th century they decided to get a bridge from the square at the other side to the place over here

And that’s the bridge that we see over here so this is 19th century only the only thing is that uh uh sorry no the only thing is that it looks like it is a lot older but it’s not it’s only in the same style it’s good to hear that you already

Have a lot of postcards okay let me just show you some more we now have the swan coming nearby the Cs are making fun together or they’re scared for the swan is also [Applause] possible hi dkey okay at the other side I’m going through a little gate Again part of this

House that was a swan that was a swan Paula another one okay to be a little careful here because it can still be a little slippery yeah it was a swan I don’t know the type of swan so I’m not I’m not that good in swans so okay over here in the

Middle we see there are two pillars and these pillars are from a place that used to be the center the city center of uh of of BR so what what happen is that originally Bru was next to the river that’s also why we have all the water

And that River was there and there was a lot of trade coming in and the trade was coming in and it was ending in a place in the Heart of the City Center in the Heart of the City Center and where the boats could get under the house so it

Was the main place where there were trading but what happened in the uh so the 15th century it was really this place was the most powerful the most rich but in from the 16th century on uh what happened is that the river over here the scel river was getting more and

More Sandy so um the boats had more and more problems to get all the way to uh to the city center so and at the same time uh there was also of course Another War uh so some of the uh some some of the rich Traders and Merchant over here

They were saying like no we’re not going to stay in Bru anymore uh because yeah we almost cannot trade here anymore so what they did is they moved their business to another city in uh another city in Belgium the city of ANP very nearby by the way very nearby and that’s where they

Were going to with their uh with their business so from in the 15th century it was Bru and then in the 16th century ANP became uh the most powerful City in this in this area it’s not even that far away but the main reason is that the river

Over there was still open and not like the one in Bru so the how do you say one the one is dying and the other one is taking over so another one is successful I don’t know English expression for that in Dutch we saying the in and do is the Hors and bro

The death of the one is the bread for the next one that is between and Natalie you know this expression so I don’t know it in English I’m not trying to think and this happens by the way it’s also the connection with Amsterdam in the end so it’s the connection with Amsterdam in

The end 15th century it was Bru 16th century it was Anor and then at the end of the 16th century the Spaniards were taking over ANB and then all the trade was going to Amsterdam so the same Traders or the same families of Traders started in Bru moved to ANP and then 100

Years later again they moved and then to Amsterdam so the money was going north step by step as sorry for my uh Dutch Expressions that nobody nobody understands but basically when one city is getting less powerful another is taking it over the successor is taking it

Over okay we’re now getting I’m by the way following the whole time the water so I’m following the river and we’re going Downstream the whole time and I don’t know what type of tree you are talking about paa so there are so many trees over here at least the one at the other

Side is a willow that’s what I know and we also have here at the other side some newer buildings this is very typically 19th century more in the pran style oh and this is H so this is in front of me I don’t know there are five of them just

Walking in front of me now here at the other side we have a beautiful Willow and I want to take you to the last part for this tour for today and what I said already earlier I’m only showing you little tidbits of the city there’s so

Much more that I can show and that I can tell but yeah we don’t have the time for that I will be for sure back in Bru uh I will be for sure back in bru while we here the chur Bells later this year and when I will be back I can do

Maybe two or three rows behind each other so I can show you different parts of the city but for now I don’t have the time for that so Katherine follow me if you didn’t follow me yet and I’ll be back here for sure because there’s a lot more that I

Don’t have the time now to show you it’s a nice bottom River yeah these are the tourist boats by the way so thank you s and it is like a painting even more with these typical uh with these beautiful uh clouds on the back so and with some local some wild animals typical

U typical Belgian doves Jenice the only thing is that you have to realize that it’s now very calm but it that will not take very long anymore it will be very busy again with a lot of tourists so if you’re living over here you have all every day people that

Want to see your house are stopping in front of your house so and it’s cold yeah it’s cold and rainy so that’s one of the one of the other things and over here by the way at the other side most of these buildings that you

See uh all in Gothic style so not the Neo goic that I was showing you earlier uh it’s all in Gothic style and uh that was in that time the most famous town so this is not a church all of these places also what we see over here at this side

Were the rich or the houses of the rich Traders so they have the money to places like this and over there we have another beautiful tree thank you kin and Mario in Alm but I want to take you to the area to the place where uh if you look at the

Statistics of Instagram this place is where most of the pictures are taken and I will show you why this is already beautiful isn’t it it is like a painting yes I’m BET next time I can also take you to the windmills but for that I have to be the whole day in Bru

Then I can do three tours in a row two of the city center and one of the windmills for example I think we are quite lucky now you can see over here already that everyone is taking the same picture so there’s a whole line of people standing there all taking

Selfies and I will tell you we show you why and I haven’t seen it this beautiful before in the times that I was here also the water is so calm it is like a like a mirror yes beautiful beautiful beautiful or in Dutch we say okay let me catch you over

Here with the reflection W there is of course also a little Sun wait let me see if I can just get out of this okay what I’m going to do is I’m going to make take the uh do it the other way so look at this this is the postcard everyone

Wants so beautiful yeah it doesn’t uh fit completely in my screen but you can see it and is yeah the water is now really like a like a mirror it’s un unbelievable wow see the bols laying normally these are the places or these are the these are the locations where most of

The tourist are tourists are taking a boat rid over the canals that’s one of the things that almost everyone is doing low voice now okay I don’t know sit still you can still not oh that’s why p pa was saying all I heard was qu qu qu oh it’s fine okay I don’t

Know okay I can do some more minutes and yes it is beautiful for sure I can do maybe three four more minutes so I can show you a little other parts this is the other side by the way where we see again our beloved lady at

The other side by the way behind the tree there’s one of the most beautiful hotels and also the most Central hotel in breu in the medieval style also the inside so it feels like you’re getting into an old in or so okay so let me take you over the little market over here

When I was here a year ago there was literally nothing now teres are coming back still not a lot maybe I can eat something here before I have to uh Drive back because I’m uh more than two hours away from Amsterdam two and a half hours so it’s a long ride

Back let me just show you a little more as a sort of a sneak peek for the next time that I’m coming back when I can show you more and some more lce of course everywhere over here we have the old fish market on the site we were just

Walking over the little market that was the meat market and over here we have the fish market and then at the S side beautiful building and try know my wife is not yet joining me so I was now just one uh one night in a hotel in duner and then uh I

Will be back later this evening and look how beautiful this is again thank you Wendy a look again with the sky look and I hope you have that feeling now also a little of this medieval city and the last part is over here when we’re getting getting through another

Gate we didn’t have enough Gates yet so let me try to do another oh wait I’m seeing something that I want to try to do uh okay just let me do this first one moment this is beautiful isn’t it okay I’m going to try something else because

There’s a puddle over here so I’m going to turn you completely around and then we have this look at this we now almost in the water with a double gate perfect reflection please post this one on Facebook or somewhere uh because I want to have this one myself this is luck the

Luck of just having wait oh now it’s not working anymore yeah that’s the only thing my gimbal cannot handle this now this is also cool people from this perspective okay that’s a tour you see the tourists are back okay last one is there in the S now

This is this is more how it normally feels in bru so the magic is gone the magic is gone but please share that picture on the Facebook group or send it to me or my Facebook group I want to have that one with to reflection thank you Karen thank you

Rain also for the tip appreciate it while we’re going through the gate the tourist found me yeah for sure there are lots okay last little peek of where we are right now why are all the umbrellas red I think it’s a group I don’t know but they don’t uh they know where

The others are but over here we have the beautiful cour building on the side with all this gold the Beautiful Rock Building 18th century by the way so it’s not as old as a lot of the other buildings and then here at the right side thank you janathan lesie we have

The most beautiful city hall there is in Belgium I think uh the city hall of Bru a beautiful Gothic style uh you see the flex on top oh we really had a lot of people look at this it’s it’s this is how it by the way normally is in

Bru thank you Joyce and Wayne now we see over here the amazing City Hall uh designed in the 13th century and after designing uh all the architects in Belgian were coming here to see this building to see this building and uh it became uh the were getting the ideas and

We’re building all over Belgium’s all over Belgium City Halls in the same style so when it shows how rich Bru was in its time and then just trying to get a little away from the group that are now taking a picture it’s like a cathedral yeah it’s

Really a Gothic building again so you see the uh the the gothic uh elements where it looks like a cathedral but the real Cathedral is over there in the corner or the real church is over there in the corner with the entrance with the golden statues that we see over

There and at the back there is a is a big there’s a big church but that’s maybe for another tour so thank you Susan and thanks also for the compliments by the way a last thing last thing that we see over here you see that there are several flags hanging one is

From the European Union then the second one is from Belgium the third one is from uh Flanders the area in Belgium where we are and the one at the right that you see now the best is the flag of Bru itself and we’re listening to the church bells of the belfrey tower over

There you just see it coming above the building oh there’s also the sun now again that’s a I think I’ve shown enough I’m going to get some food the church bells are chiming as a sign that I have to stop this tour it’s almost uh it’s almost

800m so I will for sure come here again me show you my face so thank you all for joining today and I’m going to have some food I’ll be back for sure if you like this tour then please follow me that can somewhere in the top or the bottom of

Your screen and um also thank you for all the for all the tips that’s really the only way how I can keep on doing this so uh I’ll be back for sure but of course for me it is traveling two and a half hours to get here so uh thank you

For joining and I hope to see you again I think my next tour will be in Amsterdam so I’ll be back in Amsterdam because I haven’t been doing for a very long time just a normal Amsterdam tour so I think uh this Friday I will have just an Amsterdam the history of

Amsterdam the other Venice of the North and I’m going to show you several beautiful parts and I’m thinking about maybe I can just okay okay forget it no but there are several really beautiful parts that I can show you uh over the canal district and some other parts so I hope

To see some of you again on Friday and for now I’m going to say goodbye when I’m showing you the last part of now a calm place again and it’s time for beer now I still have to drive so two and a half hours so and the thing is with Belgian

Beers they’re very strong all the time so that’s not a good idea before driving at home I will have one I will buy one to bring home promise that thank you for joining bye-bye and it’s 8 o’ now thank you Janine and Joanne and Gil it’s the blue sky now thank you Carol

Join me for Flashback Friday. Once a week I will share a classic tour so that the community can watch together.

The picturesque town of Bruges is a must-see in Belgium. Go back in time to the Middle Ages and explore the lovely medieval city, the historic buildings, and the canals. See the magnificent palaces, churches, and chapels, stroll over the Market Square, and marvel at the delicious chocolate on offer everywhere.

While exploring the fairy tale town, I will tell stories about the past, the connection to the Netherlands, and the cycling culture in this beautiful town.

In this Unesco World Heritage, you will feel like you’re in a medieval fairy tale.

(Recorded 31.5.22)

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