Bruges

Bruges was a cute gingerbread town. It's a very old city dating back into the 1300's. Really, it's just unbelievable seeing these buildings, churches and houses that have been around forever! Plus the city is completely cobblestone roads. We took a 4 hour train ride from Amsterdam to Bruges. We only stayed for one day, but caught some fun sights. We climbed the Bell Tower (366 steps). This tower was built in 1486. Seriously I am in awe of the brilliance of these buildings. We got a beautiful view of the city. One of the things I really wanted to see was the Basilica of the Holy Blood. According to legend, Joseph of Arimathea washed and preserved several drops of Christ's blood in a crystal vial. In 1150 the patriarch of Jerusalem gave the blood to a Flemish soldier as a thank you for rescuing his city from the Muslims during the Second Crusade. The soldier brought the vial to Bruges. Anyway, we were lucky and got to see this relic. Most of the day the blood is kept in a tabernacle in the church. This is all super cool and all, but then there is the additional legend that the dried blood miraculously turned to liquid on fridays for 2 centuries. The blood dried up for good in 1325. That's where I get a little hesitant believing the entire story. However, the slight chance that this is all completely true makes me happy to have seen it. Another church we were able to see was the Church of Our Lady. This church homes Michelangelo's marble sculpture Madonna and Child. We took a brewery tour in Bruges. Belgium beer is really good. It's all pretty smooth and has no bite. The tour was fun and one of my favorite parts. We had delicious dinner in Bruges and visited a local pub and put down a few. I had a popular cherry beer. It was pretty yummy.