Saturday 30 May 2020

In Bruges


What's the best way to spend two months locked up at home, when the world is grappling with a pandemic and there are no guarantees when normal life will return? I wish I knew the answer. I am trying to think about happy times, like last year, when I had one of the most memorable experiences of my lifetime. I travelled alone, to a different country, for the first time, and it was wonderful. I thought I had seen a lot of things. I had lived in 8 different cities across 4 states in India, each state with a different language, all different from the one I spoke at my home. I am from Kerala and right from my childhood I had learnt that no place is more beautiful than Kerala. I thought nothing in the world could surprise me. I couldn't have been more wrong. 

I was in Belgium for a two day conference. But at the last moment, at the advice of a coworker, I decided to skip the second day of the conference, to visit a small city near Brussels, a two hour train ride away. And yet it is years apart from Brussels. 

Bruges is a city in the province of West Flanders, in the Flemish region of Brussels. The city is beautiful and the city centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From the early 12th century to 15th century, the city was a strategic centre and formed an essential part of the trade routes of Western Europe. Bruges' golden era declined during the late 1500s and by the early 16th century, the rise of Antwerp caused a decline in trade. It gradually descended into slumber and became a ghost town, with population falling to 50000 by early 1900s. The Germans occupied the city during WWI and WWII but did not destroy it. Even the Germans couldn't bring themselves to destroy this beautiful city.

At the same time, Bruges became one of the world's first tourist destinations. The city has preserved most of its medieval architecture. Once in Bruges, you are transported to a time when life was simpler. The houses resemble the ones in fairy tales and the city centre is stuff of Bollywood dreams. The brightly coloured houses, the arced rooftops, and the many churches can make anyone look a great photographer. The city is connected by canals and one can take a ride in boats across the canals. Only later, when I read more about Flanders, did I realise that not only is Bruges one of the best places in Europe, the entire region of Flanders is an absolute beauty. (If you wonder why red poppies are a symbol of remembrance for soldiers fallen in WWI, read about the poem "In Flanders Fields").

I spent around 4 hours and decided to return to my hotel in Brussels. I had imprudently forgotten to charge my phone. Not a smart thing to do while travelling in a country, where you don't speak the language. One of the worst things about visiting Bruges is that you will have to eventually leave. 


A random canal with some houses in the background

The canal with the Bell Fry in the background

A beautiful arched bridge