Three Generations go to Belgium

Tuesday morning my Mom, Granny Jill and I packed our bags and headed into Belgium. We drove to the city of Bruges to see its historic city centre and buy some chocolate. The historic centre of Bruges is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. The recognition could largely be considered to be for its architecture yet it’s interesting that the designation also states the importance of the city’s role in the birth of the School of Flemish ‘Primitives’ painting. 

To read more about the designation and see a video on Bruges click here.

Andre and I did go to Bruges before, at the end of the summer. The canals and architecture are so spectacular I thought it would be wonderful to spend another night again, this time with my Mother and Grandmother. We arrived at Hotel Floris Karos by noon and were able to check in right away. After a short reprise, and a bit to eat, we headed down to see the old city. We walked around the winding streets stopping in some shops along our way to the Grote Markt. We stood gapping at the immense brick Beffroi and went in the Chapel to see Christ’s blood before continuing on to the chocolate shop around the corner.

 

Whilst moseying along the canals to the chocolate shop we came across a weaving loom in action. In the arcaded square around the corner from the Grote Markt artists sell their creations; the loom weaver and his wife sell the scarves they make on the loom shown in the video below: 

From there we continued on to last Brewery that remains within the city centre limits; De Halvee Maan. Sitting by the fire we enjoyed a few brewskies. It was time for dinner by that point so after we finished our drinks we walked from the Brewery to the restaurant; Grand Kaffee de Passage. The restaurant serves fantastic regional dishes, of which we each ordered a different one and sampled each-other's. With no room for dessert we went back to the hotel for some tea, chocolate, and an early night’s sleep.

The Adventure Continues...

After a few days rest in Arras our adventures with Gen and Andrew continued with a day trip to Bruges. We had a wonderful day walking around the historic city center, buying chocolate, and sampling the delicious Belgian beer at the Del Halve Maan brewery.

Beer, Chocolate, Brugge...

Where's Christi? Can you find me?

After everyone returned home to Canada Andre still had a few days off, so we decided to have a little getaway in Brugge. We took the train Tuesday morning and stayed over for one night. The Lamirandes had been to Bruges while they were here and left us the guidebook they used for sightseeing. We hit all the “hotspots” that interested us in the book, including a small statue of the Virgin Mary by Michelangelo, the lace makers club, and the blood of Christ. It was our first time bringing such a little guidebook around with us (we usually look into what we’d like to see on the web before we go) and it gave us a fun and different perspective not only because of the interesting “hotspots of Bruges” but also because every other tourist we saw had the same book!

View of the Canal and a packed Boat Tour

When we arrived we walked around the city, saw the aforementioned statue, and went on a Brewery tour. The De Halve Maan Brewery is the last family Brewery left in Brugges since the end of the Second World War. The tour was wonderful; our guide was an incredibly passionate elder man, and near the end of the tour we were taken to the roof for a beautiful view of the city. We were also given a delicious pint afterwards of their award-winning brew.

View from the top

After our pint we walked around the grand place and visited the chapel with Christ’s blood before continuing along the canals to the lace-making club. It was a very interesting spot somewhat like your typical Canadian Legion, but you pay to get in and see little old ladies making lace. It was a bit of an odd thing, even more so with the adjacent church modeled after one in Jerusalem and housing a replica of Christ’s tomb.

To see lace makers in action you can watch a clip on youtube

We then stopped for a snack at a café along one of the canals to watch the swans and try more of the award-winning De Halve Mann brew. We also made a pit stop to buy some delicious Belgium chocolate.

For dinner we went to the Grand Kaffee de Passage. Andre had a rack of ribs and I had a carbonade flammande; my favourite regional dish en/fr. We completed our dinner with a café; too stuffed for anything else. We spent the rest of our evening trying to walk off our dinner along the canals, which are beautifully lit up at night.

The next day we went to the local market in the grand place and grabbed a waffle and a café. We had just enough time before our train home to check out the Minnewater gardens and nunnery on the edge of town.

Barcelona!

After our day trip to Bruges our next destination was Barcelona! Gen and Andrew arrived a day or two before us to make the most of their time. Arriving late at night Andre and I met them at the hotel where we were regaled with their previous day’s adventures snacking on their delicious finds from the Mercato.  Eager to explore the city we headed out the next morning stopping for breakfast at the aforementioned Mercato. Amongst the crowds, colours, noise and mounds of fresh food we found a little bar to sit and enjoy a delicious breakfast of croquetas de jamón, and my all time favorite Spanish coffee; the café bombón!

From the Mercato we walked down to the waterfront. Gen and Andrew were delighted to be presented with a favorite new city past time; aquarium visiting. Andre and I continued walking back into the winding old streets of the historic city. After discovering a bar serving the most delicious sangria we wobbled back to find Gen and Andrew.

 

We continued eating and drinking our way through Barcelona for the rest of the day and into the evening. We went from tapas in a restaurant to tapas on the terrace of our hotel back to tapas in a restaurant, and somewhere in between we saw Gaudi’s Casa Batlló.

Above left: Hammock on the hotel terrace
Above right: Gaudi's Casa Batlló


The next morning we decided we needed more Gaudi so we walked to the ever famous and forever under construction cathedral. Walking back we also passed by Gaudi’s other famous architectural achievement; La Pedrera.

After lunching again on some tapas we took an afternoon fiesta followed by cava on the hotel terrace before heading out for the ultimate evening of bar hopping in the old city center.

 It was a short visit, but we made the most of it! Our next destination was the Pyrenees…

Family in Sint-Niklaas

Three Generations + Anthony

After spending the night in Bruges we continued our journey to our final destination and the real reason we went to Belgium; to visit the gravesite of my great uncle, Bob, who perished in World War Two. He was the Air Bomber in a Lancaster which crashed near Sint-Niklaas killing the entire crew. We were also in Belgium to meet the family who tended the graves which had fallen into neglect years ago.. . We met Anthony and Rieke at their home in Sint-Niklaas. Anthony’s mother discovered the neglected war graves of the Sint-Niklaas cemetery and tended to them for many years before the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) recognized their responsibilities.

We arrived in Sint-Niklaas for a wonderful lunch at Anthony and his wife Rieke’s home. After getting acquainted and looking over family photos we enjoyed a fabulous traditional Belgian dish of endives wrapped in ham and covered in cheese sauce. Délicieux!

To see a recipe click here. I made my own imitation last night, and even though Andre isn’t particular to endives he admitted it was very good.

After some coffee, cookies, and more Belgian chocolate we drove to the cemetery. We were all very moved by the care and attention the CWGC and the city dedicates to the small row of mostly Canadian war graves. I have seen many such grave markers since arriving in France, and it was very different to see one that belonged to a family member, who although I never met, meant a great deal to those I love.

We are forever grateful to Anthony, his mother, and Rieke. There are no words to describe how much their care has meant to my family. Thank you for your hospitality and compassion.