november-2010

BELGIUM Population 10,423,493 Currency Euro GDP
BRUGES
† €26,540 Dialling code +32
Distance from Brussels city centre 92km Average temp (Nov) 7°C
The capital of West
Flanders is gearing up for
the festive season. The
Snow & Ice Sculpture
Festival on Stationsplein
launches on 26 November,
while the Christmas
market opens two days
prior to this. Already
in progress is Brugge
Centraal (bruggecentraal.
be), a major city arts
event. With jazz at the
Concertgebouw and
Pawel Althamer’s 70ft
naked male Balloon
fi gure suspended above
the city, it’s a unique
experience. Adrian
Mourby is our city guide
MARKT AND TO THE WEST
There has always been a divide
between the Markt area, dominated
by the Belfort, and the more sober
Burg. There’s more fun to be had
in Bruges’ unofficial ‘west end’.
SLEEP Recently converted from
the remains of the old palace, the
Kempinski Hotel Dukes’ Palace (8
Prinsenhof, tel. (0)50 447888, kempinski.
com/en/bruges, rooms from €199) is
a Renaissance chateau tucked behind
a row of shops. It offers excellent service
and a good restaurant, and the witty art
in the garden is a welcome surprise.
EAT Hosted by the jovial Mario, De
Vlaamsche Pot (3-5 Helmstraat, tel.
(0)50 340086) serves good honest
Flemish cuisine in colourful, eclectic
surroundings. If you like the food, you
can buy a copy of Mario’s cookbook
and recreate the dishes at home.
Amazing gate: the Snow
& Ice Festival heralds the
coming of winter in Bruges
INFO
Brussels Airport is
100km southeast
of Bruges.
Train From
Brussels Airport
take the train to
Brussels Midi/Zuid,
where you can
then change on to
any train in the
direction of Bruges,
De Panne, Knokke
or Ostend. The fi rst
stop is Ghent, then
Bruges (Brugge).
There are usually
two trains per hour
to Bruges, with
a journey time of
around 85 minutes.
The fi rst train
departs at 5.36am,
the last at 11.53pm.
A return costs
€16,20 (b-rail.be).
Taxi A taxi from
Brussels Airport
will cost €170.
Tourist offi ce
In&Uit Brugge,
34 ’t Zand (tel.
(0)50 444646,
brugge.be).
CULTURE The Church of Our Lady
(Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk Zuid) is almost
more of an art gallery than a church.
Michelangelo’s Madonna housed here
is believed to be the only work by the
artist that left Italy during his lifetime.
It was carved for the Duomo in Siena,
but bought by two merchants from
Bruges. The tombs of Charles the Bold
and his daughter, Mary of Burgundy,
are impressive, and look out for the
bourgeois family memorials painted
by Pieter Pourbus.
SHOP The Chocolate Line (19 Simon
Stevinplein) is the brainchild of
Dominique Persoone, chocolatier
extraordinaire and the man who
invented the Chocolate Shooter
for Mick Jagger’s birthday. He also
recently drizzled chocolate over
a hundred naked women, when
photographer Spencer Tunick was
shooting in Bruges.
Belgian
city
focus
BURG AND TO THE EAST
The administrative centre of old
Bruges is a three-sided square
whose open fourth side once
contained the cathedral church of
St Donatius – it was destroyed by
French troops in 1799.
SLEEP Hotel De Tuilerieën (7 Dijver,
tel. (0)50 343691, hoteltuilerieen.com,
rooms from €119) is a 15th-century
mansion overlooking one of the most
picturesque canals in the city. It has its
own dock and a canalside dining room.
EAT Sans Cravate (159 Langestraat,
tel. (0)50 678310) is a Michelin-starred
restaurant near the massive Kruispoort.
The owners offer two excellent menus
– Arthur and Oscar – named after their
sons, whose rooms are above the dining
room. At Rock Fort (15 Langestraat, tel.
(0)50 334113), the fixed ‘menu according
to mood of the chef’ is good value (€49).
CULTURE Helig Bloed Basiliek
(10 Burg) has a Renaissance façade with
gilded statues of Flemish counts and
a gothic chapel within. It was built to
house a fragment of cloth stained with
the blood of Christ, which now resides in
a gem-encrusted hexagonal case made
by local goldsmith Jan Crabbe in 1617.
SHOP Luxury handbag designer
Delvaux has one of its two Belgian
shops at 2 Breidelstraat.
TIP According to local custom, any
single woman looking for a husband
should cross the Bonifacius Bridge;
the first man she sees on the other
side is likely to be her new husband.
€99 *
FROM JUST
RETURN ALL-IN
Fly to Brussels from
50 premium European
destinations with fares
from just €99* return all-in.
brusselsairlines.com
†PER COUNTRY PER CAPITA
*PRICES QUOTED ARE FOR A RETURN TICKET IN B.LIGHT ECONOMY FROM OR TO BRUSSELS, ALL TAXES AND FEES INCLUDED, IF BOOKED ON BRUSSELSAIRLINES.COM. TICKETS ARE NOT CHANGEABLE, NOR REFUNDABLE. PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE