Day 5 - Bruges to Luxembourg

Wednesday 31st August 2016
Sunrise 6:59am – Sunset 8:20pm

Weather Forecast:   24 and sunny

Steps: 10,148           7.0 kl.

I woke up with the alarm this morning and was organised by the time the wake up call came in at 6:15.

Today we are travelling to Luxembourg and visiting the neo-gothic Maredsous Abbey along the way.  We are also having a short stop in Dinant and visiting the grave of General George Patton Junior.

Luxembourg is a tiny European country, bordered by Belgium, France and Germany. It’s mostly rural, with dense Ardennes forest and nature parks in the north, and the Moselle river valley in the southeast. The rocky gorges of the eastern Mullerthal region earned it the nickname “Little Switzerland.” Its capital, Luxembourg City, is famed for its fortified medieval old town perched on sheer cliffs.

We were away on time and on the highway by 7:55am.  The countryside is flat farming land, for most of the trip.  Comfort stop around 9:20 and on the road again at 9:40.

The further north we head, the hillier the countryside is becoming. Some more wind farms around today. Those that I have seen over the past few days are not big farms. Usually a max of about 9 windmills.

We arrived at the Abbey at 10:30. 

Founded in 1872 in Molignée Valley by Benedictine monks, Maredsous Abbey is built in neo-gothic style that fits perfectly in with the wooded, undulating terrain of the region.

Marked by spirituality, the buildings of Maredsous Abbey exude a feeling of fulfilment and the absolute, that will leave no one indifferent.  The church that dominates the cloister, the monastery and the library, the various outbuildings, including the trade school, and the Saint Joseph Visitors Centre, create a harmonious whole that beckons the visitor to stroll and meditate.

We did a tour through the Abbey for about an hour and then had an included light lunch, sampling their cheese and beer. Trappist beer is still made by the monks but Abbey beer is now commercial and no longer made at the Abbey’s.

We departed there at 12:15 and then had a quick visit to Dinant, which is on the River Meuse.  

The fortified Citadel in Dinant 

was first built in the 11th century to protect the Meuse valley below. The Prince-Bishops of Liege rebuilt and enlarged it in 1530, the French destroyed it in 1703 and it was later rebuilt in 1821. In its final transformation, the Citadel is now home to Dinant's Arms Museum. If we had had the time, it might have been interesting to visit. There is a cable car to the top, or you can walk the 408 steps to the top.

Dinant is also the birth place of Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone.

We departed there at 2pm and then visited the military cemetery where General George Patton Junior, is buried.

From there we continued onto our hotel, which is on the golf course in the village of Canach.   Lovely room 

and lovely surroundings.  

Dinner was included at the hotel tonight and prior to dinner, Insight hosted pre-dinner drinks.  We were in a private room just off one of the terraces and the food was delicious.

I was back in my room by about 10 and after some hand washing etc, finally put the light our around 11pm.

Day 4 - Brugges Sightseeing

I'm running a day behind. Hopefully I will catch up tomorrow.

Day 4: Tue 30^th - Sightseeing Bruges - Belgium  

Sunrise 6:58am – Sunset 8:37pm

Weather Forecast:   24 & partly cloudy

Steps: 13,198       9.12 kl.

I had an excellent nights sleep last night, so I think my little jetlag problem is over.  Woke at 6am and went to breakfast at 7am.

We all met in the foyer just before 9am, for our included city walking tour.

Once again we had Danielle, who was our local guide yesterday in Ghent and she is coming with us to Ypres, which is now known by its Flemish name, Ieper

First up was a talk about the sculptures at the fountain in the t’ Zand. 

There are four groups around the fountain to look for recording separate histories from Brugge' past. The fisherman and his companions symbolise the secular ties between Brugge and the sea, while cyclists pedal beneath the watchful gaze of the popular local heroes Tijl Uilenspiegel and his friend Nele.

The third group is the female group representing the Felmish cities of Antwerp, Brugge, Ghent and Courtrai while the last one is the evocation of the "polders", the low countries that are mentioned in the songs of Jaques Brel.

All the windows in this hotel are Murano glass. Apparently, the people who owned the building (years ago), were so wealthy that they had all the window panes bought from Murano.  I would hate to think what the insurance on the building is. :)

Brugge version of Venice's Bridge of Sighs.

After the included tour, there was then an optional of a canal cruise and I think everyone did that one. It was very relaxing and the live commentary was very good.

We cruised past this B & B

After the cruise, free time for a couple of hours before 15 of us did the optional of visiting Ypres and some WWI Commonwealth Graves, before witnessing the last post at Menin Gate. First up was a visit to the Tyne Cot Cemetery. 

And then to a Canadian Memorial:

and then to another small cemetery, when Brigadier-Surgeon, Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae wrote the poem "In Flanders Fields".

From there, we then went to the Menin Gate:  

After having something to eat we then attended the last post at 8:pm

A small portion of the crown attending the Last Post.

Back in Brugges around 9pm and we have are departing tomorrow morning at 7:45am.

Day 3 - Brussels to Bruges

Monday 29^th August – Head to Ghent and on to Bruges

Sunrise 6:52am – Sunset 8:39pm

Weather Forecast:   20c partly sunny

Steps: 16,148       11.14 kl.

It was a leisurely start to the day and we were away by 8:45 on our way the Bruges, via Ghent.  The rain started to fall just as we departed the hotel and there was a steady downpour for a while but by the time we arrived at the Atomium, it had all but stopped. 

 On the way to the Atomium, we passed the Japanese and the Chinese temples, both were acquired from the 1900 Paris World Trade Fair.

Just a photo stop and we were on our way again.

The Atomium was the main pavilion and icon of the World Fair of Brussels (1958), commonly called Expo 58. It symbolised the democratic will to maintain peace among all the nations, faith in progress, both technical and scientific and, finally, an optimistic vision of the future of a modern, new, super-technological world for a better life for mankind.

The peaceful use of atomic energy for scientific purposes embodied these themes particularly  well and, so, that is what determined the shape of the edifice.  At 102 metres high, with its nine interconnected spheres, it represents an elementary iron crystal enlarged 165 billion (thousand million) times. It was dreamed up by the engineer André Waterkeyn (1917-2005). The spheres, though, were fitted out by the architects André and Jean Polak.

We arrived in Ghent around 1030 and started doing a walking tour with Danielle.

Ghent is a port city in northwest Belgium, at the confluence of the Leie and Scheldt rivers. During the Middle Ages it was a prominent city-state. Today it’s a university town and cultural hub. Its pedestrianized center is known for medieval landmarks such as 12th-century Gravensteen castle

 and the Graslei, 

a row of guildhalls beside the Leie river harbor. and rival to Bruges for its rich treasury of medieval heritage.

St. Nicholas church, in Tourney bluestone, is one of the most beautiful examples of the Scheldt Gothic style. One of its unique elements is that the tower is not above the entrance but above the crossing of the nave and transepts. It functions as a sort of natural lantern as the light shines into the transept from the tower.

We visited St. Bavo's Cathedral.   

Since the spring of 2013, the tower of the Saint Bavo Cathedral has been under scaffolding, undergoing a major overhaul. The tower and four stained glass windows are top of the list. The works will be carried out from top to bottom and the scaffolding will be taken down as soon as a section has been completed. But that will be some time in coming, because the restoration works won’t be over for at least four years.

All that remains of the original Romanesque church is the crypt. St. Bavo’s Cathedral houses an impressive number of art treasures: the baroque high altar in white, black and red flamed marble, 

the rococo pulpit in oak, gilded wood and marble, 

a major work by Rubens, the ‘Calvary Triptych’, attributed to Joos van Wassenhove, alias Justus van Gent, tombs of the Ghent bishops, and much more. However, one work stands out head and shoulders above the rest: the world-famous Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, painted by Hubert and Jan van Eyck around 1432. 

After the walk we had time for a leisurely lunch and were back on board the coach by 2:15pm and on our way to Bruges, where we arrived around 3pm

I didn’t do the Horse & Carriage optional, so just walked along the main shopping street as far as the old Market Square, checked out the Christmas Shop and then came back to the hotel for a while and then headed out again at 6:40pm for dinner.

We will be doing a guided walking tour of the town tomorrow morning, so I decided to leave the photo taking of Bruges until then.