Half Moon Brewery, Bruges

On our last day in Belgium, we wandered around Bruges for an afternoon. We happened to run across the Half Moon Brewery tucked away down an inviting alley.

Half Moon entrance

The brewery has a sunny courtyard full of tables which spill over from their restaurant. The place also has a gift shop and brewery tour.

Courtyard of the brewery

It was getting late in the day so we couldn't do the tour but I did do some shopping. They sell the usual variety of tee-shirts, can openers, glasses, mugs, and beers. I bought a four-pack of Brugse Zot (regular and dubbel) that comes with a special glass.

Gift pack!

I also noticed they had a beer marked as a "quadrupel." I'd seen dubbels and tripels. I couldn't resist finding out about this new product and trying it!

Dubbel, Quadrupel, Regular

Brugse Zot is a tart lager that is refreshing with just enough bitterness to make it tasty, not nasty.

The Brugse Zot Dubbel is darker and more robust, probably from the double fermentation process. I enjoyed it even more than the regular.

Straffe Hendrik is their Quadrupel beer with a whopping 11% alcohol content. It has a dark, nutty flavor with a hint of smoky bitterness. The beer drinks well but it has a quick effect, at least on me!

The glass in action!

Just outside the brewery is a rather fanciful sculpture marked "Zeus Leda Prometheus en Pegasus bezoeken Brugge" which in English means "Zeus, Leda, Prometheus and Pegasus visit Bruges." They seem to be wearing more modern dress, but I suppose they are trying to blend in. There are a lot of horse-drawn carriages in town, after all.

Zeus Leda Prometheus en Pegasus bezoeken Brugge

Proof I didn't just make that up

After seeing that, we had to head back to the train station to get our bus to the boat that would take us back to Britain. The trip wasn't so eventful, so there will be no post on that. We made it home safe and sound and are having many other adventures that will soon appear...

p.s. There will be one more Belgian church this Sunday!

Bruges Wanderings in June 2013

On our way out of Belgium, we spent another half-day in Bruges. Since we were with my sister, we went to a lot of the highlights we had seen a year and a half ago. That trip was over Thanksgiving weekend, so it was already wintry and Christmasy. It was nice to see things in their regular state.

The train station had a nice mural depicting Bruges and its environs. Bruges seems to be much larger than the towns around it, I don't think that is really the case.

Art in the train station

We walked back into the heart of town and saw the main Markt with the famous Belfort from the 1200s.

Belfort

Civic center

Buildings around the Markt

Down a side street is the Burg, where the Stadhuis or state house is located, begun in 1376 and finished in 1420. This area also has the Holy Blood Basilica and Blind Donkey Alley.

Staduis (Blind Donkey Alley is the passage on the right through the white/yellow building)

Blind Donkey Alley opens up on the 19th century Vismarkt or Fish Market. The market area had plenty of whimsical decorations.

Quiet Fish Market

Slowest catch ever!

Milkman's house?

Cuddly lions

We went back to the playground for the children, seeing some nice church decorations at St. Anna's (which was closed) and some of the rest of the park.

St. Anna's doorway lintel with Epiphany

Around back of St. Anna's

Queen Astrid

Neptune on the water

Our next objective was to find the fabulous chocolate shop from the previous trip. On our way we ran into an organ grinder performing on Mariastraat. J put some money in. The fellow invited J to spin the wheel and play the music. J loved it even if his turning (and therefore his music) was not so evenly paced. L took a turn too!

J pays the piper

J takes it for a spin

L has her turn at the wheel

Further up the street we found The Old Chocolate House, which accurately describes itself on its awning.

The Old Chocolate House is totally honest

This is the place where we had a snack in the tea room on our previous trip, including a hot chocolate that was a large bowl of steaming milk with a cup of chocolate chunks next to it. We'd pour in as much chocolate as we'd desire then stir. Alas, on this trip the tea room was closed for renovations. It will be open again in August. It is definitely worth a visit. We bought some chocolates and some chocolate liqueur from downstairs.

We did some more wandering, discovering one of the breweries in the town, but that will have its own post next!

Belgian Beers!

I tried a variety of beers from Belgium, because the country really is the Mecca of beer-making.

The Usual Suspects

Tripel karmeliet is "Blond, robust, smooth and fruity 3 grain beer, with final fermentation in the bottle. Brewed with pride and patience after Carmelite tradition with wheat, oat and barley. 100% natural beer." And 100% awesome beer! The alcohol content is 8.4%, which is the normal range for a Tripel. (Regular is around 3%; dubbel around 6%; trippel around 9%) The flavor blend of the three grains is great, taking the best from each. It makes me want to become a Carmelite. At one of the beer-brewing monasteries. Now I just have to find one...

Oude Geuze is from Oud Beersel. The brewery is just outside Brussels and their beers have won many competitions. This beer was not to my taste. It starts with a nice, if a little fruity, taste but when the aftertaste kicks in, it kicks with a bitter sourness that I just don't like. I didn't even finish the bottle. Bummer!

Lindemans Kriek is a cherry-flavored beer that is more cherry than beer. It ends with a kick like a Sucret, which may be a little too much cherry for some drinkers. It's a hair too much for me. The beer still has a nice flavor and I would drink it again. Kriek is a style of lambic beer. Lambic beers are made in the Senne Valley where brewers for centuries have let air-borne yeast into their beer. They just leave their brew uncovered in the winter for a couple of months and then let it mature in wooden casks for a year.

Florival is a Tripel beer in the Belgian Trappist style. It is quite potent at 8.5% alcohol but it does not taste like straight alcohol. It has the nice wheaty but robust style I love about Trappist beers. It is very yummy, even if it is masquerading as a store brand!

Jupiler is one of those standard pilsners that every nation seems to make. Yet this is probably the best pilsner I've ever had. I like it a lot and would recommend it.

There are any number of stores that specialize in selling beer. We never found a favorite or a best. The stores did seem to cater to an English speaking/reading crowd.

Those are bottle necks in the sign for this fine Brussels establishment

Beer and souvenirs or beer souvenirs in Bruges

If you like beer, you owe it to yourself to visit Belgium, or at least try some Belgian beers.

Saint Magdalene Church, Bruges

Saint Magdalene's Church in Bruges was built in the mid-1800s during the Gothic revival. The church building was completed in 1853. The furnishings were not completed until 1910. The church was a great example of the neo-Gothic revival. But things were not to remain untouched. In the 1960s, the interior was completely painted white and many stained glass windows and furnishings were lost. In the 1980s a restoration project began, though the results have been a mixed bag. A group called YOT have been involved in keeping the space sacred though they have put some of their own stamp on the interior.

St. Magdalene's Church, Bruges

Upon entering, one is struck by the immense contrast between the neo-Gothic tradition and the YOT contribution to the interior decoration.

View down the nave

View from the altar

The neon lights spell out, "YES HERE NOW" which according to the description posted in the church is "A spiritual adage that forms the core of many traditions: 'the Kingdom of God' in the Judeo-Christian, the 'nirvana' in the East, 'the void' in Zen, etc. If man is fully present in the here and now the boundaries of time and space disappear and a dimension of 'eternity' occurs." The neon lights did not communicate that idea to me since they are so vague as to allow any personal interpretation anyone wants.

There was no explanation provided for the small pool of water.

At least many of the other furnishings have been well cared for and provide some authentic and grounded spiritual nourishment to visitors. The main altar still provides a worship space not lit by neon.

Main altar

One side altar to St. Joseph is quite beautiful.

Altar to St. Joseph

Detail from St. Joseph altar (Holy Family at Home)

Detail from St. Joseph altar (Flight into Egypt)

Many fine sculptures, including an ornate pulpit, are still found throughout the church.

Cross over the transept

St. Catherine

Detail from the pulpit

Recent addition

The Stations of the Cross are beautiful and well preserved.

Jesus falls the first time

This church left me with mixed emotions. While the preservation work was inspiring and some of the sacred art truly well-done, the modern works that attempt to universalize the religious space leave me cold. Trying to find a "core message" in various religions winds up generalizing concepts and beliefs to the point where they no longer have a concrete grounding in any coherent system of thought or religion. Unifying religions through vague generalities only makes them relevant to people who know little or nothing about those religions. Which, sadly, is the state of many people today.

Bruges Playground in Konigin Astrid-Park

As we wandered around Bruges after our arrival, we found a playground for J and L to enjoy at the south end of Konigin Astrid-Park. And enjoy it they did.

Playground in Bruges

View from the other side, with the church in the background

J was happy to do a lot of climbing, especially up a tower that had a large covered slide for coming back down.

J begins his ascent

L did her share of climbing, though she was more interested in the shorter slide which allowed for quicker repeats. She could climb and slide faster than J. Not that it was a race or anything!

L climbs!

She slides!

They did find a happy medium in riding a turtle. This particular turtle required cooperation, so I'm glad they had each other.

One of these children is heavier than the other

The allure of the playground was so strong that J didn't even go to look at the nearby fountain. We thought the fountain and gazebo looked familiar, maybe from In Bruges.

Large fountain

Gazebo from the movie?

Queen Astrid, for whom the park is named

Neptune on the water

The park was originally part of a Franciscan monastery dating back to the 1200s. In the mid-1700s the French destroyed the monastery and the land fell into private hands. In 1850, the local government bought the land and made a (then) modern park. The park takes its name from Queen Astrid who died in 1935.

After a while we were able to pry the kids out of the park and head off to the train station. We took the afternoon train to Brussels, which was a new adventure! But first, we'll visit St. Magadalene's in the next post.

Bruges Wanderings in May 2013

After getting off the boat and riding the charter bus to the Bruges train station, we walked into town to see some sights before our afternoon train to Brussels (where our hotel was). The sights start right across the street from the train station, as we immediately discovered one of the many waterways in Bruges.

L on the first of many bridges

View on the water

The area is called Minnewaterpark and is located near what was the southern defenses of the town. One medieval tower still stands--the Powder Tower, originally built in 1398.

Powder tower

Us with the tower in the background

The park is at the south end of town, so we walked north and soon discovered some of the charming houses built on the canal's edge.

Looks like a normal Belgian house...

but it is really...

ultimate waterfront property!

The canals were a common form of transportation, though now only tour boats motor along.

Swans on the canal

Tourists on the canal

The other popular form of tourist transportation is horse-drawn carriages. We saw dozens of them in the morning. They seemed to follow a regular route through the town, sharing the road with pedestrians, cars, bicycles, etc.

Traveling in style

A horse fountain!

The presence of little shrines over doorways and at corners still amazes me. The Christian faith has certainly left a strong stamp on the town.

Someone's door

Detail of the door decoration

We also discovered a small community, Godhuis St. Jozef, built in the 17th century. It was an almshouse built by a rich family as a residence for the poor and the elderly. Inside is a massive garden with little homes circling it. The garden even has it's own well (which didn't seem functional anymore) and a resident cat. The kids loved petting the cat. A small, church-shaped building at one end is where the poor and elderly would pray for their benefactors.

Outside the community

Inside the community

The well

The cat

The church?

The area also has its share of tourist traps, including this tempting location. At least, it was tempting to me.

Ultimate souvenirs!

We had a nice lunch of waffles and french fries (and beer) and were soon on our way to a playground for the kids to have some fun.

Not the healthiest lunch, but maybe the tastiest!

More later!