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Maandag 24 juli 2006

The 'Divina Commedia'

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... of Alighieri Dante (1265-1321) has the following reference to Bruges and the Cadzand. Translated, it reads :
"As do the Flemings between Cadzand and Bruges,
fearing the streaming waters who turn against them,
throwing up dykes to keep the sea at bay." 
Dante was using this comparison with the Flemish dambuilders to illustrate the dams surrounding the hellish sea of flames he was describing in his "Divina Commedia". Thus it would seem that the fame of the dam-builders of our area had reached as far as Italy during Dante's lifetime. It was only much later (in the 20th century) that the Dutch surpassed the Flemish in this discipline. That particular fragment of the "Divina Commedia" has been symbolized in the group of statues which stand in the centre of the Zand.

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Maandag 24 juli 2006

Simon Stevin

That's him, Simon Stevin. The square, where some are sleeping ( see previous photo), is named after him. Everybody takes a picture of Simon from the front. Yet, there are also a back and two sides to him. And seen from the side it is quite noticeable that the famed mathematician is the victim of quite a bird-poop problem.
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Maandag 24 juli 2006

Morning nap

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Simon Stevin Square. Around 10:oo a.m. These tourists are sitiing on a bench, their luggage about them. Let me guess : this morning, around half past nine, they got up, had breakfast and left their hotel because their reservation had run out. There was no air-conditioning in their room and thus, it was too uncomfortable to enjoiy a god night's sleep. Exhausted and overwhelmed by the glaring sunshine warming the Simon Stevin Square, the lady just dozed off again.

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Zondag 21 mei 2006

Vlamingstraat 40

Bruges still has two houses with authentic wooden façades. Sorry to disappoint you, this is not one of them. This one can be seen when looking diagonally from across the theatre building, in the Vlamingstreet, on the corner of the Kraan square. This façade was re-done in 1963 and is the work of architect Antoine Dugardyn. He used iconographic sources as basis for his interpretation of how the house actually looked like in the year 1542. What is missing are the painted motifs at the top of the façade, who earlier illlustrated the name of the house "De Haan" = The Rooster.
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Zondag 21 mei 2006

Wollestraat - Eeckhoutstraat

Those street names would translate as "Woolstreet" and "Oakwood street". One more view of Bruges from the Halltower.
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Zondag 21 mei 2006

Leaving a business-card

Those Spaniards seem to have gone to quite some length to leave their business card on this bell in the Bruges bell-tower. All those who came here, high up in the Halltower, know what I mean. Did these Spaniards bring a ladder with them? If not, then they certainly were very acrobatic people.

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Zondag 21 mei 2006

The Sacres Blood procession

Four more days. Bruges' most celebrated day is almost upon us. This scene depicts the Resurrection of Christ. We have here two Roman soldiers fast asleep next to the burial grotto. The rock that closed theburial site off has been dragged aside and the grotto looks empty.

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Zaterdag 20 mei 2006

New museum (2)

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Since it seems now suddenly possible to liberate money for a new museum, to be built on a section of the parking lot behind the Old Sint-Jan, why not cough up a serious amount of euro-millions to build an underground parking lot? Why not replace all this tarmac and these cars with, for example, a beautiful herb-garden? This is exactly what this whole area was, a few hundred years ago : a grand and magnificent herb-garden. Why could this not be created again? It would be one more tourist attraction and might become one of the most beautiful spots in the city, rather than the cancerous eye-sore we now have here.  I even did take pains to show it from its best side 

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Zaterdag 20 mei 2006

New museum

According to recent news reports, a new museum should soon rise up on this section of the parking lot of the Old Sint-Jan. Although press releases are numerous, their terms remain extraordinarily vague. But, whatever the case, I can only applaud the decision to finally do something about this cancer-spot in Bruges. This sight is an atrocity.
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Zaterdag 20 mei 2006

Spook Castle (2)


The stumbling block for our sweet and alert alderman Yves Roose (see previous commentary) is this thing here, which has no other aim than to heighten your pleasure at being rhoroughly horrified in this palace of... horrors.  The May Fair and village fêtes in general have existed for centuries and the attractons which were shown in previous times were far different from the ones we now get to see. I am citing an article from the Gazette van Brugge, dated March 31, 1883 - a newspaper which had an obvious catholic penchant :

A Wonder
"Yesterday there arrived here the most wondrous human being that was hitherto ever seen in Bruges. It is a negro, born on the shores of Lake Tanganyka in Africa. He was brought here by one of our officers, lieutenant Becker, who left Europe five years ago. The negro is of small stature and does not have a single hair on his head. His nose is flattened against his cheeks and is transperced by sharp spikes. His ears, pierced with heavy rings, are hanging on his shoulders. His eyes are red and his lower lip curls under his chin. In a word, the most wondrous negro that was ever seen in Bruges. He lodges in "Sebastiaan", with Mr. de Vos, on the Vrijdagmark near the station, where he shall remain until the opening of the Fair in Bruges. You can go and see him, against payment of a modest compensation."

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Zaterdag 20 mei 2006

Spook Castle

Alderman Yves Roose aspires to be the White of Morality. We saw him, last week, in the company of a few hundred people who were staging a demonstration, sitting with them in the middle of the Maalse Steenweg (the road to Maal), protesting against violence in our society. Fortunately, mayor Moenaert had given instructions to the police force to halt all motorized traffic for the duration of the sit-in. Otherwise, we might have lost alderman Roose. This week, "the Yves" popped up in the news again. He had been enjoying a walk along the Zand, where the May Fair happens to be in full swing. And there, Roose saw something which made his red mop of hair stand up : a doll, on an electric chair, right outside the Spook Castle. This is too much, shouted he, and immediately trotted of to his colleague, alderwoman Hilde Decleer (who has jurisdiction over fairs) to demand that she immediately have this repulsive feat of bad taste disappear from the May Fair.

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Zaterdag 20 mei 2006

Gustave Dryepondt (4th and last)

This pharmacy had quite a collection of old magisterial recipe books. During WWII the Germans confiscated these books and, unfortunately, they were never returned. Still, there is one preparation, based on one of those ancient recipes, by Dr. Dryepondt, that can be bought here. It is "Belamy Tea", recommended against kidney- and bladder inflammation. And, even better, it tastes delicious (yes, I did buy some and I did enjoy drinking it.)

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Zaterdag 20 mei 2006

Gustave Dryepondt (3)


The year 1835 on the façade refers to the year this house, named "Hemelrycke", at number 7 Wollestraat,  (it is only a few paces from the Market) became a pharmacy. And it has remained a pharmacy since then. Thus, it is not the oldest pharmacy in Bruges, which does not make it less interesting. Quite to the contrary. The Dryepondt's renovated the interior in 1903, in the English style. Three generations of Dryepondts operated the business, until 1981, when the family left for Great-Britain. And now, we have the second generation of Baert's here.

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Zaterdag 20 mei 2006

Gustave Dryepondt (2)

As you can see, the medallion is in the façade of the "Dryepondt Pharmacy", and there is also one more date : 1835.
My research in the municipal library, under "pharmacy" and under "Dryepondt" was fruitless. Well, not quite : I did find ample facts about parhmacies and pharmacists from the twelfth to the eighteenth century. Historical facts relating to the last hundred years, or even the more recent ones, seem to be harder to consign than the older ones.
Thus, on to Internet. The result was just as pitiful. All I did learn was that Dr. Dryepondt had been in the army, that he went to the Congo, and that, together with Albert Donny,  in 1900 he published a book with the title Manuel du voyageur et du résident au Congo (Manual for the traveller and resident in the Congo) (Brussels, ed. Hayez). The book is indeed devoted to travelling in the Congo and the hygiene and medical matters in that country. He also seems to have created the first hospital in what was then Leopoldville. I learned furthermore that he also discovered a new species of figtree which was named after him (vijgenboom ).
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Zaterdag 20 mei 2006

Gustave Dryepondt

I have been intrigued for quite some time by this medallion on the façade of number 7, Wolle street (Wool street). It shows a figure, in profile, of a somewhat older man, who has a mustache and a beard. On top, we read "1866-1932", and underneath "Doctor Dryepondt, pioneer colonial". My first inquiry only revealed that the medallion was th work of Victor Demanet and that it was placed here in 1939.

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Zaterdag 20 mei 2006

The Sacred Blood processionHeilig Bloedprocessie

The Holy Tomb
This artwork was made in 1702
Mourners (pleuranten) are walking on each side of the tomb.
(Van Dale : pleurant = mourning figure on, or against a tombstone) 
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Vrijdag 19 mei 2006

Pandreitje (3)


This, too, is Bruges. The city of Bruges, known the world over from the postcards showing its small boats, small trees, small lanes, coaches, Halltowers, lace, chocolates, lovers, the love-ponds, Venice-of-the-North and lacemakers' bobbins.

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Vrijdag 19 mei 2006

Pandreitje (2)


It took me a serious effort to get used to the sight of these houses who were set down where the "Pandreitje" stood. However, I did reconcile myself with their presence better than most and, in fact, I am able to admit they are not bad. Modern Bruges is allowed to have them.  I am not saying that I would ever want to live there (imagine having to put your trash outside on a wintry evening or early morning, when it's still pitch black...brrrr). But it does create a nagging.  Something to do with the beauty of sadness, of grayness, of, yes, modern coquetry with Bruges-la-Morte. Notwithstanding all that, I can see where these houses make for spacious, clean and comfortable living.
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Vrijdag 19 mei 2006

Pandreitje (Pawn lane)

For the older citizens of Bruges, the name "Pandreitje" is synonymous with "prison". However, the prison has disappeared quite some time ago. Even doctor Lecompte did some time inside, after he had a run-in with the Order of Physicians. Imagine, this prison was about a thousand years old. From high up in the Halltower, one immediately sees the spot where the "Pandreitje" used to be. While the rest of the inner city shows uniformly red roofs, the modern building where the "Pandreitje" used to be got a blue roof, and the colour of the bricks used to plant the new building down is also in sharp contrast to the lighter colours of the environment.


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Vrijdag 19 mei 2006

Market

 
The Market, an hour ago. Picure of a moment in time. In front, the small busses who take you on a grand tour and even bring you to the Verloren Hoek, that is, "The Lost Corner". Behind them, the coaches who take you to the Begijnhof. Every effort is done to please and inform the tourists who come to Bruges. The fact that this morning the busses seem to be more in demand than the coaches might have something to do with... the weather. And, notice too, the grandstand being put up in preparation for the coming Sacred Blood procession. Those orange things are the small chairs.

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