A (photo-) blog about the beautiful Belgian town Bruges as seen through the very two eyes of an inhabitant. Sharp, witty, and... always admiring.
07-05-2006
You are not running alone
Competitions such as the .Straight through Bruges" race are for everybody, young and old, talented runners and slowpokes. For the lesser athletes, it's a good thing is to know that, even after 10 km, they won't be running alone and there will still be dozens of participants around them, running at a like pace. This is the Begijnenvest, a much steeper climb than the participants ever suspected.
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Waving
... and snapping pictures. For the tourists in this boat, the race became an additional attraction.
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Floating
A greater contrast between this picture and the previous one, is hardly possible. This young lady is still smiling from ear to ear. And one can see her, literally floating towards the finish line.
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Giving up
Sometimes, neither music nor the encouragement from spectators are sufficient to refuel participants' endurance and courage. And this young lady cannot hide her disappointment when she has to abandon the race at the Minnewater bridge.
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
musical accompaniment...
Music mellows manners... and the pain from running.
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Tough stretches of cobblestones
The path of the "Straight through Bruges" race literally runs straight through the city but, contrary to previous years, the stretch along the Langerei was was not included in the path this year, and the runners had to proceed along a different stretch. But this had the runners huff and puff along two real "legkillers", the Potterierei (Pottery street) and the Spinolarei (Spinola street).
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Straight through Bruges 2006
And now, the "Straight through Bruges" race isover and done with. Here is a first impression of the event. Young and old, from 8 to 80, everybody ran. The weather, this morning, was foggy, then came rain and, suddenly, right before the start of the race, the skies cleared. In the end, it became warm and, of course, that did not make it any easier on the runners. Notice the second runner in this photo. It just so happens that I know him : Mohammed Guenar. He seems to be holding a pair of replacement shoes. And yes, I managed to get my second bicycle ready on time which gave me a chance to follow the runners and snap pictures all along the path of the race.
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Culinary pleasures
Over the last twenty years, Bruges has worked itself into a top position in the domain of culinary pleasures. There are a great number of restaurants well worth calling for a reservation. De Karmeliet (The Carmelite) is generally considered as being the best. But, there are quite a few more such classy restaurants in Bruges, where the eyes as well as the palate are being pampered. One of those is "Den Gouden Harynck" (The Golden Herring) in Groeninge.
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Den Gouden Haerinck
The Golden Herring.
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
"Zestendelen" or "Sixth-parcelling"
Dubbel speciaal, dit huisnummer. Eerst en vooral betreft het een dubbel nummer. Het komt er op neer dat van twee huisjes er één comfortabel huis gemaakt werd. Maar dat is niet het meest opmerkelijke. Het meest opmerkelijke is dat men aan de hand van dit huisnummer kan weten in welk deel van de stad dit pand zich bevind. Meer nog: deze manier van indelen van huizen betreft een systeem dat teruggaat tot de dertiende eeuw, en in de veertiende eeuw zijn benaming meekreeg: 'zestendelen'. De stad werd ingedeeld in zes delen en elke wijk kreeg een letter mee. Dit huis heeft de letter C, dus hier staan we in de wijk van Onze-Lieve-Vrouw. Via die manier van klasseren van huizen kan, in vergelijking met andere steden, veel gemakkelijker huizenonderzoek gebeuren: wie doorheen de eeuwen woonde of eigenaar was van een welbepaald huis dat nu nog bestaat.
This house-number is doubly special. For a start, there is a double number. This simply means that two small houses were converted into a single, comfortable abode. But that is not what's really remarkable. The notable fact here is that by way of such a number, the administration of Bruges can readily pinpoint on which parcel of land within the city these houses were built. This numbering system goes back to the thirteenth century, and eventually got its name "zestendelen" in the fourteenth century. At that time, the city was divided into six distinct parishes, and each parish was identified by a letter. This house has the letter C and thus, we know we are in the Notre-Dame parish. Moreover, this method of identifying houses enables the city very easily, when compared to other cities' systems, to find the houses who are due for an inspection, and as well to trace back all their previous owners throughout the centuries...
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
The Sacred Blood procession (2)
This tableau depicts scenes from the period, in Old Testament, where several prophets appeared on the scene. The most important one being, of course, Moses, known as the bearer of the Ten Commandment, cut in stone.
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
The Sacred Blood procession
A follow-up to the picture of yesterday, showing the Pharaoh of Egypt. At the back of this allegoric waggon are the figures of Josef welcoming his brothers and extending them help.
07-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
06-05-2006
Roofplay...
. A classic to end the evening. An amazing display of roofs, from " 't Putje" on the Zand to the houses behinf the Sint-Alvator's cathedral.
06-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Fanfare
This fanfare, the "Harmony Play after Work" from Koolkerke, a municipality in the suburbs of Bruges, regaled the inner city with its music. One has to admire the inspired names such associations choose to call themselves. "Play after Work" : the question is, what do they consider to be play and what do they consider to be work?
06-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Opening Night of the May Fair
06-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Opening night of the May Fair (2)
06-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Opening night of the May Fair (3)
06-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Opening night of the May Fair (4)
06-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Opening night of the May Fair (5)
06-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Straight through Bruges
. Tomorrow is THE day for all joggers and runners from Bruges and from afar. Once, every year, they can run, unhindered, straight through the city. Entertainment is provided along the way of the race in order to make it as pleasant as possible for the runners... and the spectators.
06-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
The Sacred Blood processionHeilig Bloedprocessie
19 more days !!! In he meantime, here is the scene depicting the story of Josef and Pharaoh of Egypt. Josef landed here, sold by his brothers. The Pharaoh, having heard of Josef's visions, hired him as counsellor and eventually, Josef became the second most important man in Egypt. Here we see Josef's brothers coming back, driven by hunger. Josef recognizes them and gives them help.
06-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
05-05-2006
Official opening of the May Fair
. I am dead tired. I let myself be carried away by the ambience of the May Fair opening. Thousands of people threw themselves in a weird, barely two-hour long, crazy happening. Just so you get an idea of the event, here is a sample. More will follow tomorrow. This is the May Fair with, in the background, the fireworks announcing the official opening.
05-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
madame Manda
This old gypsy-waggon belongs to Madame Manda, professional fortune-teller. Mister Manda is leaning against her advertisement board, covered press-cuttings.
05-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
FrittersOliebollen
Mmm, .... delicious fritters..
05-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
May Fair
. The first signs of the May Fair are here already. And, this year, it really will be a MAY fair. Not very many people around yet, but - hey, it has not really started. It was barely 6:60 in the morning when I came upon this sight. If you are planning to try this one, know that it goes up 48 maters and... tumbles head over heels. I prefer to keep my two feet on the ground.
05-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
02-05-2006
Straight through Bruges
On Sunday, more than three thousand participants will be running through the streets of the city . The "Straight through Bruges" race is one of several beautiful initiatives of Bruges. Some runners train themselves especially for this race, while some others have a bet on that they will do the race to the finish-line, then some run in groups or for their school, often because they were, more or less, pushed one way or another to do so. While walking along the Ramparts during the last weeks, quite a few runners were seen to be training. Too bad the winter lasted so long - most people likely did not have a chance to get themselves into form as well as they did last year.
02-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
The Sacred Blood procession
"The Wandering Human". This scene represents Abraham and his wife Sara who, as ordered by the voice of God, go in search of a new and better land. In earlier times, Bruges boasted a number of guilds. Every craft had its own, as, for example, the Bakers Guild, the Butchers Guild, to name just these two. Some have kept the tradition and each guild usually takes on the responsibility for creating and acting out of one of these tableaux. This particular one fitted the Brokers Guild like a glove, precisely because when Bruges was still a cosmopolitan business centre, they already acted as Middlemen.
02-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
01-05-2006
Good evening
Did I get hit by a windmill? I can't seem to remember where I live. Well, I went to that rollicking Rock'n Roll fest. Good night anyway and see you tomorrow.
(Conversation from a tipsy rocker...)
(dronkemanspraat)
01-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Red Rock Rally
A rock competition, organized by the socialists. A snapshot taken during a break in the session.
01-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Red carnation
Might there be one of those beautiful red carnations (symbol of the socialists) for our own lapel?
01-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
The Socialists celebrate May 1
By way of calling it an evening, here are some ambiance-pictures of the May 1st celebrations in Bruges. Mind you, those were all taken after the rain and before the evening partying. As usual, Frank Van Acker is being honoured with offerings of flowers.
01-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Choco-laté
The four-day "Coco-laté" event is almost done. That the public was quite interested in the happening can be seen in this photo, taken saturday afternoon. There were moments of fierce shoving and pushing in order to partake of the Old Sint-Jan bourse.
01-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Choco-laté (2)
It's not even neccessary to go inside to have a taste of the chocolate bourse... chocolate-bodypainting happens right at the window. To be honest, I used the zoom. Otherwise, you wouldn't have seen anything.
01-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
The Flor Van Acker House
The house is at number thirty, Korte Vulders street. In fact, I need not explain, It's all written on the side of the house.
01-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Florimond Van Acker
I did briefly mention Florimond Van Acker on a previous occasion (1858-1940). That was when I posted the old picture foto of the Small Fishmarket. It was Florimond Van Acker who made the picture. He was an artist, and made portraits, landscapes and cityscapes in watercolour, oil, crayon and pastel. He also made posters for the city of Bruges, taught art at the City Academy, where he was its director from 1909 to 1926. This house was conceived and built for Flor Van Acker. The ground floor was where he saw his customers, while his atelier was on the upperfloor. The house is still in use as a House of Art.
01-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
Straight through Bruges
Even before the Sacred Blood procession, Bruges draws crowds for another famous event : the "Straight through Bruges" Classic Running event. That's on Sunday, May 7, this year. It's called a 15 kilometer classic, although in fact, it's only 14 kilometers. It seems that "15 km" sounds better... Here, at "Het Visioen" (The Vision), the runners are in their 12th kilometer and for those who took their training a bit less seriously, it is indeed a stretch where they may begin to experience visions. It's not to be seen on this photo, but year after year, more and more women do participate in this running event.
01-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
The Sacred Blood Procession
May 1 or not May 1 (Labour Day), I am starting off the day with a picture of the Sacred Blood procession. The countdown has begun. 24 more days. Yesterday, we had a representation of God chasing Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Today, we get to see Cain, still holding the club with which he just committed his infamous fratricide.
01-05-2006, 00:00 geschreven door Blog from Bruges
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