Years ago, there was a Hollywood crime-comedy release, In Bruges, starring Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. The movie was clear - you could either love Bruges or you could hate Bruges. There are no mixed emotions about the city
Taking cue from the movie and inspired by some friends, we decided to spend a day in Bruges or Brugge, as the locals call it.
And so we checked out of Rue de Turin very early, at 4 AM this morning to head to Gare du Nord, to catch our Thalys train to Brussels. With around 190 million per year, Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in Europe...
Extremely tired from all the gallivanting around Paris yesteryear at the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, Pigalle, Tour Montparnasse during evening and at dusk, enjoying the views of the Eiffel Tower at dusk and then ending the at the Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, we slept all through the journey of an hour and a half to Brussels, in Belgium...
We were woken up as the train rolled into Bruxelles Midi (as it is called in French) or Brussel-Zuid (in Dutch). The train journey from Paris to Brussels was very smooth, as smooth as suburban travel, and we did not realise we had crossed borders. Travel here is without the hassle of immigration and passport control, thanks to the Schengen arrangement the European countries have...
We had 30 minutes to kill at the station, and it was quite windy and cold. We had to have something warm - we headed to the nearest cafe to have a cup of black and a croissant...
We were woken up as the train rolled into Bruxelles Midi (as it is called in French) or Brussel-Zuid (in Dutch). The train journey from Paris to Brussels was very smooth, as smooth as suburban travel, and we did not realise we had crossed borders. Travel here is without the hassle of immigration and passport control, thanks to the Schengen arrangement the European countries have...
We had 30 minutes to kill at the station, and it was quite windy and cold. We had to have something warm - we headed to the nearest cafe to have a cup of black and a croissant...
Our SNCB train to Bruges started dot on time. Through the hour long journey we passed through the Belgian countryside...
And finally our train rolled into Bruge, or Brugge as the Dutch call it...
Bruges is the capital and largest city of the West Flanders province in the Flemish Region of Belgium. Belgium is a unique country with an amalgam of multiple European cultures and ethnicities. It has three official languages - French, Dutch and German...
From the station we took the local bus, Bus No. 13 to Kipstraat in the heart of the heritage area from where it was a short 5 minute walk to our hotel...
What sight greeted us at Kipstraat, as we got off the bus...
Wow! A scene from the Mahabharata graces this van of a local Indian restaurant, Indian Tandoori...
Scenes like this convince me of India's immense soft-power that we need to leverage on, fast...
And the postcard perfect scene of Bruges...
And we have a lot to explore here, "In Bruges"...
No comments:
Post a Comment