It’s funny, but there are no attractions in Bruges… almost! The main sightseeing is BRUGES ITSELF!

The whole old city is announced as the UNESCO world heritage – its streets, gardens, towers, bridges, seafronts, churches, paved streets, swans, restaurants, chocolate shops are the attractions themselves. It is a precious casket accurately and scrupulously carved from stone, water and bush by some extraordinarily talented giant and left at a channel cross.

You may walk throughout the city and beyond any turn-out, at any by-street, at any seafront you are entitled to expect an unspeakably cozy sight which makes your camera work, work and work.

Yes, I agree, there is a statue of the Virgin and Child by Michelangelo. It is the only piece of art by Michelangelo exported from Italy within the lifetime of the author.

It’s true that Bruges has another famous attraction – a brewery/museum De Halve Mann, opened in XVI century, which is still brewing and treating beer. You may visit the manufacture and at the exit taste a glass of beer, so-called “Brugse Zot”, and have a lunch. The cuisine is not so refined (it’s not France after all!), but rather expensive at the same time, – like everything in Bruges, I must say.

Yes, there are several churches with wonderful interiors, which I have already shown…

There is a permanent exposition of Salvador Dali works under the visiting card of Bruges – the famous tower Belford.

There is also the Beguinage convent and some other educational monastic institutions, which you may visit, but they are of no wonder.

And, finally, the main attraction of Bruges – a plenty of chocolate shops. The chocolate is really amazing and worth wild and unchecked purchase and greedy eating up. I won’t give any photos as far as the stores have almost came to close and there is no need to rip up old wounds.

Well, I guess these are all Bruges attractions. Then why tourists from the whole world come here constantly in any season?!

THAT IS WHY…

Beer

It’s a well-known fact: Bruges is famous not for chocolate only, but also for its beer. Here you will find more than six hundred varieties of beer. To each gourmet his beer! Bruges is not inferior in this case even to Prague.

Besides De Halve Mann, the most famous pubs in Bruges are De Garre and Brugs Beertje. They will offer you a choice of more than 100 varieties in De Garre, including their own strong beer Triple de Garre 11%. Pub Brugs Beertje – picturesque place known for its ease-party atmosphere, good cuisine and hospitality to guests.

Channels and bridges

Belgian Brugge – the city of canals, it resembles the Italian Venice and the Russian St. Petersburg in this respect. No wonder that the second name of the city is Northern Venice.

Three channels converge at the center of this tiny and undeniably unique city – Ostend, Sleyssky and Ghent. All three have a great depth – even large ships can easily move here. But it is the small canals that gave special charm to Bruges. The area of the city is literally riddled with artificial channels of different length and tortuosity with bridges carefully slung over them.

Trips by boats are very popular among tourists, and no wonder, because to many interesting places and restaurants can be approached only by water. Who knows what an amazing view awaits you just over that bridge.

There are many bridges in the city – 54, including several drawbridges, ensuring free movement of the large ships, but several unique wooden footbridges have been preserved too.

Channels of Bruges, surrounded by unusually picturesque facades and manicured waterfront, will delight you with a meeting with regal and graceful swans who have chosen this particular fantastically beautiful city as a place of residence.

Some of Bruges’ attractions

Let’s still single out some of the attractions of the city, the most popular.

Of course, one of the most famous monuments of Bruges is the watchtower Belfort located on the Markt.

This square is the busiest in the city, a huge crowd walks here at any time of the year. Every hour nearly five dozen bells of Belfort tower begin their chime, causing the delight of the adoring audience.

Be sure to visit the Basilica of the Holy Blood, the Town Hall with a magnificent Gothic hall and the lake of love. Basilica of the Holy Blood is a modest little building tucked away in the corner of the Town Square. It is the oldest shrine of Bruges. The lower church was built by Theodore Alsatian, Count of Flanders, in the beginning of the XII century. The church dedicated to the Holy Blood of Christ. Theodore Alsatian brought the receptacle with the sacred relic – drops of “Blood of the Lord” – from the Second Crusade to Jerusalem in the years 1147-1149.

According to the latest statistics the population of Bruges is only 115,000 people; it is very small as you can see. But the number of museums in this town can give odds to such giants as Brussels and Amsterdam. Twenty museums (!) per four main streets and two squares – that’s impressive.

Many believe that Bruges is one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and I totally agree with that, but with one amendment – this is the most beautiful city of the world. There are many monuments of Middle Ages here, because medieval Bruges’ attractions were not damaged during the two world wars. A huge number of churches and museums cannot be numbered here, and the story stopped in here somewhere in the XV century. You will remember Bruges!

How to get to Bruges

The easiest way is from Brussels, which has a big international airport. Train to Bruges departs twice an hour straight from the airport. Journey time is 1 hour 30 minutes. Bruges’ railway station, on which you arrive, is also very convenient, it is located within the city just 1500 meters from the center. Trains from Paris and Amsterdam arrive at this station too.

You can go to see other cities of Belgium from Bruges:

Bruges – Ostende. Journey time is 15 minutes.
Bruges – Ghent. Journey time is 20 minutes.
Brugge – Kortrijk. Journey time is 40 minutes.
Bruges – De Panne. The trip takes 1 hour.
Bruges – Antwerp. The trip takes 1 hour and 10 minutes.

But the car in Bruges is a real inconvenience. It is the old town with narrow streets, many of which are pedestrianized and the remaining have one-way traffic; the city is literally riddled with quaint canals, so moving around the old city by car is a nightmare.

The most reasonable solution would be to leave a car in the parking lot near the train station, the parking fee per day is small. In addition, the driver and passengers of a vehicle provided with free travel passes for bus routes, although it is better to walk on foot in Bruges. But the most experienced will be able to find free parking in a new city or along the a circular channel.

More about Bruges:
Bruges photos by day and at night
Hotel Egmond in Bruges: What a Lovely Place

Reblogged from Have Bag, Will Travel:

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My visit to and post about Alcalá de Henares and the forty-four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Spain (Second highest to Italy at forty-seven) made me stop and think about the comparison with the list that I reviewed recently of the "Twelve Treasures of the Kingdom of Spain" which was a contest/poll that was conducted by the Spanish Television Company Antena 3 and the radio broadcaster Cope.

Read more… 504 more words

As every Muslim should visit Mecca at least once in his lifetime, every fan of the history of medieval knights should visit Malta at least once. So we are flying to Malta.

The islands collectively known as the Maltese Islands are a storehouse of information and enjoyment for any fan of history. Not only the most ancient buildings of the world – the Prehistoric Temples of Malta – located here, here you will find a well-preserved medieval city Mdina “City of Silence” and the younger, but still old, Valletta, which was built only because of the invasion of the Turks.

Only lazy has not tried to conquer the tiny Malta – Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, even Normans got here. Templars Knights have settled down here in the XII century. What was so attractive to the all of them? After all, when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V in 1530 offered Malta to the Order of St John of Jerusalem, those, visited the island, told their superiors that it is bare rock in the sea which has nothing at all. However, they have agreed to find a new homeland here after loss Palestine by the Christian world, from which won the Order and the people of Malta.

After beating off the invasion of Suleiman the Magnificent it became clear that they need to build stronger fortifications, because this attack will not be the last. Italian architect Francesco Laparelli got the opportunity – a dream of every architect – to draw a city on paper at first and then build it from the beginning and by all the rules. And he did it in five years with the generous assistance of the Christian world. Now it is a great Valletta, the capital of Malta, named in honour of the Master of the Order Jean Parisot de la Valette.

With the development of Valletta a life in the former capital of Malta, Mdina, began to subside. It was earlier called the city of aristocrats, and now it increasingly start to turn into a dwelling place of the nobility, a sort of elite “cottage settlement” far away from the hustle and bustle of the capital. This silence has given it a special charm – Silent City. Time has stopped here.

Of course, these are just a few of attractions of Malta and Gozo, a neighboring island, and I’ll write a special blog post about them, but today I’d like to speak about one thing that I accidentally thought only recently.

If you are American or British you can stop reading right here.

I often heard from my clients something like “I sent my daughter to the English school in Malta” or “my son left for the summer to Malta for English course.” My God, why go to Malta to learn English?! English courses can be found in any city in the world, but no one is going to Turkey or Germany to learn English. Well, it was logical to assume that the best English language schools are in the UK, and the most effective courses are there too. It turned out to be true, but all the same price/quality ratio is better in Malta.

The Great Britain occupied Malta in 1800 and remained there as much as 160 years. Now even the second official language of Malta is English. And that’s where the secret is. In these years the UK has built its education system here and this system is one of the best on this planet. In other words, going to study in Malta, you get the real English education system, but without the English not always blue sky, not very warm weather, not so dry climate and the famous English rains.

Gentlemen, this is the heart of the Mediterranean Sea! Have you ever heard that anywhere in the Mediterranean was bad to live? A life in Malta is perfect – everybody says English, but the temperature does not drop below +16 even in January, rain is a rarity, clouds too, what is fog, seems, nobody knows. In addition, all are cheaper and easier; the powerful competition to Foggy Albion.

Gathering to Malta, I decided to take my 20-year-old son with us. While Ira and I will be studying our favorite medieval knights’ buildings he will be improving his spoken English. He was studying English from childhood, because by means of computer games I tried to direct him into the area of programming, but since no one computer program in the world is written in German, of course, he had to gradually learn English. He learned, but only programmers’, but one has to speak also. That’s why we have chosen an English school in Malta – let him try.

We’ve chosen Maltalingua school, because it is located near Valletta and managed by the Brits, teachers are Brits too; maybe it’s not so important, Americans cope perfectly with this task in Malta too, but for the first time I would like to give him the British teacher.

English schools and English courses in Malta as many as dance schools in Vienna, Austria. You can choose any length, any conditions, any level – from maintaining a polite English conversation about the weather (although there is nothing to speak of the weather in Malta, it’s always great) to drawing up legal contracts for oil field development. Age is also not limited; there are courses for those over 50!

As we know the most effective way of learning any language is dwelling in a society where no one speaks your native language; and if you work with a good teacher the speed of language acquisition becomes space. These conditions are fully met in Malta – a few hours in the morning your child learn English grammar, and at lunch and after he had already practiced in a cafe, gym, museum excursion or golf club; very comfortable. Yes, you can take other courses here – scuba diving, golf, sailing; but there are definitely not mountain skiing courses.

Demand begat offer. About 25% of national income of Malta brings tourism, including English courses.

I want to add a few words about seasonality. It is clear that most students come here during summer and they would like to learn much less than fun in the powerful tourism industry of Malta. I think that the focus and efficiency of the teachers are also reduced due to the greater workload. In addition, the summer prices significantly higher for all.

But if you come here in January the group, as I think, will be having 2-3 students and therefore each will receive more attention from the teacher. The weather will be the same – sunny and +16; not bad for the Europe, isn’t it?

Your holidays in Malta can be a very profitable investment.

In general, the perfectly kept Roman aqueduct in the very center of Segovia would be fair enough to live on a tourism revenue. Moreover, there is also an amazing castle Alcazar, located on a cliff and a massive gothic cathedral along with a dozen of monasteries. But we have never heard about them before, though it seems like we always knew about the Cochinillo Asado Segoviano – I wonder how; Spain is so far away.

Beautiful Alkazar of Segovia, Spain

The traditions of this exact region of Spain are rampant on the local gastronomic scene, and Cochinillo is a magic word here. Segovia is a paradise for the meat eaters. Moreover, over the several times of visiting this country it is the first and the only Spanish city when you, even having just had a perfect lunch in a restaurant, want to go to another one.

There are good reasons, why the Segovia’s roast suckling pigs have become a legend and the chiefs annually compete in their skills and contest for being the best who cook the meat melting in one’s mouth. Even the presidents, writers and actors come here to try this gastronomic miracle. But here some tips for those who wish to join this great army of gourmets.

How to choose and book restaurant in Segovia

In fact the center of Segovia is full of the restaurants serving Cochinillo Asado. If you plan to stay in the city for a several days, you’ll have enough time to look around and choose the place suitable to your taste and financial ability. For example, Restaurante Casa Vicente is not so advertised, but its cuisine is perfect, the maître-chief personally goes around the visitors, having a short conversation and wishing them to have a nice meal.

But if you have a one day only, reserve the table in advance, because the real roast suckling pig is being cooked for several hours, moreover, Segovia’s restaurants are overfilled with the visitors during the dinned hours. I think you agree that it is much more pleasant to have a reserved table waiting for you, rather than standing in line waiting for a free table. And does the warmed-up dish, cooked the day before, worth flying over the ocean?

As we knew that we had two days only to spend in Segovia, Spain, the table in the CASA DUQUE restaurant was reserved about three months prior the trip – it’s much easier, all the surprises are automatically excluded. To be honest, during the reservation on the website, we were in a greater degree concerned shall we order the whole pig for the two of us – can we manage it?

Why CASA DUQUE? The Tripadvisor provided us with more negative than a positive feedback about Mesón De Cándido – the most famous restaurant in Segovia. The opinions about the other places differed fifty-fifty, which means the game was worth the candles! We were attracted with the advantage of reserving the table via the website. So we made the choice.

Siesta

Have you heard the proverb: you can postpone a war but never a lunch? It fairly presents Spain. No matter whether you’re tourists or you live here for a long time, it is a simple rule in Spain and France, and you should know it as you know that two and two make four.

The lunch or Comida occurs at 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Empty streets – especially it is shown in small towns – unexpectedly empty roads, closed shops… Is it a plague or what? No, it’s just the lunch time, siesta. Even the courses in universities break starting 2:00 till 5:00 p.m. All servants, businessmen and students, doctors and cleanup workers run to their houses or restaurants at 2:00 to have a solid meal and a couple of glasses of wine. This is the time in Spain with no business-calls.

And the tourists often disregard this traditional mealtimes and eat whenever they choose or when they are hungry to death! And it is a big mistake, because: first – the quality of food is poorer, and second – the quality of service as well, because for the Spaniards you become those who don’t respect their traditions.

The lunch of the real Spaniards consists of a snack – entrada, a salad – ensalata and a big second course. And sure enough no lunch can do without a glass of wine and a desert, which is being savored during the conversations and coffee. There is no surprise that comida (lunch) lasts for two hours and followed by the vital siesta!

And siesta for chefs and waiters arrive a bit later: they have a rest from 5:00 till 8:00 p.m. So, don’t be surprised if you won’t be welcome in a good restaurant – not a fast-food – at 6:30 p.m.

And the last – language

I guess the Americans are really confused that somebody in far Europe does not understand their language. Some lose their cool because of it, but does it really make Italian or Spanish less beautiful? I am not a polyglot as well, but I know for sure that the waiters are really pleased to hear us at least trying to say: Por favor, muchas gracias, señor…

If you know Spanish, I will never believe that they served you badly. And as for my wife and I, our level of Spanish is “no entiendo”, which means “nothing”, and so we experienced it first-hand.

Roast Suckling Pig in CASA DUQUE

The day before; while we were walking along the city, we found our CASA DUQUE. What for? We had an eye to try all the best that the Segovia’s restaurants are able to provide, instead of being limited to the tourists invention – menu of the day – tomorrow.

That’s why we took a photo of the restaurant menu and later on scrupulously translated in the hotel with the help of Google Translate, so now we knew exactly what are we going to have for a lunch tomorrow and were able to order it in Spanish. By the way, it is also very important, because in several restaurants already they gave us a menu in English, but after that the waiter was trying to compare the sequence numbers of dishes with the Spanish variant; and some lapses occurred.

And here the longed-for day came – 01:05 p.m.; we are in Casa DUQUE.

“Buenas tardes. I am Victor Tribunsky. I have a table reserved”.

An important-looking gentleman checked the registry, relegated us to the waiters and at once they accompanied us to the table with the reservation card.

By that moment there were two couples in the restaurant, except us, and I noticed the reservation cards put on a half of the tables.

The waiter with the menu came up.

“English?”

“Spanish, please”, we declared fearlessly and proudly.

We fluently announced the rehearsed order in Spanish. We even handled with wine. I still do not have a clue, why in Madrid, Toledo, Avila or Segovia they do not bring the wine list at once, but Irina questionably said, “vino tinto regional?”, which means “regional red wine”; and with a wave of a hand the second waiter appeared near the table, I guess the chief in wines.

As we were seriously preparing for this visit, we knew for sure that Cochinillo Asado Segoviano, the giant beans from Avila, the incomparable black pudding Morcilla de Leon, Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero and Verdejo from Rueda have the same importance for the Castilian culture as Salamanca universities and the Roman churches of Zamora.

“Ribera del Duero Pesquero, por favor.”

Smiles beamed on the faces of the waiters, which is very unusual for the middle-aged Spanish men, who perform these duties here. We were pleased with ourselves as well. Seems like the lunch will cost a pretty penny, but the key point: is it worth it – it’s our approach.

We were served by two waiters at once: the first one prepares the glasses and the second brings the wine, the first one brings the bread and the second changes the plates…

Their grip loosened only by 2:30 pm, when the restaurant was chock-full and the other volunteers lined up in the doorway. But by that time we were fully relished with the show and enjoyed our undisturbed conversation.

But while the Segovia’s Casa DUQUE was almost empty, and the refreshments were not yet served, we set off to take some pictures of the restaurant. Here is that special oven to cook Cochinillo, and the kitchen is right behind. The second floor accommodates the guest hall as well, and the wall along the whole staircase is lined with the rewards and diplomas of the local chief.

They served wine and food. In order to stress the tenderness of the meat with an appetite brown on top they traditionally cut it with an edge of the plate. This solemn performance was put into practice by senior Candido in his restaurant Mesón de Cándido, and now it is considered as a good tone.

Well, eating the roast suckling pig with a glass of Duraton and a deliberate conversation encourage the recovery of the serenity of mind a lot. Cochinillo are really very tender and tasty, different from the usual pork. They melt in your mouth and the top is so crispy. The special tag, attached to one of the legs, certifies that this is the right pig – the milk-fed Cochinillo Segoviano that was born 8 days ago.

I think such a gentle attitude to the quality of meat is a factor of the nearly perfect taste of Cochinillo de Аsado, because the receipt of the Segovia’s roast suckling pig itself has no spices, only water and salt. I was not mistaken to say “nearly perfect”. A pork is a pork and this meat is so fat for some people, including me.

But there is one really perfect dish. Having had a hearty meal, we dared to order another one traditional dish of Segovia – Lechazo Asado (leg of a lamb); we must complete the experiment! Twenty minutes later they brought an amazing, fragrant and lean lamb’s leg. Meanwhile in order to get back in a good shape we drank four cups of cortado.

I was the first to try, the second piece for my wife; as soon as she tried it she demanded to order the second leg!

So as it turned to be, you may not to pay too much attention to the negative feedback provided by Tripadvisor if you regard the local traditions to the maximum. But if your Spanish is absolutely poor and you are sitting in the perfect restaurant and have to make a choice, use «the rule of the left hand». It really works! Cover the column of menu with the dishes’ names with your hand – anyway you understand nothing – and order the most expensive ones. I am not joking, the taste of the Castilian dishes much more depends on the quality of products, rather than the skills of chiefs. And receipts of Cochinillo de Asado or Lechazo de Asado are not that pretentious indeed, but the result is amazing.

By the way, some tips for those who are free enough in organizing the trip to Spain. During eight years already in the beginning of February 32 restaurants of Segovia, including Casa DUQUE and Mesón de Cándido, participate in a special offer called “5 days El Dorado”; during these five days they make a fifty-percent discount for one of the most famous Spanish dish – Segovia’s roast suckling pig.

Good appetite!

More about Spain:
Salvador Dali Jewelry
Jeep Wrangler Soft Top – Our Sexy Car
Sagrada Familia by Antonio Gaudi. The Sand Castle