Belgium - Part one

At the beginning of the month I was lucky enough to be asked to exhibit my work from my graduate collection in Brussels.  Having never been to Belgium, and having never travelled abroad on my own, it was an exciting yet daunting opportunity.  I stayed in Brussels for a week, leaving extra time after the trade show I was at, to explore a bit. Never one to avoid the opportunity to photograph interesting architecture, I set out on the two days I was free, to see what Belgium had to offer.  This post is part one of two about Belgium, and focuses specifically on Bruges.
 
During these two days, I spent the first in Bruges, and the second in Brussels, two very different places.  I must say, I loved Bruges, there was just something about the smaller town, quainter streets, beautiful building and historic canals, that really caught my eye.  Once you get off the train, after a short walk across busier roads, you are straight in to street after street of brick build houses with coloured doors, stepped gable ends and bicycles parked outside.  And it was every bit as picturesque as my descriptions sound – seriously.

Street in Bruges
I loved all the plants and bicycles.

An example of the step gable ends on the buildings.

Travelling solo calls for a good book, I was rereading an old favourite of mine, Brooklyn by Colm Toibin, and it proved a welcome accompaniment to lunch in a bright and welcoming artisan bakery.  Sat at a long table with benches on either side, easily big enough to sit at least twenty people, I read happily for an hour or so and had probably the best toastie I had ever eaten (soft goats cheese and bacon, on a fruit bread – ridiculously good), and soaked in the atmosphere of the sunny, early autumn day.  

Afterwards there was plenty time for more walking and a chance to find the market square and famous canals.  I could have happily spent days wandering around, going down different streets, always something new to see, however the train timetable was calling me back to Brussels and back to reality.  There was just time to accidently find, and then photograph, the most perfectly autumnal scene on my way to the station, and that was my lovely trip to Bruges finished.

Just a small section of the canals in Bruges.

All the autumnal lovliness.