MADE FOR WALKING SATURDAY 29TH JUNE - BRUGES

The first year we arrived in Brugge by boat, there was a full sized blue whale constructed entirely of ocean garbage, broaching as though ready to land with a thump in Jan van Eyck Place.  

That was two triënnials ago which to our horror and fascination means we have been based here for six years, even if three of them have been no-shows.

We did set out today with the objective of visiting every exhibit (except for the one in Zeebrugge) but as usual we became a little lost in other pursuits so managed to save half a dozen for tomorrow.

Some of course were more thought provoking than others, some more successful in our view and some like the piece pictured were absolutely astonishing, but all added to a very pleasant day.  

We’ve also discovered that about ten kilometres of walking on cobbles is a sensible limit if we intend to go out again.

Above is titled “Who?” and it apparently challenges us to think about who has the right to be represented in the public space.   Who is visible?  Who has a voice? Who do the boots belong to and what is the story behind this presence cum absence?

Surely it’s not that hard: If he walked there, he’s off somewhere sipping on a cool drink and icing his knees.

SHOPPING, TAKE TWO FRIDAY 28TH JUNE - BRUGES

No one can say why we thought that repeating yesterday would be a good idea, except that it was a really pleasant day and we can't have too many of those, but once again we rose too late to beat the crowds, so once again we thought we’d join them.

We wandered into the market square via a different series of alleyways, found an arch that nicely frames a photograph, and up to the first floor of the electrical store to reacquaint ourselves with the quite lonely blue tooth speaker expert who’d been so patient with us yesterday as we turned a purchase that was in reality the value of a cheap bottle of plonk into an exercise worthy of a house purchase.

The one we wanted had a cord you see, and we needed to be sure it would reach where it needed to be, so we returned somewhat triumphantly and crossed another item off our list, slowly wearing down our brand new pencil lead, but the rest of our shopping was no more successful than the day before, so we are at no risk of running out of that commodity any time soon.

We had intended to visit every work exhibited as part of the Brugge Triennale today, but somehow put it off until tomorrow, settling for a somewhat shorter walk and a night of long conversation with Ria and Dave instead.

SHOPPING WITHOUT SUCCESS THURSDAY 29TH JUNE - BRUGES

We are now only half-heartedly fighting that feeling of putting things off till the afternoon and then deciding they maybe don’t need to be done anyway.  

This morning we were enjoying lolling about so much that we stupidly put off heading downtown until the crowds were well and truly upon us. It’s not terrible. It’s just that we prefer to be out when they are not, and they prefer to be out at a time which is most convenient for us.   

It is actually quite nice to stand in the middle of the market square just listening to the hubbub as they wait in little groups for their tour leader to arrive with his magic umbrella, and watch as they make idiotic poses in front of the carriages for the benefit of their influencees, with the clip clop of horses hooves on the cobbles for accompaniment as another load of sightseers departs.  

The market square itself (which is not actually square) is lined with ancient monuments and restaurants and waffle houses, with the occasional large retailer to be found between them if you know where to look. 

Usually the illuminated sign over the door provides a bit of a clue.  In that regard although the regulations regarding preservation of historic monuments do keep things to a fairly discreet dull roar.

Curiously, those stores represent something of a refuge. Like so many shops and alleyways just ever so slightly off the beaten path they are almost completely silent places where visitors never go.

One could be excused for thinking that no-one else in Brugge was searching for a bluetooth speaker or water flosser or USB charger.

We can’t be sure if it’s a special knack we have developed in seeking only things that aren't in stock, but after visiting several well located and well respected establishments in an effort to leave a few hundred Euro in the town’s coffers, we returned to boat empty handed except for a small box of replacement pencil leads.

One of these we put to good use, crossing themselves off our shopping list. 

A NICE DAY OUT WEDNESDAY 26TH JUNE - DAMME AND LISSEWEGE

On the second day of what was forecast to be a three day heat bubble rather than a full-on wave, Dave and Ria suggested they could fetch their car and we could all go for a short sightseeing drive in air conditioned comfort.

While technically we didn’t leave the district of Bruges, nor did we even lose sight of at least one of the towers of the centre during the course of the day, we did venture all the way to see the sea at  Zeebrugge, the cruise ship port not fifteen kilometres away.  

This port is a major contributor to overcrowding of the centre of town during daylight hours as hundreds of buses converge on the old town on days when the ships are visiting, so if three people really are a crowd as the saying goes then perhaps four is a very big crowd, and just ever so slightly we were able to return the favour, at least for the time it took to drink an ice laden beverage.

Since art and sculpture in particular is a very big part of spring here too, and it happens to be the year of Triënniale Brugge, visits to lots of displays in the galleries and public spaces in the villages of Damme and Lissewege seemed like a great idea.  

As long term readers of this journal will understand, the galleries seemed to have got wind that we were coming, and closed for the afternoon in anticipation.

Never the less, we were welcomed by dozens of storks in nests on every available high spot in the villages, with their young almost ready to leave their lofty perches for adventures of their own, and that  did leave time for a lovely ice-cream to neatly round off our day.

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK TUESDAY 25TH JUNE - BRUGES

We didn’t realise until we thought about it, that we’ve spent several months in Brugge which is probably some sort of affirmation of how much we enjoy it here, but also gives us a familiarity which sets us aside from the usual day visitors.

It’s also why we are super excited for Dave and Ria as they are contemplating a move ashore here.  Naturally the first item on today’s agenda was a walk to revisit their prospective neighbourhood, and while no one asked for our opinion, we will be following their project with great enthusiasm.  

We have our reservations, such as the (not very great) distance to walk back to the boat after dinner, but we are pretty sure we can overcome that by staying till breakfast.

With that delightful little chore completed by morning tea time, we returned to discover two very big “Moïses” and “Chihuahua” shaped holes in the port at either end of our little Joyeux.  It would have been nice to have time to have chatted with their respective crews of course, but in their absence, remarkably our little boat  appeared to have grown to her usual size. 

Maybe it’s just as well we weren’t further distracted, because it gave us time to catch up on the administration bits and bobs created by life of the move. 

With the temperature ten degrees above average, that gave us an excuse to sit in the shade for the afternoon trying to catch what little breeze was available while contemplating things we might do on some later occasion.

ACCIDENTALLY THERE ALREADY! MONDAY 24TH JUNE - DIKSMUIDE TO BRUGES

 Having decided that we were definitely leaving, we made a half-hearted attempt to get away early, which is to say that we each opened one eye in serendipitous synchronicity, then quickly closed them it lest each should realise the other was awake, and in that way we blissfully resumed our repose through what some say is the best part of the day.

We were actually  up and about and away pretty much at Danish breakfast time, which wasn’t bad under the circumstances, and since the route to Bruges is littered with obstacles like locks and lifting bridges that seem to be there for no other reason than to delay boats for random amounts of time (if you ignore the vehicles crossing them) we were resigned to arriving some time tomorrow.

We have some friends who once accidentally circumnavigated the planet on which we live.   They left Brisbane more or less to visit the Whitsundays, and each day they just seemed to sail a bit further until one morning they woke up and realised they were in Greece.  

That’s the kind of day we had.  Every bridge magically opened with barely a delay, and by half past lunchtime we were so far ahead of where we thought we would end up for the night that we just kept going.

I know many will think that travelling 57.24 kilometres in a day at an average speed of 5.5 kilometres per hour is hardly the stuff one reads about in the Guinness Book of Records, but given that our last voyage over this route took three complete days and at least double the travel time, it’s the sort of thing our grandchildren will be hearing about for a very long time!

Dave and Ria were on hand to film our triumphant arrival of course, and  Dirk, our Port Captain welcomed us with open arms and placed us in a special spot among the big boys (that’s us in blue, right behind Chihuahua) where no doubt we will bask in our achievement for days to come.

COMING READY OR NOT! SUNDAY 23RD JUNE - DIKSMUIDE

In times past, we used to sort and clean and polish and unpack and repack for a week, until at some point one of us would call “ready” and then we’d spend a couple of days hanging around the port until on a whim, we’d simply set off in one direction or the other..

This time it’s different: We're nowhere near ready, but the urge to move is upon us and we are pretty sure we'll move tomorrow anyway.

We’ve given it a small shake, but the state of play on board is such that when I suggested that a photograph of the chaos might be easier than describing it in detail, the words “lead” and “balloon” come instantly to mind.

Suffice to say that we’re in sufficient shambles that we’re surprised that a flock of Bin Chickens aren’t circling us like buzzards waiting for an opportune moment to scavenge.  

I suppose it’s not that bad really. On the bright side, we are fuelled and watered and provisioned, we just really don’t feel like charging into sorting ourselves out.   The last time we felt like this we decided to take a road trip to visit Jørn and Birgit in Denmark until the procrastination wore off, but we'll probably wear out our welcome if we try that three weeks in a row.

We do take some consolation in knowing that half of the Diksmuide waterfront, even the Yser Tower itself appears to be in a similar mood, with scaffolding and temporary fencing and machinery lying about seemingly at random, and I’ll wager we’ll have ourselves sorted before they do.