What happens in Bruges

We had dinner our first night in Bruges at a place called Bistro Zwart Huis. A lively, not at all fancy spot with good food and atmosphere. The waiters were all these middle-aged guys and they were all characters in some way. A guy with a ponytail who winked a lot, that kind of thing. Our waiter was tall and thin and had a prominent and carefully shaped beard. I had a good steak with fries (what, no mayonnaise?) and a great, classic Belgian beer called Tripel Karmeleit, which I'd not had in a long time and thoroughly enjoyed.

We slept well and I woke up early enough to climb the Belfort, or bell tower. They really like ringing bells around here. They have a whole carillon song going the whole time the clock is chiming, which makes for a pretty but chaotic sound. The tower, in a slightly fictionalized arrangement, figures in a prominent scene in the movie In Bruges. Of course, if you're shooting a movie in a place that has a clock tower that looks like this, you have to make it a key part of the movie. It worked for Hitchcock.

The tower opens at 9:30. I got there are 9:20 because I wanted to get back in time for breakfast, which is only served until 10:30 at the hotel. I wasn't first in line, but there were only a few people ahead of me. So in and up I went.

There were a few places to stop along the way. There are bells and what they refer to as a drum that looks like one of those cute little music boxes that kids like, except this one is about the size of a tank. And the gears that work it are equally big. I have no idea what sounds this makes but I wouldn't want to be in the room with them when they are being made.

Up and up I went until I got to the top. It was 363 steps (that's what they say and the teenagers who arrived shortly after me counted them just to make sure). The bells up there are very large. One of the smaller ones rang at 9:45 and it made everyone up there jump. The view was amazing though.

Going down was somewhat more harrowing than going up. Dodging the people coming up was particularly amusing.

Got back to the hotel at 9:55, just in time for breakfast. It was your basic hotel buffet thing. Then we went for a walk around the rest of the city. It seemed much more crowded today, perhaps because it was Friday and perhaps because we were out late afternoon. But it was kind of hard to find a quiet spot. Still very pretty, and we saw the one particular thing we wanted to, a gorgeous Michelangelo madonna and child sculpture that was originally intended for the Siena Cathedral but was bought by some rich family here and placed in the church. 

We walked until around 3 and then had some lunch and a nap. Dinner awaits.