For a day anyway. Made the best of the sunniest and hottest weather so far to make a day trip to the ancient city of Bruges. A lesson for us all on the benefits of trade agreements I think - the town grew fantastically rich on trade as a member of the Hanseatic League. A sort of medieval forerunner of the EU but much more effective and without the madness of the Common Agricultural Policy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruges
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseatic_League
Bruges looks fabulous in the sun, justifying it's reputation as the 'Venice of the North'. Technically Birmingham has many more miles of canals but even the most stout hearted of Anglophiles would have to say it compares poorly to both Bruges and Venice.
In Bruges with famous Bell tower behind us to prove it!
suitable example of canals - much prettier than Dudley in the Black Country...
Our transport in Bruges. I think he was called Findus or Bolgnese but I could be wrong.
And finally the imposing figure of Jan Van Eyck looking over his own 'plein' or square. A leading artist of the time it is a measure of how rich and important Bruges had become that it could support the work of artists like this.
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