Battered and Brugged – FLEMISH STEW WITH CHANTERELLES

t’Keiserhof

We were thankful that our little hotel, t’Keiserhof in Brugge was only a four-minute walk from the train station. My sprained ankle was still causing me serious pain, especially walking on the uneven cobblestone streets. Nevertheless, we were eager to explore this much talked about medieval city so we threw our packs in our room and headed out.

Old town

The old town is enclosed within a ring road and encompasses most of the main attractions. Outside the circle is where the modern stores and supermarkets lie.

Centre of town

Following the main road into the centre of town, we were struck by how well kept and tidy the houses are, possibly due to the fact that there are no lawns or gardens on the street side, just solid houses and, cobblestone streets.

Spill their load

Starting out, it looked as though there were not many people around, as we wandered the neighbourhood virtually alone. Approaching the centre of town, where the tourist attractions are, we soon realized that was not the case.
It turns out that the buses enter the town from another direction and spill their load of tourists in huge groups to swarm the city.

Many gawkers

We had not seen this many gawkers since Venice and it really started to get frustrating trying to navigate through them to see anything interesting. At times it was kind of humorous, watching some people with their video camera up in front of them walking quickly through an exhibit, not paying attention to what they were there to see. Other times it was downright disrespectful, talking and reading out loud from their guidebooks in museums or monasteries that are clearly marked as places of silence.

Basilica of the Precious Blood

Tucked away in a corner of the city there is a small two-story chapel known as the Basilica of the Precious Blood (until 1923 it was known as The Chapel of Saint-Basil). Built in the early twelfth century, the church was dedicated to Saint Basil the Great whose remains (four vertebrae) were brought there in the spring of 1100.

Blood of Jesus

In 1150, according to an ancient Brugge legend, the blood of Jesus was brought to town by Count Derrick of Alsace after the second crusade. It was said that, as a reward for his exceptional bravery, it was entrusted to him by the Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Veneration

Unknowingly, we happened to be there at the time that the relic is offered for veneration. We slipped into the church just as it opened in the afternoon and were directed to be seated in the chapel under complete silence. Two priests spoke from a throne with a canopy, briefly telling us how lucky we were to be in the presence of such a relic and the importance of it to the church. As he spoke I tried to see where the blood was hidden, expecting it to be deep in a glass case or ornate display, but I could not see it anywhere.  

Mysterious blood

Just when we thought that seeing the mysterious blood of Christ was going to be a bust, the priest announced that if we would like to line up at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the throne we could come up and lay our hands over the vial containing the blood. Most of the crowd stood dumbstruck but Nat and I were two of the first in line and within a minute we were directed up the stairs, alone, to the waiting priest with the blood.

Lay our hand

Facing the priest, he motioned for us to lay our hand on an arched piece of glass that sat over the large vial (3″ diameter by 8″ long) with ornate gold caps. He then nodded for us to begin our silent veneration. Although I wanted to respect their tradition all I could do was stare at the vial under my hand to try and understand what I was seeing.

Large shiny crystals

The blood was a dull red and cream colour and of course was not liquid but actually crystalized with large shiny crystals clearly visible. It was a very interesting and unique experience and probably the closest I will ever be to God. As we exited the chapel, people were starting to really pile in and were paying no heed to the signs calling for silence. The head priest was having none of it though and waded into the crowd absolutely blasting the offenders like misbehaving children.

Brugge at night

Leaving the scolded crowd behind us we decided to sidestep the masses and took the edge of town back to the hotel. The crowds were proving to be too much to deal with so we decided we would wait until they all left the city and do Brugge at night.

Such a small city

Brugge has an incredible amount of restaurants for such a small city. We checked the Internet for reviews but they were all over the place. Unable to pick a spot, we headed out just before sunset to try our luck. Thankfully the streets had cleared out and the city was much more enjoyable.

Waterzooi

Walking through a small square lined with restaurants I overheard a waitress saying to a man “The stew is all local.” That was what we wanted so we grabbed a table and quickly put in our order. Nat decided to go with waterzooi a light chicken stew with vegetables and I went with the Flemish stew.

Local beef and dark beer

As promised the stew was made with local beef, stewed in dark beer that was brewed across the street, literally. A pint from the same brewery, Halve Maan triple, went with the meal perfectly. Local, fresh and simple equals delicious!

Beertje

After dinner, we decided we would visit a pub we had read about called Beertje, that apparently had the best selection of beer in town. Belgium has 780 different types of beer. The pub had a beer menu that was like a book so we asked the bartender for a recommendation. 

Chapeau

Nat ended up with a Chapeau fraises beer and I decided to continue with Halve Maan and had their bruggezot dubbel. With a great evening in the books, we walked the now empty streets back to the hotel, stopping in some opportune spots for Nat to take a few pictures.

Beautiful windmills

The next morning we were in no hurry to dive into the crowds again and instead headed to the edge of the circle where the city had restored four beautiful windmills. Our gamble paid off, the crowds had stuck to the old town leaving the windmills virtually free of people.

Sint-Janshuismolen

Although three of the windmills were presented as static displays one was restored to working order and, was open to visitors. The Sint-Janshuismolen (originally built in 1770) is a post style windmill, meaning that it was built around a central post that the house turns around allowing it to be pointed into the wind.

The main house

A super steep set of stairs led up to the main house which went up another story after you were inside. Most of the workings of the mill were made of huge timbers that were very intricately designed using ropes, pulleys and gears to run two different milling stones and two winches to haul the sacks of grain up into the mill.

An old ship

It was some pretty impressive construction and it felt kind of like being in the hull of an old ship. Even cooler is the fact that the mill was commissioned by 26 bakers to be built in order to mill the flour for their bakeries.

Brugge Vespa Club

Walking back towards the hotel again we decided to check off another type of beer on our list at a cool looking pub we saw the previous night. The Vintage is a real local hang out and the meeting spot for the Brugge Vespa club.

Eclectic stuff

It is decorated with some pretty eclectic stuff including a couple of Jesus statues, a clothesline filled with underwear, a rusty old Vespa hanging from the ceiling and a 60-pound bulldog that head butts your bar stool, begging for food.

A few beers

The beer is cheap and the tunes are current and pumped over a great sound system, it was easy to see why it had a big following. We had a few beers, Liefmans cherry, Duvel, Jupiler and what turned out to be my favourite Belgian beer so far, Westmalle Trappist.

Next stop Paris

The next morning we were off early to make the trip to Paris where we would meet up with Nat’s brother J.P. and his partner Maryse. J.P. was competing in the famous bicycle race the Paris-Brest-Paris riding from Paris to Brest and back, a total of just over 1200 km, that he completed in 72 hours. Maryse had just about as tough a job following him in a van coordinating checkpoints, food and logistics. Our hats go off to those two, especially J.P., way to go!  I hope the swelling has gone down by now.

Pick up a six-pack of some nice dark Belgian beer and try my recipe for Flemish stew.  Perfect for a cool fall dinner.