Day Twenty Six - Chocolate and windmills

30^th July – Bruges, It would be easy to forget that once this city was a flourishing world market place, from the 11^th to the 13^th century Bruges became the main commercial and financial centre of the middle ages. At this time the French king was in control of the city and this was unpopular, ending in the Massacre of the French Troop during the Battle of the Eperons in 1302. By the 15^th Century the city had reached its pinnacle, it offered exceptional standards of living to the inhabitants who could find every kind of exotic goods within the markets. It was at this time that Bruges became a an important center for culture. However also at this time competition from Antwerp and the silting up of the river Zwin which connected Bruges to the all important North Sea for trades with Britain and other countries caused economic difficulty, as a result of the withdrawal of English merchants and the loss of markets from the south. The decline continued through the 16^th and 17^th centuries, by the 19^th century however things were beginning to improve because of the romantics who rediscovered Bruges as a destination. Since then worthwhile restorations and a tourist management plan have made it once again a welcoming city, which has earned it UNESCO world heritage status.

Today we have been on the boat around the canals which goes along the Quia du rosaire, with its old façades and is one of the finest views in the city. We also cruised under the Sint-Bonifacuis Bridge, said to be the most romantic and picturesque bridge in the city, and as a consequence also believed to be the most photographed. The trip continued past the Beguine Convent which dates form the 13^th century, it was originally constructed to bring together the devout women of Bruges, who were not happy with the control of the city which was at that time by men. The convent was like a tittle town within the city, with its own jurisdiction, administration and organisation.

We then moved on to look at the Concert Hall a big ugly building built in 2002 to celebrate being awarded European City of Culture, the building dominates one side of the 't Zand square, where there is an impressive fountain and sculpture.

Then it was Tracy's favourite bit the chocolate museum, three floors of the history of chocolate and its history with Bruges, identifying the link to the Aztec's who first discovered cocoa and how the Spanish introduced it to Europe after conquering the Aztec lands. At the entrance to the museum there is complimentary chocolate, it took us some time to move from there and actually enter the museum. Worth a mention were some amazing figurines all made out of chocolate  by a Russian chocolatier who worked in Bruges.

After we dragged ourselves away it was off to visit the windmills guarding the city, introduced by the Flemish crusaders returning from the middle east, during the 15^th Century there were thirty windmills spaced around the outside of the city, the introduction of steam driven machines brought about their decline and of the remaining four, only one is in working condition.

After this we look at going up the Belfry, however the queue was so long we decided to leave this to our next visit here. Yes Bruges is such a lovely city that we will come back, its quaint streets, its lovely food and good hospitality make it a real gem of a place to visit.