We then walked to the diamond museum. We timed it perfectly so we could watch a live diamond cutting demonstration. The most interesting part of the museum was probably that the content of the museum was made up of South African diamond history, and South African diamond cuts. We had officially come all the way to Bruges, to read about the South African diamond rush! It was, however, still so worth it - and we left even more aware of how expensive diamonds are, what a carat really is, how they determine the price, and what to look for in a diamond when buying one. After much time looking around, we walked out with no purchases.
Matt (Jerry) we came across your Belgium Cigar Bar!
We then walked to the Sint-Janshospitaal, a medieval 800-year old hospital which was once the city’s largest institution for the sick, the poor, and the needy. Some people chose to die in this hospital. The museum is known for its masterpieces by one of the most famous of the Flemish Primitives, Hans Memling. We also saw their medical instruments, patient registers, and the wards. It's amazing how far we have come - to think some people died from a headache and now we just pop a panado or myprodol!
Our next stop was the Salvador Dali museum. Dali is best known for bizarre images in his surrealist work, influenced by renaissance masters. Simply put, he is highly imaginative and indulges in unusual behavior. Normally from human dreams - either nightmares or happy dreams. Unfortunately, 'The Persistence of Memory' (melting clocks) wasn't in this museum, but most of his originals were for sale for what I'm sure an insane amount. Our poor little Rands wouldn't go down well in that museum.
We then went to the "Our Lady" Church, and inside we saw the statue of Madonna And Child.
The sun came out, and so we hopped onto a boat cruise through the canals, which is also included on the city cards. We had a brilliant guide and boat driver - who even recommended that we go to the brewery first to make the museums a bit more interesting. I don't think going to the brewery before the Belfry steps would be recommended! We saw the first bridges in Bruges, and went past breathtaking architecture and stops.
Belgium Chocolate
About to hop onto the Boat
The most photographed dog in Bruges
Our next stop was finally the brewery - De Halve Maan! We made the last tour at 4pm, which took us around the whole brewery and ended off with a big free draft! What's special about this brewery, is that it's the only family brewery in the centre of Bruges that is still active! The brewery was renovated by family members down the line, and the original recipe is still used. The tour is a story of an original brewery family from Bruges who has never stopped believing in authentical local beer. Since 1564 when it all began, six generations have steered the brewery with the original recipe. A new beer was introduced called the "Brugse Zot" in 2005 by the youngsters in the family, which is what we tasted. We saw the original barrels and machinery, and learnt that beer was believed to be healthier than water in Bruges - obviously a long long time ago.
We ended our day off by meeting Americans who were also traveling like us, but a lot later in life. We walked to the train station with them to buy our train tickets for Amsterdam (for tomorrow), and then we ate Belgium Chocolate until we rolled back to the hostel.
Before bed, we entered into a pub Quiz and the only question on South Africa that came up - we got wrong. More frightening, Bruce got one sports question wrong. But his politics section and my entertainment section were pretty good!
Oh, and we won't be telling you the question on South Africa. Or the answer that we gave.
