Het Zwin is a nature reserve on the northern Belgian coast.
Behind the beach and the sand dunes are mudflats and salt marshes that are covered by the sea when the tide comes in. The result is a unique biotope for birds and plants. The center has had a successful breeding program for
storks. They had just finished feeding the storks when we arrived so we watched one bird swallow a fish and then several storks flying in the air. We saw all kinds of birds in their bird zoo inlcuding these
beautiful owls with gold eyes, avocets, egrets, and
spoonbills, and other water birds. We enjoyed looking out at the salt marshes, though we didn't go out in the mud because we didn't bring boots.
De Vlindertuin (butterfly garden) is just down the road from Het Zwin. We all enjoyed seeing the butterflies, especially when they landed on our backs and heads! That is - except the bird-sized moth ones - they are huge!
Jim and the boys hang out waiting on me to finish snapping photos. Miles kept launching his finger at the butterflies, as we lunged to stop him from touching them. Most of the time he just said "go" to the insects. It was amazing watching their probiscus go in after the flower nectar. The only butterfly I can identify with certainty is the
Blue Morpho - strikingly blue open and simple brown closed.
This cafe has a great strategy. This picture shows
half of their sandy playground, right across the street from the Butterfly Center. You walk out and decide you want a coffee or a snack and voila! We were out of cash, but luckily they took credit cards, so we were able to partake in the fun. We had waffle and crepe snacks, and the boys played.
Miles spent most of his time in the fire truck waving to us at the table.
Eliot started on the train and drove it off on an adventure. They both glijt (slide) down different slides and played on the climbing structures. My favorite was
this tree house swing and slide. Pretty cool stuff.
Today we headed west to the Belgium coast and the village of De Haan. While a sleeping Miles and I hung out in the car, Eliot and Jim went to check out a map and find the beach. They walked to investigate this cool rental place we saw driving in, which rented all kinds of vehicles, including horse buggies, a turtle wagon, and these
family carts. You could even rent a motorized car for kids. Eliot picked out this
cool yellow cart and pedaled down to the beach boardwalk and back. The two handles were used for steering and there was a handbrake at one of the back wheels. One time Eliot got going so fast that he bumped into a lightpole and was nearly bounced out of the cart. He had a grand time!
The Beach at De Haan was nice. It was cool and windy, so the beach was pretty empty. The
boys enjoyed running along the beach, which had these
beautiful ripples in a low spot between high and low tide. We were there at low tide so the water was far out in the sand.
Miles found his favorite tools for sand play - the two orange shovels.
Eliot and I dug a hole for the water to fill when the tide came in. Eliot and
Miles both enjoyed giving turtle a run along the sandy beach.
It was pretty cold, so after about an hour in the water and on the sand, the boys were ready for some warmth. We went up to the boardwalk for some food, but both boys hit meltdown point (from hunger I suppose). We left the restaurant and went to a fry shop for oh-so-healthy fried lunch. Then it was back to the car to drive up the North coast.
We got up early and had breakfast - freshly baked croissants and rolls from a bakery just around the corner. Very wonderful! We decided to hit the Groeningemuseum first while the kids were fresh. We wandered our way down the Dijver where all the canal boats dock. Eliot and I liked this one with
the flag clogs. We walked by the
Rozenhoedkaai - rosiery quay.
The garden leading up to the museum was filled with nice
marble sculptures. Eliot liked this peach one. The museum has works by the best Flemish artists. It has an exquisite exhibit of the Flemish Primitives: Jan Van Eyck, Rogier Van der Weyden, and Hans Memling. One highlight was Van Eyck's
The Madonna with Canon George Van der Paele from 1436. His work is superb, the detail and colors amazing, especially the cloth detail. He's one of the first painters to use oil as a paint medium.
Once we finished at the museum, we walked over the picturesque
Bonifacius Bridge (seemingly medieval but only from 1910) on our way to the Church of Our Lady (Onze Lieve Vrouwekerk).
Eliot strikes a fancy pose in front of the Gruuthuse next to the church.
Michelangelo's Madonna and Child is "the undisputed gem."
After lunch, we walked back toward the Church of Our Lady and went to visit the Sint Janshospitaal and its Memling Museum. This is one of the oldest preserved hospital buildings in Europe. The hospital was established in the 12th century to provide care for the sick and accomodations for poor travelers. The hopsital has religious carvings, paintings, and medical devices and tools in its display plus old ledgers from the hospital.
The most interesting to me was the
View of the Wards by Jan Beerblock, which shows the room we were standing in, as it was as a medieval hospital.
The Chapel in the hospital has been restored and houses a few of Hans Memling masterpieces, including the
Shrine of St. Ursula, a gilded Gothic style reliquary with panels depicting the medieval legend of St. Ursula and the 11,000 virgins massacred by the Huns in Germany while returning from a pilgimmage to Rome. The boys slept, so we were able to enjoy the audiotour and the masterpieces in the chapel. The museum had these stools so you could take a rest along your tour.
When the boys woke up, we headed home to drop off our stroller at the apartment so we could take a horse carriage ride. It is the thing to do in Brugge - that a canal boat tour. The route took us from the Markt, along Dijver, by a Godshuis (almshouse), and to the Begijnhof . The ride was surprisingly smooth, but our tour guide's accent was so strong it was hard to understand the descriptions.
Miles wasn't sure about the ride, but Eliot enjoyed it. Miles liked to make the clip-clop sound with his tongue when he saw horses (though not when we were on the carriage).
The horses get a short break at the Begijnhof for food and water, which gave us an opportunity to step inside this
lovely gate for a look. There are lovely canals outside the courtyard with several beautiful swans. Miles was really taken by the birds.
Both Eliot and Miles look on as the swans look for food.
This Begijnhof dates from the 13th century and was traditionally home to the Beguines. This town within a town is home to some 50 single women. It has a beautiful central tree-lined square and
whitewashed houses.
The boys pose in front of the church.
After our ride, we enjoyed sitting on the Markt and taking in the view of the
Provincial Palace and the
17th century guild houses, now cafes, on the North side of the square. The
province flags of Belgium were flying high in front of the turrets of the palace. The boys
enjoyed running around this statue of Breydel and de Coninck, guild leaders who led an uprising against the French army in 1302.
We all enjoyed watching this group of Belgium men playing a game of Petanque, also called boules and similar to the Italian Bocce (check it out:
http://www.petanque.org/around_the_world/french_games.shtml.
I love this progression of pictures:
The men left to throw
The men who have thrown checking out the winners
The gathering afterwards tallying the score
Our LP guidebook suggested a restaurant off the beaten path near
the St. Salvatorskathedraal.
The city has a huge Catholic influence (unlike Holland) with a Madonna statue on many houses and street corners. This more modern Madonna was at the end of our hotel street. The restaurant, Lokkedize, did not disappoint with its great atmosphere and yummy mediterranean cuisine.
After dinner, we walked to the t'Zand square near the Concertgebouw. In the middle of the square was a most interesting water fountain with sculptures. There were the
bicyclists including a mother with a child basket in back, the leaking mermaid, and the ladies with birds on their heads. It was beautiful that night and we enjoyed
our long stroll home along the canals, hoping the sprinkles did not change to full-out rain. We lucked out and made it home before the thunderstorms let go.
Today we started our mini-vacation and spent the morning driving to our destination: Brugge in Western Flanders, Belgium. There's a stereotype that Belgium is dirtier and looser (fewer rules) than Holland and we found that to be true. As soon as we saw the "Belgium" sign, the roads became bumpy with rough pavement - literally. Things weren't as well signposted as Holland, but we found Brugge nonetheless.
Here's a nice slide show of Brugge:
http://foto.brugge.be/slides/slides.htm. It's a beautiful medeival city near the coast. It's small but very touristy: most people who come to Belgium come to Brugge. We arrived at the very end of season so it wasn't too bad.
After getting settled in our little apartment hotel in the city center, we walked around to get a feel for the town. We found a nice cafe and had brie and ham sandwiches. It is great to go out to eat and get more French cuisine. Dutch cafes become fairly boring after awhile - bitterballen, broodjes (cheese and ham), and tostis (grilled ham and cheese).
Miles enjoyed just jumping off the benches, which he is glad to do anywhere. We saw plenty of interesting buildings and scenes. Belgium is known for
chocolates (I suppose even these shapes) and lace, which we saw on every block in the main tourist areas. We also enjoyed this
french fry man.
