Charles the Bold, Michelangelo, Memling...oh, and a birthday.

I think old age is setting in early. Woke up around 8 this morning and set off on a run around Bruges, recommended by Hotel Kris (can't just say Kris or else you guys will really think I'm going nuts). Took a map with me to make sure I'd stay on course. I think you know where this is going... Started off fine, probably for about 3 miles or so. Passed some windmills, a few major roads that I noted on the map. The trail had been marked fairly well up to this point. Then the markings ended, as well as the trail. I kept going around the loop, keeping the outer canals to my right. Well...at least I thought I was. Forgot to account for a canal that led towards city center. When I lost sight of any canals, I followed my instincts, which told me to proceed in the direction I perceived to be outwards. After winding through some residential areas I ended up completely lost, and couldn't even find the streets on the map. I asked an older man at a bus stop to point out where we were, but he wasn't any help. I kept wandering, found another canal, so start walking along its "inner" side. I was pretty certain I was in the southern part of the city, but still couldn't find any streets so I asked a pedestrian where I was. I had the map folded so that the lower portion of Bruges showed. He looked at it for a minute....flipped it over to the north side and pointed to a street above Markt Square. Ha...I was maybe 4 blocks from our hotel, on the opposite side of town than I thought. 31, already kicking my butt.

After breakfast we headed off to the Groeninge museum, which had a special display featuring Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy from about 1455-1475. (his great-grandson ended up being Charles V) Charles the Bold, for all intents and purposes, was a show-off who wanted big-time power. His dream was to be king or emperor of what is now central Europe. He held a large court (500+ people), bought the latest fashions, commissioned works of art (paintings, tapestries, etc), accumulated loads of treasure, and built an army with the latest weapons. He took all of his treasures (and all of his court) with him wherever he went...so he would arrive in towns with his entourage, sporting the latest fashions and showing off. This was his way of displaying power. He established the Order of the Golden Fleece -- a brotherhood of knights. His army conquered many of the regions in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. The Swiss stopped him though, and he ended up dying in one of the battles with them. He had maintained close ties with Maximillian of Austria, who married his daughter, Mary of Burgundy, and assumed power. Their son was Philip the Handsome, and his son was Charles V who ultimately achieved Charles the Bold's dream.

The museum displayed a variety of artifacts from the period of Charles the Bold's reign: artwork, tapestries, suits of armor, clothing, jewels, toys, and religious artifacts. The most memorable were some of Memlings paintings, many of which were called triptychs: a main center panel and smaller side panels. Often the donor (purchasor) was featured with their patron saint in the side panels, while there was a religious image in the center --usually a depiction of God, the Holy Spirit (a dove), and Jesus Christ. Sometimes the Virgin Mary. I couldn't get enough of the suits of armor. There were childrens suits -- only royalty could afford them. Think about how long the kid could actually fit in it. Ha. I can just picture kids playing around in them. The best suit was a full outfit on top of a similarly armored horse. The details in the metalwork were amazing--for example, a dragon's mouth surrounded the horse's tail. The knight held Maximillian's (King of Austria) sword. Jason -- you would have loved it. I wish they allowed photography in there.
Near the musuem was the enormous Church of Our Lady, which was undergoing exterior re-construction. Admittance was free. The church was home to Michelango's Madonna and Child. Pretty incredible just standing there quietly looking at it. The interior of the church itself was breathtaking, although I'm sure we're going to see other cathedrals that blow this one away. In the back section, the church contained the tombs of Charles the Bold's son (which was supposed to contain the remains of Charles the Bold himself, though his bones were never identified) and his daughter, Mary of Burgundy. These tombs were buried beneath the floor (discovered/excavated in the late 1970s). Just above the tombs were the memorial tombs for Charles and Mary. Huge coffins with life-size sculptures of each person on top.

We grabbed a quick lunch at a French cafe and headed over to the Memling museum, in St. John's hospital. The beginning part of the tour described the history of the hospital --not that exciting-- but the later part displayed nearly a dozen Memling works of art. These pieces used to be hung on the walls inside the hospital. Most of his works were religious triptychs which I described earlier. The largest showed the beheading of John the Baptist on the left with the donor looking on. If you looked closely, you could see blood spurting out of the neck and steam coming off the severed head as someone in the crowd held it. On the right, John the Evangelist was shown reading the bible, and behind him the images of the end of the world from Revelations played out --the four horsemen, rain of fire, and a plague of locusts. The center panel featured the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus. Pretty incredible work, very detailed. This work was from the 15th century.

After the Memling museum, we stopped by the Beer Wall for a brew and then went back to the hotel. After resting for a few minutes and cleaing up, we found dinner at this neat cafe a few blocks away. I ordered a steak with garlic butter--it was probably the best steak I've had since Mortons in December. It was 17euro and came with a small salad. Probably equivalent price to an Outback NY strip steak...but soo much better. I was pleasantly surprised and asked the waiter to compliment the chef. We walked back towards Markt Square, stopped at the equivalent of a 7-Eleven to pick up a Jupiler and some strange vodka energy drink, and put them back in the center of the square. I wish you could do that in the states... stupid drinking in public laws. Then we caught the last 20 mins of the Euro Cup Final at a nearby pub, which was filled with disappointed Manchester United fans. Place emptied out after the game and we headed back to the hotel. Ordered a beer at the hotel bar, and then a handful of 50-60 yr old Dutch bicyclists stopped in. After chatting for awhile, it spilled that it was my bday and they all sang a few Happy Birthday notes for me! Ha...so, that was fun. They left after a beer and we crashed after the long day of sightseeing.