“This is like walking in a fairytale.”
-Zoe on our ventures in the Bruges Christmas market.
And really… she was right. Bruges, I’m sure, is a magical city any time of the year. But at Christmas time, with lights strung from the trees and medieval buildings the whole city is enchanted. (I’ll write more on things we did in the magical city later, because really, it was amazing!)
Similar to Dunkirk, Bruges’ market was split into two sections. The smaller of the two was comprised of some small rides for kids, several food stalls, and the most upscale market stalls I’d ever seen. Perfume, watches and jewelry were on sale next to hats, scarves, and Christmas items. After a stroll through the stalls with no desire to buy anything, we decided to head further into the city.
over the Markt as it has since the 13th century.
Shooting stars and swirls of light spanned across the roads leading into the Bruges Markt, a market square located at the heart of the city. Here, we found the large market. An ice rink stood at the center of the square, surrounded by a double circle of market stalls, all facing an inner ringed path. Here, like the other part of the market, we found high scale wares, including jewelry. But mingled with this were slippers (purchased to replace my Nina’s pair from long ago), scarves, and an entire section for food and drink.
The fact that it was after Christmas day had no affect on the amount of people milling about the market, shopping, drinking and ice skating. It did however, seem t have and affect on my desire to shop, since we’ve already given Christmas gifts for the year. I was, however, perfectly content to buy several cups of Bailey’s Hot Coco and Nutella smothered fresh Belgian waffles from the Oyya stand and mill about the magical city. It was almost better in a way, to not be worried about buying things and carrying them around. We simply enjoyed the magic that is Brugges and decided we must return soon.
Fernweh Findings 