A summer day in Brugge

 The coastal tram was on strike and the weather prediction a bit whimsical...although we were confused by the ever changing local predictions that moved in time and then didn't match (if you sit at the beach all day with predicted rain and you can visibly see rain inland but it doesn't reach the beach).   It's hard to plan and decide what to do.

But if the tram doesn't ride, we decided to hop on a train instead and go to Bruges in order to visit an exposition in the old  Sint-Jan Hospital site. 

I'm not too sure what to think of the Sint-Jan Hospital which seemed a weird mix of whatever to me: art and history based on hospitality theme but I didn't feel it.  The nicest thing was the Hans Memling paintings which I loved very much. I guess I am much more into a traditional art museum like the nearby Groeninge Museum. 

On the attic there was an exposition on the ecological theme where I really enjoyed the movie of a Christ figure pulling all demonstration boards for the climate as a cross through the city center of Bruges. 

Afterwards we walked through the city but I found the crowd overwhelming and annoying. I notice I can cope with crowds less and less. I simply didn't enjoy Bruges because there were too many tourists walking around (us included of course).  Our previous visits in January and February were much more to be recommended. 

Navigating the streets full of tourists groups was not easy

A bit to my surprise the beguinage was very quiet with very few visiting people. I don't get it as in my mind this is the must visit spot of Bruges, but I enjoyed the quiet space there very much. 

At the Minnewater we called it a day and returned to the train station. The weather had turned out sunny and warm after all and we returned to our hotel at the coast to profit a bit more from the pool at our hotel.