Arty Trip To Belgium: Travel Blog

Like walking into a fairy-tale

You can do a lot in two hours. You can watch four episodes of Friends. You can watch two episodes of Game of Thrones. You can cook twelve bags of pasta. You can listen to six Ted talks. You can probably waste two whole hours scrolling through social media, let's be honest.

You can also go to Belgium from London. In just two hours you can be transported into a world of Medieval architecture, world-famous paintings, waffles, chocolate, beer… and EU flags.

I did just that. For the last four days I have been packing in all the artiness a girl could get in three of Belgium’s most historical towns. Here’s what I saw…

Bruges

Nowadays Bruges is perhaps most famous as the setting for the Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson dark comedy In Bruges. But for us art lovers it’s also one of the centres of the Northern Renaissance. For anyone interested in medieval history, it is a must see. Even if you’re not a big history buff, it’s also, simply, beautiful. From its cobbled streets to jagged roofs, it is like walking into a fairy-tale.

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Our first stop was the Historium. Rather than just a normal museum telling the history of Bruges, it mainly focuses on the city’s most famous artwork, Jan Van Eyck’s The Madonna of Canon Van der Paele. The whole museum is structured as a tour, which leads visitors through the making the of the artwork, with interactive rooms, showing everything from the behind-the-scenes of Van Eyck’s workshop to the sights and smells of the docks in 15^th century Bruges. The fictitious storyline of the video accompanying the tour was pretty odd, and, at worst, distracting from the true value of the Van Eyck painting, but would undoubtedly appeal to kids. At the end of the tour is a balcony offering a great view over the square, as well as a virtual reality experience offering an amazing insight into historical Bruges.

Next door to the Historium is the Beer Museum. Although we didn’t have time to actually go into the museum, we did check out the shop which, as well as having pretty spot-on décor, offers a range of beers made in Bruges, alongside homemade Belgian cheeses and biscuits.

Beer

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Unfortunately the Memlingmuseum was closed for maintenance when I tried to go, which is a real shame considering it houses Hans Memling’s amazing St John Altarpiece. However, we could still walk around the courtyards of the St John’s Hospital, the location for which the painting was made and where it stays to this day.

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Next up was Choco-Story. The narrow four floor building will tick off all your steps for the day and reward you with chocolate tasters throughout, as well as telling you all about the history of chocolate production from the Aztecs to the present day. Although the history is, obviously, very interesting, the main attraction is of course the kitchen on the bottom floor, where you are shown each step of the chocolate making process, and get to taste your very own Belgian chocolate at the end.

Chocolate sculptures in Choco-Story

Our final museum in Bruges was the Groeninge Museum which houses the Van der Paele piece as well as some other Netherlandish masterpieces, including Rogier Van Der Weyden’s St Luke Drawing the Virgin. It’s a pretty fascinating history of art walking through these halls which lead us through Belgian (and other European artworks) from the 15^th to 20^th century, although the earliest artworks probably still draw in the largest crowds.

Jan Van Eyck's Madonna of Canon Van Der Paele

Whilst down by the museum, another major attraction is the Church of Our Lady. Not only is it a pretty phenomenal sight, but it also houses Michelangelo’s Virgin and Child as well as the tombs of Mary of Burgundy and Charles the Bold.

We stayed: In the Hotel Aragon, which is in a perfect location, a street or two away from the main square and an easy walk to everything. The service, breakfast and rooms were lovely.

We ate: A lot of Deliveroo, to be honest, because it was so cold at night. We did discover Ellis Gourmet Burger, a chain restaurant across Belgium and the Netherlands, which has just brought out an incredible vegan burger, that could easily replace beef without anyone noticing.

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Ghent

Ghent is the largest city we visited, and artistically, houses probably the most famous of the artworks we saw. Van Eyck’s Ghent Altarpiece was made specifically for the St Bavo's Cathedral. Although it is reportedly the most stolen and coveted artwork in history, it has been returned to the cathedral and can be viewed there today.

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Ghent

The altarpiece is perhaps most famous for the depictions of Adam and Eve, as well as the sacred lamb in the lower half. It is currently in quite a dark, dank, cramped room off the main nave, which I think takes away from the artworks real splendour. However, it is being refurbished and being readied for a much grander room where it is due to be moved next year.

Outside the cathedral is a magnificent sculpture dedicated to Jan, and his brother Hubert – who also worked on the altarpiece- for their huge contribution to art, and, particularly to the tourism industry in Ghent!

With Jan and Hubert Van Eyck's statue

We also visited the Museum of Fine Arts which largely houses works from the 14^th to 19^th century, however, it has a sprinkle of contemporary artworks and installations throughout, which really adds to the general experience of viewing old and new artworks together. This is also where the Ghent Altarpiece is being restored, and they have a whole exhibit which allows you to see the behind the scenes, which is an amazing insight into painting conservation.

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We stayed: In the Holiday Inn Express, which is a bit further outside the city, but makes quite a difference to the price! It ended up being a great location, which was just an easy tram ride away from the centre. Breakfast was amazing and added to our Belgian experience with a waffle maker.

The theatre

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Mechelen
The Grote Markt in Mechelen is a beautiful cobbled market square, with buildings dating back to the 13th century. The whole town is dominated by St Rumbold's Tower which can be seen from all around.

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In the centre of the square is a statue of Margaret of Austria, the 15^th century princess who brought prestige and power to the city when she moved her court there, and brought ambassadors from all over the world to her magnificent palace. Her palace can still be seen from the outside and has a beautiful courtyard, but has now been turned into a courthouse.

Unfortunately, Mechelen shouldn’t be fully enjoyed without understanding and appreciating its involvement in the Holocaust. There is a large Holocaust Museum dedicated to the transportations that happened out of Mechelen. On the street from where the trains would leave is a single carriage on train tracks, a solemn reminder that despite the beauty of this town, there is a dark shadow over its history.

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A surprising hit in Mechelen is their museum. The Museum Hof Van Busleyden is perhaps one of the best museums I have ever been to (and, in case you haven’t noticed, I go to a lot of museums). Firstly, the building is medieval and beautiful from the outside, and then, amazingly modern and minimalist inside. It is also incredibly successful in how interactive it is. In each room, a little gold box can be opened to reveal something exciting to do with the artworks and ideas on show, from a spinning slideshow to a card game about the Burgundian family tree. There are also huge touch screens to get more information on the key players in Mechelen history. There is even a room playing orchestral symphonies to relate to Margaret of Austria’s love for music. Upstairs, there is a room just for sharing ideas, complete with the comfiest sofas ever and a virtual reality experience.

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Museum Hof Van Busleyden

We Stayed: In the Hotel Elisabeth which was the ideal location. It had a beautiful decor, lovely staff and quirky signs such as "Don't come in unless you're Brad Pitt."

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Hotel Elisabeth

It is fair to say we packed it in over the last few days. My brain is exploding with art and knowledge whilst my tummy is exploding with Belgian chocolate.

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