Today we are in the port of Zeebruge, Belgium. When we awoke at 6:15 AM, it was mostly sunny skies outside, and we were heading toward the port. We got ready and brought some breakfast to the room so we could enjoy going into port while packing up our backpacks for the day’s activities.
Heading Into Port
During preparation for getting off of the ship, I noticed that we were not actually scheduled to arrive until 9:00 AM, not 8:00 AM like we thought, and had gotten up for. Oops, we could have gotten an extra hour of sleep. I was not sure why I had not looked at the information last night, but it was too late now. It just gave us a little extra time to get ready. Actually, Stephanie took a short nap while we were heading into the port.
There is nothing to do in Zeebruge itself, so we had planned to go to the nearby town of Brugge, which is just about 15 miles away. The plan was to get on the free shuttle bus that takes us to the port entrance, and then take a tram to the nearby town of Blankenberge, where we would catch the hourly train for the 12 minute ride into Brugge, which has a well preserved medieval historic area in the middle of town.
We were still packing up the last of our gear at 8:45 AM when the announcement came that we could get off of the ship. We hurried down to the disembarkation area on Deck 6 and found that quite a few passengers had already gotten off of the ship. Once outside, we saw the free shuttle, and it was just about full. We crammed ourselves onto the bus so we could would not have to wait another 20-30 minutes for the next shuttle.
We Are Docking On The Pier On The Right
The port of Zeebrige is a very large industrial port, and there was another cruise ship that was behind us that was also docking at the port today. There was no cruise terminal for information at the dock, we were just docked at a large empty pier on the outer portion of the large port. The other smaller cruise ship arriving after us had docked much closer to the middle of the port.
It was about a 10 minute shuttle bus ride just to get out of the port to where we needed to walk to the tram. We had directions based on information we had gotten from the internet on how to walk to the tram stop we needed to get to Blankenberge, where we would then train to Brugge. The tram stop was supposed to be about a 10 minute walk from the shuttle shop.
We headed out to the main road where we could see the tram tracks, and when we turned the corner, there was a tram stop about a block down the road, much closer than we had anticipated. However, when we got to the tram stop and saw the name for the stop, it was not the stop we had in our directions. There were several other ship’s passengers that were going the same way as us, and we were all a bit confused, and it was starting to rain.
What had been a nice sunny morning was now a cloudy rainy morning. We were trying to decipher the tram map posted at the stop when the first tram arrived. Some other guests asked the driver which tram we needed to take to get to the “train station”, and he indicated we need the tram going in the other direction, which did not seem right. When the next tram arrived, going the opposite direction, that driver said we needed the other tram direction to get to “Blankenberge”, which was the question that was asked, and this answer seemed correct. All of the questioning was being done by some of the other passengers, we were just listening to the responses.
Some of the other passengers decided to head back to the shuttle drop-off and catch a taxi to Blankenberge. I headed over to the map across the street since we had another 10 minutes until the next tram arrived, and I was finally able to figure out our dilemma. Since we were not the only ship in port today, we had docked somewhere completely different than normal, and the shuttle bus had taken us to a drop off point near a tram tram stop that was two stops closer to Blankenberge that normal, which was why the tram stop name did not match our directions. When the other passengers had initially asked the first tram driver how to get to the “train station”, he had been correct in telling us we needed the other tram. There is also a train station in Zeebruge, but it is not the one normally used to get to Brugge. It was indeed one tram stop in the opposite direction of Blankenberge from this tram stop. If they had asked about going to “Blankenberge”, or the “Blankenberge train station”, he would have told us his tram was going that direction.
Unfortunately, we had wasted about 30 minutes trying to figure this out, and now saw the paid shuttle from the ship to Blankenberge drive by. Had we made the first tram, and gotten to Blankenberge first thing, we would have gotten to Blankenberge quicker and less costly than the paid shuttle. Now, we were behind schedule and we were waiting in the rain. We had contemplated taking the paid shuttle bus, but it had not been scheduled to leave until 9:30 AM, 45 minutes after we were able to get off of the ship. We did not want to waste that 45 minutes, and possibly more if we did not get on the first paid shuttle, so we had opted to go this route.
Our tram finally arrived, and we purchased two day tickets to for the tram, which was supposed to be less costly than the single ride tickets for two rides, at least that was what the sign at the stop indicated. However, the driver said 16 Euros, which was higher than we thought is should be. We knew there was an up-charge to purchase tickets from he tram driver instead of a store, or other ticket outlet, so we paid the fare thinking it was the up-charge amount. The driver had asked me one or two, and later in the day, we surmised that maybe that was “one or two days” and not the “one or two persons” we had assumed since there were two of us.
This day was not going to plan, which was getting to be a little frustrating, especially with the rain. When we finally got to Blankenberge, the train station was right across the street from the tram stop, but was under construction. There was a temporary entrance, and we noticed that the train to Blankenberge was already at the platform. Due to the construction, we did not see the small ticket office off to the left, so we thought that maybe, due to the construction, we needed to purchase tickets on the train. There were other passengers rushing to board the train which was scheduled to leave in just a few minutes.
Once we boarded the train, we noticed that everyone seemed to have tickets already. We tried to ask other passengers if we could purchase them on the train, and the consensus seemed to be “no”. One passenger said yes, but for a higher fee. It is normally not an option to purchase tickets on the trains in Europe unless you also pay a penalty for not having a ticket, so we hopped off. The train was full, and with only a 12 minute ride to Brugge, the likelihood of being caught without a ticket was slim since it usually take a while for the train attendant to check that many passengers. However, we opted to get off anyway, and find the ticket office to purchase a ticket for the next train, which was an hour later.
When we were off of the train and heading back down the platform, we now saw the small ticket office tucked away behind the temporary entrance, which was a tunnel made from empty ship containers. We tried to initially purchase our ticket from a machine, but it kept giving us an error when we tried to use our credit card. We headed inside the station and purchased our tickets from the ticket window, and it was actually cheaper than from the machine outside. The total cost was 10 Euro, but it was cash only. Since the trains to Blankenberge only run once every hour, we had a little while to wait.
We decided to explore the area around the train station and found an old Catholic Church across the street. We went inside and looked around. It was not very ornate, but was pretty. By this time it had stopped raining, but was still cloudy and windy, so it was nice to be inside and out of the weather. We walked around the town a little after leaving the church and then headed back to the train station to catch our train. Even though it seemed like we had wasted a lot of time with the tram and ticket issues, had we made the initial tram, and gotten to Blankenberge earlier, we would only have been on the 9:42 AM train we initially missed. We boarded the 10:40 AM train and we had only lost an hour of time during all of the transportation ordeals.
By the time the 10:42 AM train arrived at the station, the weather had improved a little, so we thought that all we had given up was some time walking around Brugge in the rain by being delayed. It was still frustrating, but that is how it goes sometimes when we go out on our own. However, it is always an opportunity to learn from our mistakes.
Scenic Brugge
When we finally arrived in Brugge, it was about a 12 minute walk from the train station into the historic town center. While we were walking, it started to drizzle once again. Brugge was a larger town than we had expected, and when we finally got to the center of the historic section, we found that it was very crowded with tourists. There were lots of tour groups, most from somewhere other than our ship.
Madonna and Child Sculpture
We headed into one of the famous churches in Brugge, The Church of Our Lady, which dates form the 14th Century, and is the tallest structure in Brugge. It also contains Michelangelo’s white marble sculpture of “Madonna and Child”, which was featured in the movie, The Monument Men, which was about recovering stolen artifacts from the Nazi’s during World War II. The sculpture had been stolen from this church during the war, and then recovered. There were also many tombs inside the church, and the additional paid entrance fee to the museum area to see all of these items had been worth it
When we got back outside, the rain had cleared and the sun was shining. We headed to the main square of the town, and we really got a taste of how crowded it was today in Brugge. We did not know until later that there were actually three cruise ships in Zeebrugge today, but even so, there seemed to be more tour groups than would have been there by ship’s excursions alone. We also thought that maybe more people were here because of the issues in Brussels a few weeks ago, making Brugge more attractive to visit than Brussels, which is about hour away.
Belfort Church
We found another church in town called Belfort, or “Bell Tower”, which was next to the square. The original church was built there in 1300, but had been added to over time. There is a large carillon in the bell tower, and concerts are given there at certain times of the year. There was a Euro 10.00 fee to climb to the top of the tower, all 290 feet and 366 steps. We waited in line for quite a while, they were limiting the number of persons climbing the tower. At times, there was even a wait for a person to pass through the turnstile on the exit side before the entrance turnstile would let another person in to go up. They were connected electronically to regulate the number of people climbing to the top.
This slowed down the progression of the entrance line, but once we started climbing we understood why this was being done. It was a spiral staircase that was nice and wide at the bottom, but by the time we got closer to the top, it was a struggle to let people pass who were heading down. There were a couple of landings along the way to stop at and rest, but at the very top, for the last two floors of steps, it was only wide enough for one person.
Carillon Mechanism
At the last landing before ascending the two floors to the bell tower, you could watch the mechanism for the clock and bells. There was a large drum with holes in it that had tabs bolted into some of the holes, and this drove the carillon. It was similar to a giant music box drum. The tabs were removable so the melody could be changed. There was also the “organ” for manually playing the carillon in a side area on this level.
Views From The Top of Belfort Church
We made it up to the top, and the views of the city were nice. Unfortunately, there was a steel mesh in the openings of the tower to keep anything from being thrown out, or to keep people from falling. This did not help the photos we took of the city, they had to be taken through the mesh. This level also housed all of the bells, some of which we very large.
Bells in Bell Tower
It was approaching 12:00 PM, and we did not want to be up in the tower next to the bells when they chimed for the noon hour. Stephanie headed down to the next lower level, but some other visitors started heading up from there after her, so I could not yet go down. The bells started ringing while I was still in the tower, and they were very loud. Initially, a song played before the bells rang out the noon hour, and I was able to get to the level where the mechanism was housed, and see the music playing mechanism at work. It was quite interesting, the song was played just like a music box, but with mechanical links to the bells instead of the small tines that pluck on the music box drum.
Going down the tower steps was easier than going up, but was still tricky until you got to the lower levels where the steps were larger and wider.
Brugge
We headed back outside, and it seemed to be even more crowded in the market square than before. The sun had disappeared once more, and was replaced by more rain. It was a little heavier this time, so we bundled up in our rain gear and tried to find some shops to visit. There are lots of chocolate shops here, selling the famous Belgian Chocolate. We headed inside a couple of them to look around and made a small purchase. Needless to say, the chocolate was expensive. Most of the stores seemed to sell the same type of items, and it was a guess where they were actually made. We did see some chocolates being made in one shop, but most shops just sold candy by the gram.
Swans in Brugge
The sun finally came out again, and it seemed like the skies were really beginning to clear, not just short interim periods of sun and rain like we had previously. We took some more photos in the town, and decided to head back to the train station. We were both getting sore feet and legs from walking on the cobbled streets and sidewalks, and were tired of fighting the crowds and car traffic on the streets. We did see a few other photo opportunities, so we took our time getting to the station, but kept track of the time so we would not miss the next hourly train. This town would have been much nicer if there had been some pedestrian only zones. However, this was not the case, and since the sidewalks were narrow, and crowded with people carrying umbrellas, it was just more difficult to get around in some areas of the town.
Gardens in Brugge
We arrived back at the Brugge train station, which was fairly large in size, and there were quite a lot of passengers heading in and out of the station. We found the platform for our train, and headed up to board. It was a little confusing since there was a train already at the platform, and the departure information had said we needed platform 8b. The train in the station was not well marked, and extended to both platforms 8a and 8b, which was really just platform 8 split into an “a” and “b” area. We were not the only ones confused, there were several other Princess passengers trying to figure out if this was our train or not. It was still about 15 minutes before the scheduled departure, so this could easily be another train getting ready to depart and that ours had not yet arrived at the platform. Trains do not normally sit that long, they are usually in and out in 2-3 minutes. Stephanie saw some of the train attendants, so we headed toward them to ask about the train’s destination. They informed her that this was indeed the train to Blankenberge, and we finally saw the destination posted on the electronic sign board on the side of the train. The cars we initially looked at did not have the destination posted on their electronic sign when we first arrived.
We boarded and the train left a few minutes later. Once back in Blankenberge, we went into the tourist office to inquire about the location of a bank. We needed to withdraw some Euros form an ATM, and we had not seen a bank anywhere in the historic section of Brugge. There was a bank across the street, so we headed there and got money form the ATM. It was dispersed in 50 Euro bills, and we wanted to get it changed into smaller bills. We went inside the bank, an ING Bank, and waited to ask about getting change. Apparently this was not a normal bank, the lady indicated we could not get change there, and we did not really see any bank tellers inside. It was odd.
We headed back across the street and caught the tram back into Zeebruge, and then walked to the shuttle bus stop. The shuttle was just starting to head out, but stopped to pick us up along with a few other passengers who had been on the tram with us. It was a much more comfortable ride back to the ship than we had this morning going out. The bus was only half full, so we even had a seat.
Once we were back at the ship at about 2:30 PM, we headed to the room to drop off our gear and head up for a late lunch in the buffet. We sort of laughed about our experiences this morning, we had been in such a rush to get to Brugge, but did not even stay that long due to both the weather and the crowds.
Leaving Zeebrugge Port
We did not do a lot in the late afternoon other than to rest a little, and work on the blog posts at a table next to the window in Vines. We had a couple of glasses of white zinfandel while I worked on the posting for Cherbourg and while Stephanie read her book.
We did not see anything that good on the dining room menu, so we decided to eat in the Alfredo’s Pizzeria. We first got a glass of wine from Vines since the selection in Alfredo’s is not a good. The dinner was very relaxing, we were seated next to a window and could see all of the ship traffic heading into and out of Zeebrugge, which is quite a large port. Stephanie had Hawaiian Pizza and I had a Calzone. Both were good.
Wind Turbine Farm Several Miles Off Of The Coast
After dinner we headed to Crooners for a beverage before retiring for the evening. The port stop tomorrow in Rotterdam is our earliest starting time for any of our port stops We are scheduled to arrive at 7:00 AM in Rotterdam, so we will have set a 5:15 AM wake up call for tomorrow morning. And, yes, we did make sure it was 7:00 AM for our arrival tomorrow.