Status Updates From Rick Steves Belgium: Bruges...

Not sure if I can really count this in my book total… but I am reading the whole thing, and it is a book, so maybe? I love this guy (Rick)

I bought this after my 2nd trip to BE and am finally giving it a good read after my third. Yes I’m finding some useful information. But I’m glad I did some exploring without the book. One of the wonders of travel is in discovering places on your own so if I had read it all would still be as enamored with these places as I am? Not sure...

"The heart of Ghent still looks much like it did circa 1500, when this was one of Europe’s greatest cities: bristling with skyscraping towers, rich with art (...)"

"Antwerpenaars (as locals are called) have a love of life, and the city has a funky urbanity. Antwerp’s big-city bustle is the yang to Bruges’ cutesy-village yin. And while Brussels has become international, Antwerp has retained more of a local identity—it’s an honest, what-you-see-is-what-you-get place (...)"

". In the 18th century, when Bruges was in decline and in need of beautification, local authorities made landowners a deal: If they added a statue of Mary to their house, the city would install a gas light to illuminate it (the homeowner benefited from more light and security). Many burghers took them up on the offer, and more than 350 statues of Mary continue to decorate the city (...)"

"Despite its small size, Belgium is diverse. It’s divided—linguistically, culturally, and politically—between French-speaking Wallonia in the south and Dutch-speaking Flanders in the north, with bilingual Brussels in between."