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| Chaar kadam bas chaa..aar kadam.... |
“Raahon main tumko jo
dhoop sataye, chaav bichadenge hum…
Andheere daraayein to
jakar falak pe, chaand sajaadenge hum..
Chaaye udaasi latifein
sunaakar, tuzhko hasaadenge hum..
Haste hasate yuhin gun
gunaate, chal denge chaa..aar kadam??”
These beautiful lyrics
woven by Swanand Kirkire and composed by none other than Shantanu Moitra take
me six and a half years back where I was precisely asked this! Shaan takes this
melody to a new height and the wonder that is Bruges, comes back to life! In my
memory, it never did fade away but the one thing that PK did was gift me this
wonderful song and the reminiscence of a beautiful journey that was, Bruges.
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| Bruges by dusk! |
Taken straight out of a
fairy tale, swung with colourful landscapes not by nature but by manmade architecture
and parts of the city intersected with dwindling waterways is Bruges for you! One
of the smaller towns of Western Europe also rightfully called ‘The Venice of
the North’, this place is like a medieval movie set-up and you being its
actors, playing all that you want, wherever and however that you like! The petites
boutiques and the boat rides with ducks paddling their way away, as if to make
way for you with triangular water ripples, make you wonder why you did not come
here before!
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| The Venice of the North! |
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| Peek-a-boo from the water! |
The cobbled walkways
make you trot for they were rightfully paved for horses; Bruges was once a
famous port with critical importance and connectivity between the west and the
east, making it a destination not to be missed. The small bridges with wooden barricades
take you over those canals with boats full of tourists waving goodbyes, passing
underneath!
The central square of the town also called the Market Square is a
busy place for shopkeepers, restaurant owners and government workers, alike. Bruges’
nerve ticks here. Such open space bang in the middle of the town with horse-drawn
carriages and open cafés tempted me to change my name to Alice. The Belfry
stands tall and gauges everything day and night, an architecture hardly seen
alike. We had no clue that this tower-like structure, although it looks more of
a rocket, can be scaled even. Else, would have scurried for it!
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| The Market Square! |
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| You can't get enough of them! |
Winters of the year
2009 took us to this wonderland and we explored most of it on foot. My
then-future-husband and self were on a backpacking tour of three weeks across
Europe and good sense prevailed when we chose Bruges and Salzburg amongst other
destinations. Having stayed put at the Herdersbrug Youth Hostel Bed and
Breakfast, a little away from the city, a quick hop on bus on both the days to
the city center by the friendly in-charge of a person, proved to be a good
idea. He would tell us about the niceties of town, suggested that we explore on
foot and stay till evening, although not very late. The chill of February was
in some way a boon as all places we visited had almost an absence of tourists. It
was so cold that I had to wrap myself in layers on all days and upon seeing
these photographic memories today, I feel like I had carried very few clothes on
me. This was actually not the case!
Anyway, the small pathway
leading up to the Youth Hostel had chalets on one side of the road with lush
green lawns. It had not yet snowed else they would be all draped in a white
cover, we were told. Ducks, peacocks and poultry were a common sight and since
we were almost on the countryside, the ocean wasn’t far away. We were soon to
discover. The first day was a visit à pied (on foot) and he dropped us right at
the city center. Exploring the by lanes, we soon reached the market square with
bicycles all around the round-about, the tower staring down at us and the
cardboard-type buildings built in a circle. I thought someone had just
constructed them with a pack of cards and built so close to each other so that
they won’t topple! Most of the roofs here looked like a flight of stairs and I
wondered what it would be like to draw them! On our way there, we crossed
buildings which I thought could be residential for their balconies all housed
flower plants! A common sight there. The lampposts in the market square reminded
me of Paris, Stockholm and it looked so picture perfect that I was not
surprised to find artists sitting on pavements or on bridges and sketching.
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| The friendly postman! |
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| I had to coax him to give a pose! |
We met a fellow
postman, so we were to discover five minutes into the conversation and he so excitedly
told us a little bit about the history of the place. He was actually happy to
see tourists from so far away picking this little town nestled away from the
usual limelight and told us a few places we could go to. I was so busy noticing
his interesting demeanor that I actually missed half the conversation but what
the hell! He is one of the faces from this trip I will never forget!
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| Hehe.. |
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| Hehe again... |
A visit to
the local museum, a two-storeyed Tintin shop (which by the way totally made my day) and the canal ride gave such
variety in one day that I felt contentment deep within.
Also needs mention is a
Restaurant Dreveken. It looked like a Harry Potter set with a small wooden cart
right outside, a stout entrance that would make you stoop to go inside and
menus all hung outside. A small collapsible roof gave away dim lights inside
and the big wooden door (which was closed
then) would have made a lot of noise upon opening, I was sure. The day
ended with a quick bite from a local mobile eatery and I took a walk in the
smallest street of the town. Just about wide enough for me to let a second
person pass though it was completely deserted.
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| Restaurant Dreveken! |
Day two proved to be
more exciting for a different reason altogether. We had decided to explore the
other part of the town where tourists cared little to venture. The foggy
weather should have been a warning but we did not notice. We got off at bus
depot which was the last stop and our feet met sand at ‘Indi Beach’. We started
walking along the beach as it seemed fun at the beginning. We had thought of
coming back to the same spot to take the return bus but we went far too ahead.
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| Bienvenue! |
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| The foggy misty weather! |
There
was a Buddha statue on our way at one of the restaurants I think…seemed
interesting. As we scaled a good 6 to 7 kilometers stretch of sand, we took to
road somewhere in between in the hope of finding the correct route. It proved
to be hopeless as now, we were completely lost! The misty weather added suspense
to the already terse us and we were now looking for signs of human
civilization.
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| Some sign of life.. |
There wasn’t a soul in sight and we finally reached a railway
track with the sign ‘Duinbergen’ on it. It was a tram station and our last hope
to get back to the Hostel as it would soon get dark. After about half an hour
wait came along the tram, crowded as we assumed that this must be an hourly
service or something. We showed him the return bus tickets which we had bought
and he said “That’s like 3 stations extra but you can mount. Get off at …”, I
do not recollect the station we got off at and how we finally reached the Hostel.
But my legs gave away for the day! We were so busy chattering and enjoying the
walk that we did not realize the distance we covered and the way we took.
Longest walk and yet, one of the most enjoyable days on the trip.
Bidding adieu to the
canal city was tough. The people we met, the stories we heard, the songs we
sang, the streets we crossed, the food and the great time we had was lived all over
again when I first saw PK! And I would still maintain what I felt that time –
“Tumsa mile jo koi reh gujar, duniya se
kaun dare..
Chaar
kadam kya saari umar, chal dungi saath tere…”
