spending money?!

When we saw the 2008 black comedy film IN BRUGES, that starred Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, we thought we would never ever go to the Belfort. I don't want to ruin the movie for you, but the climax of the movie, which was nominated for an Academy Award, involves a flying midget and the medieval era tower. It was ominous and scary, but the film put Bruges on the map for us and as VFH planned its trip to Belgium, Bruges made the cut over Antwerp.

The Belfort, Bruges



Presiding over the Markt square in Bruges, the Belfort was first erected in 1240, but over the years endured fires and lightning strikes and was partially rebuilt and added to over the years. Despite its checkered past it is quite a tourist draw and when we sat at one of the cafes on the far side of the Markt we watched people parading in and out of the place. People snapped pictures of the tower and we could see far above us people peering out onto this beautiful city.

We took a deep breath and steeled ourselves against leaping midgets and decided to visit the bell tower ourselves. After all, here we are in this beautiful city, already having paid so much to get here, that sometimes you have to knuckle down and be brave. Do as the Romans do, or the Americans, or the Japanese do in Bruges... go to the top of the Belfort and snap pictures of everything! So, we finished our coffee and walked over...

Now, as readers of this blog will know, VFH is a cheap lot. We walked through the arch that led to the courtyard of the cloth hall and admired the views from within...that was free. It was in this courtyard of the cloth hall, that Flemish cloth, manufactured in different cities, was sold to the rest of the world. Records from 1399, say there were nearly 400 cloth sales stands within the hall. Great history, but we were nervous. We scanned the crowd for ominous midgets, but everyone was of average height, so we were safe, that is until we saw the price to hike up the actual Belfort. It was 8 Euros...roughly $13 each. Janet, usually the more practical member of the VFH squad, immediately balked at the price. She recounted several places that charged outrageous admission prices, like the Leaning Tower in Pisa, etc., but she said this wasn't worth it, especially since there was a wait to get inside. I agreed, for the admission price was more than the cost of two beers! So, we left, but did not linger near the tower to photograph it, for fear a wee folk would land on us.