LET'S TOUR THE WORLD

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 70, 23 March 1935, Page 2 (Supplement)

LET'S TOUR THE WORLD

TOURING IN BELGIUM

THE CITY OF BRIDGES

FROM Paris it is a journey of only half a day—much less, in fact, • if one goes by air—across to Old England. And I am sure that there is never a British boy or girl born in this far-flung corner of the Empire who does not dream of the day when he or she will be able to set foot on the soil of the Home Country.

The "Belfry of Bruges," with its I tower 350 feet high, which forms the subject of Longfelloufs fine poem. But we are not going there tins journey. Instead, we shall visit another near neighbour of the British Isles, Belgium. trobaMy the most direct way will be to travel by train

from Paris to Brussels; but now that we are so near the English Channel, let us go down as far as the coast. Our route takes us through Amiens and Etaples (towns well known to many New Zealanders during the Great War) to Calais, where the grey waters of the Channel roll in on their ceaseless beat between the shores of Britain and the Continent. On an exceptional day, the white cliffe of South-eastern England can be dimly seen from here; but usually the skies are too misty for such a long view. From Calais we may take a little coastal steamer, or more pleasantly we may take a train, along the coast to Ostend, the most southerly seaport of Belgium. Of course, as we cross the border we must go through the usual business of producing our passports, and allowing inquisitive Cuetoms officials to look at our luggage, to make sure that we are not smuggling forbidden goods into the country. From Ostend, which is a typical Channel seaport town, a. journey of just over an hour brings us to the sleepy, old-world town of Bruges, where we are soon made to feel that life and customs are different from what we are used to, and different also from those of France and other places we have visited. One of the

earliest sights we see, for instance, is the milkman going on his rounds, his milk-float drawn, not by a horse or a motor engine, but by dogs. Cheerful and willing workers they seem to be, too, as they throw their weight into the harness. The name "Bruges" means simply "Bridges." We soon learn why. When we begin to explore the narrow,

cobbled streets, we come repeatedly upon stretches of canal, spanned by single-arched bridges of stone. Actually there are more than fifty of these bridges, while the canal system is so widespread as to give the city the nickname of the "Venice of the North." It contains many quaint and historic ' old buildings. For

example, facing the market square in the centre of the town are the Hallos, with their tower 350 ft high —the "BelTVy of Bruges" which forms the subject of Longfellow's fine poem. Near this is the Chapel of the Holy J3lood, where the city's most treasured relic, is kept in a casket so richly wrought that a whole Royal crown is embodied in it.

Not far away is the Grunt Huus, once the home of the old counts of Flanders. Next to this stands the Cathedral of Notre Dame. From the bedroom of the Palace a short passage leads to a Tittle screened gallery high up in the vails of the church, so that the counts could attend services straight from their own rooms. What a convenient arrangement, was it not? Both the Gruut Huus and the Cathedral contain many fine treasures of art; in the former, for instance, there are yards and yards of the beautiful lace for which Belgium has always been noted. Some of it is so finely woven that it has taken three generations to complete.

Bruges, with its quaint old houses and "stepped" gables, its long stretches of placid canal and cool, grey stone bridges, its leisurely country folk in for marketing, in their shawle and sabots, and its general air of unhurried peace, is a favourite holiday resort for artists; and the views of some of its streets are world-famous. And as we walk by the canal side in the cool of the evening, while out from the Belfry steals the fairy music of its beautiful carillon, wo feel that it u indeed a place of rest and peace.