Bruges by night is safe and serene.
© Joyce McGreevy

Where Being Bilingual
Is Just the Beginning

So, you’ve practiced your French to visit Belgium. Well, not so fast! Here, being bilingual is just the beginning. In this country the size of Maryland, only 40% of the population speaks French.

The Other 60 Percent

Now how’s your Flemish? Because we’re bound for Bruges. Known locally as Brugge, it’s arguably Europe’s most picturesque small city.

This World Heritage city welcomes 7.5 million visitors a year.
© Joyce McGreevy

Wait, did I say Flemish? Silly me. I meant West Flemish. Although to get truly local, you really should learn Brugs . . . In Brugge (where everyone’s also fluent in English), being bilingual is just the beginning.

Now I know what you’re thinking. “Aren’t Flemish, West Flemish, and Brugs all just slight variants of Dutch?”

Variants, yes. But slight, not always. It’s said that while a Bruggeling can easily understand a Dutch speaker . . .

© Joyce McGreevy

. .  . the Dutch speaker might not understand the Bruggeling’s reply.

© Joyce McGreevy

Dutch vs Flemish

If the sound of Dutch is the tap of new shoes on an office floor, Flemish is your favorite old boots padding across moss. The hard Dutch g becomes an aspirated h. Words that look identical can have wildly divergent meanings, and some vocabulary varies by neighborhood.

Oh, I see: In Flanders, language is highly localized. Your address shapes how you speak.

Like many streets in Brugge, Sint-Clarastraat is named for a saint.
© Joyce McGreevy

My address this month is Sint-Clarastraat. It’s part of a network of cobbled streets and canals that form a circular, lace-like pattern around this medieval city.

What’s Flemish for “I could stay here forever”?
© Joyce McGreevy

Storm Before the Calm

While those canals present a placid beauty, they sprang from cataclysmic change. In 1134, Brugge was already three centuries old when a mighty storm ripped open the River Zwin, gouging a deep passage all the way to the North Sea. The “Golden Inlet” was born.

With connection came wealth, as Brugge grew into an international capital of trade.  Goods, people, ideas—they all flowed to and from Brugge like the lifeblood of a beating heart. Brugge became a cradle of art and architecture.

Bruges’ Jerusalem Chapel and its almshouses were built by a 15th-century merchant.
© Joyce McGreevy

The reach of medieval entrepreneurs extended from Scotland to Jerusalem.  Nature’s fortunate flood was followed by a flood of capital, and in 1309, Bruges launched the world’s first stock exchange.

Over time, the flat plains of Flanders and the slow-moving River Zwin proved a doomed combination. The Golden Inlet became clogged with silt, choking the port and sending Brugge into economic decline.

Yet the neglect that settled over Brugge preserved it. Stand in the center of the old Burg, scanning the surrounding buildings, and you will time-travel through the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical ages.

Buildings in the Old Burg span 10 centuries.
© Joyce McGreevy

The Heart of a City

Because it’s central, guidebooks call Market Square the “heart” of the town. But Brugge has many hearts. Like learning the local language, discovering these hidden hearts takes time.

Don’t miss outer Bruges, where you’ll find its four medieval gates.
© Joyce McGreevy

Did you ever hear the saying, “Nobody goes there because it’s too crowded”? The stereotype about Brugge is that it’s a hive of time-pressured, selfie-taking, beer-tasting tourists pursuing a quick fix of the picturesque before the tour buses leave town.

But if high-season weekends fuel the stereotype, evenings and weekdays dispel it. The most iconic sights become places of solitude then.

Rarely has a Monday looked so tranquil.
© Joyce McGreevy

Beyond the Center

Whenever you visit, do venture beyond the center.  Zigzag along streets unmentioned in the guidebook. Follow laneways to see where they lead—a hidden pond, a sheep meadow, a cloistered garden. Take longer and longer walks.

Peaceful green spaces are hidden all around Bruges.
© Joyce McGreevy

Look closely at buildings for details that signal the history of this city.  Adopt local expressions as you do errands. Ask everyone who can spare a moment to teach you a new word or expression.

Ready for a ramble around Brugge?
© Joyce McGreevy

Meet Your Neighbors

By this point you will be so in love with Brugge that you will have a thousand questions about its million mysteries. Filip Bil and Annemieke Demuynck have the answers.

Roast venison with chicory and other Flemish favorites grace Annemieke and Filip’s table.
© Joyce McGreevy

He’s a firefighter, she’s a marketing manager. To explore the city’s history with them on foot, to have supper in their home, to visit their recommended bakeries, cheese shops, chocolatiers, and restaurants—each experience reveals another reason to marvel.

Fortunately, you can do all these things, because Filip and Annemieke are licensed guides, two of the friendliest experts you’ll ever meet. They also write a bilingual food blog called Vertelle Mentjes, “Little Stories.”

There’s much more to Bruges’ food scene than “steak-frites.” Just ask Filip and Annamieke.
© Joyce McGreevy

We almost didn’t meet. The price of a private tour was so reasonable that I hesitated. How good could it be, I wondered, if even I could afford it?

Thank goodness, we did meet. Without Filip and Annemieke, I would surely have missed many hidden hearts of Brugge.

Hike to the old city boundaries, where the scenery’s anything but run-of-the-mill.
© Joyce McGreevy

Hidden in Brugge

Today in Brugge, where being bilingual is only the beginning, another heart is hidden—mine. Somewhere between the place where the wind ruffles the down of a swan and the moon illuminates the bridges, that’s where I left it.

I’ll just have to return for it one day.

Legends surround the Brugsch Swaentje, or swans of Bruges.
© Joyce McGreevy

Meet Filip and Annemieke here and here.

Explore differences between Dutch and Flemish here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.