The Tour of Bruges

From the station you are immediately in the green. We cross the Stationsplein diagonally to the left, cross the Ring Road at the traffic lights at the Oostmeers and there is already a large plane tree beckoning. We walk along the Begijnenvest with a water feature on our right and the wall of the Minnewater Clinic on our left. The bust of sculptor Pickery tells you that you are on the right track. The Poer Tower, a little further on the right, served as a storage place for gunpowder in the Middle Ages. Then come the bridge over the poetic Lake of Love and the Lake of Love. A sign indicates that you are at the Katelijnevest. The hump on the right is an ice cellar where bats reside in winter. Long-distance hikers can see from the hiking tree that they are walking on the GR 5A north from Ostend towards Antwerp. The Bargehuis points out that we are located along the Bruges-Ghent canal. A barge is a barge. Until World War II, they were pulled from the canal banks by horses. We cross the Katelijnestraat and arrive at the Gentpoortvest. The hiking trail ascends to the water tower. At the Ghent Gate, take a look at the niche containing the statue of Saint Adrian, patron saint of the patijn or clog makers.
2. Now follow the Boninvest on the path against the canal. Across the Coupure is the ingenious bridge designed by the Swiss Jürg Conzett for the European Capital of Culture 2002. Two steel tubes rest on four massive pedestals and the oak bridge deck hangs from them. The tubes can wind the cables around their axis to allow pleasure boats to pass under the bridge. Past the Kazernevest we arrive at the courthouse with the hatch of the executed from 1914-1918. At the entrance there are two statues that are reminiscent of the sculpture group The Grieving Parents by Käthe Kollwitz. We walk towards the Kruispoort and on the left starts the Langestraat, the longest street in Bruges. We follow the Kruisvest and climb to the first of four windmills, the Bonne Chiere. This is followed by the St.-Janshuis mill with on the left, at the foot of it, in the Rolweg, the birthplace of Guido Gezell. The third mill is the Nieuwe Papegaai, the fourth is called the Koelewei. At the bottom we follow the signs of the Flanders Cycle Route. This way we arrive at the Komvest via the Sasplein. At the roundabout we turn right until we reach the entrance of the fire station. We cross the Ring Road at the Walweinstraat and end up in the Baron Ruzettepark. And we continue to follow the ring road over the Komvest and the Koningin Elisabethlaan to the Ezelspoort. Walk under this city gate and continue on the left through the Filips de Goedelaan.
3. We continue walking with the Graaf Visartpark on our right and arrive at the Bevrijdingslaan. There we have to turn left for a while to cross the traffic lights. On the other side we immediately turn right again and take the Buiten de Smedenvest. Now we have the water on our left and past the buildings of the Urban Green Service we reach the Smedenpoort. We walk past the gate and pay attention to the iron skull. It is the skull of a straight citizen of Ghent who wanted to let the French into the city in 1688. Here we turn right and parallel to the Hendrik Consciencelaan we arrive at the Begijnenvest. There we step under the viaduct of the Boeveriepoort and arrive back at the station.