Now that the summer is gone, Bruges becomes an even more romantic, idyllic and mysterious place to visit. More and more tourists appreciate Bruges during the cooler months. Here a list of activities I can recommend you on your winterisch visit to Bruges.

• Brrr…ugge - evocatives wintry evenings: each Monday and Wednesday between the 9th of November and the 16th of December. free Intimate concerts and exciting spectacles @ Gruuthuse/Arentshof
• Snow and ice sculpture festival: spectacular snow and ice village near the railway-station between the 20th of November and the 10th of January. More info: icesculpture Bruges
• (Ant)ARCTIC matters: unique art project travelling around the world in 12 containers, showing the beauty of the poles and creating awareness for today’s ecological consequences of climate change. Bruges is the first city to welcome this special exhibiton on his European tour. (Ant)ARCTIC matters Bruges is open between the 20th of November and the 3rd of January@Koning Albertpark (between railway station and t Zand).
• Christmas Markets: New this year is a third xmas market at the Walplein. The other two are located on the Market Square and the Simon Stevin Square. On the Market Square there’s an icerink. The markets are open between the 20th of November and the 3th of January.
• The invention of Bruges: city of Delacenserie. This unique exhibition in the Bruggemuseum-Gruuthuse offers an elucidation for this 19th century patina of the city for the very first time. Discover the true face of Bruges and its brilliant inventor Louis Delacenserie and view the picturesque city from a different angle. Open between the 10th of September and the 25th of April.

More activities can be found on this website: winterinbrugge.be

The procession of the Holy Blood, a large religous procession organised every year on Ascension Day in Bruges, is part of UNESCO World Heritage List since yesterday. The city of Bruges was already protected by UNESCO a couple of years ago, now this event is added to the list of ‘Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity’. This is how the procession is described on the UNESCO-website:

Each spring, 30,000 to 45,000 spectators gather in the heart of the Belgian city of Bruges to watch the Procession of the Holy Blood on Ascension Day, forty days after Easter. The colourful pageant dates back to the thirteenth century, when a citizen of Bruges is said to have brought the Relic of the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ back from the Second Crusade. Led by the thirty city notables of the Brotherhood of the Holy Blood and accompanied by brass bands, more than 1,700 citizens on foot, in carts or on horseback perform stories from the Old Testament, the life of Jesus and the history of Bruges. Then, various civic groups venerate the relic and the procession concludes with a prayer ceremony, performed in several languages to accommodate the international audience. For centuries, the ceremony has played an important role in expressing the identity of Bruges’s inhabitants and in facilitating encounters with people from outside the city. Participants are a representative cross-section of ages, families and communities. Some inhabitants have participated for forty or fifty years, and émigrés often return for ‘Bruges’s Finest Day’. The Procession is a vibrant example of how a collective ceremony can unite a city through ritual enactment of its history and beliefs.

Last month, Bruges famous chocolatier Dominique Persoone received an award for his book ‘The roots of Chocolate’ at the ‘Gourmand World Cookbook Awards’ in the category ‘Best Chocolate Book’. The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards were founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau. In 2008, books from 102 countries participated in these prestigious awards. It is free, and open to all languages

From the 27th of March till the 21st of July, you can visit a remarquable exhibition about Charles The Bold (Karel De Stoute). The duke who wanted to be a king, was an ambitious man who lived at a crossroads in European history. In his dreams, he saw a new Burgundian empire which stretched from Bruges to Dijon. He raced from one war to the next, but soon became the victim of his own ambition, dying on the battlefield of Nancy at an early age. During his short life, Charles became one of the richest princes in Europe, the personification of the pomp and pageantry of the Burgundian court and a renowned patron and exponent of the most refined culture of his day. The exhibition focuses the spotlight on this important figure in European history. The Bruges Groeninge Museum will once gain show the pomp and pageantry of medieval Burgundy in all its glory, as seen through the eyes of the Flemish Primitives and as reflected in a collection of magnificent Burgundian artefacts, loaned from major museums all over the world. These artefacts include paintings, suits of armour, tapestries, manuscripts and masterpieces of the goldsmith’s (and silversmith’s) art. The Church of Our Lady (containing the monumental tombs of Charles the Bold and his daughter, Mary of Burgundy) acts as a second exhibition location.

Another great day for the movie ‘In Bruges’. It received 3 nominations for the ‘Golden Globes’…

‘In Bruges’ is nominated in these categories:

• Best Picture - Comedy/Musical

• Best Actor - Colin Farell

• Best Actor - Brendan Gleeson

On January 11th 2009, we ‘ll know more…

UPDATE (JAN 12th): Congratulations to Colin Farell! He won a golden globe for ‘Best Actor’