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.

For more info, you can visit http://www.kareldestoute.info/en/homepage.html

Copyright picture: kareldestoute.info

The four star luxury Hotel Heritage, located in the heart of historic Bruges, has won the prestigious TripAdvisor Choice Award for Best Luxury Accommodation for 2009. According to TripAdvisor, this year’s awards are the biggest ever, with 443 hotels honored in the seventh year of the competition. Hotels received awards in the following categories: Best Bargains, Best for Families, Best Hidden Gems, Best Inns & B&Bs, Best for Romance, Best Luxury, Best Service, Best All-Inclusive and Best Brands.

Unlike any other hotel awards programs in the world, TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice winners are based on the millions of real and unbiased reviews and opinions about hotels on tripadvisor.com and content from across the web

The 24-room Hotel Heritage earns this recognition for the first time by TripAdvisor, after being in the top 3 rated hotels in Bruges for over a year. The hotel was listed #68 out of 100 hotels chosen from around the globe. “We are very proud to have earned this recognition from travelers who have experience the true luxury experience we offer at the Hotel Heritage,” said Johan and Isabelle Creytens, the owners of the hotel. “This award comes at a great time, as we are preparing for renovations and additional amenities that will delight our guests even more.”

Click here to visit the tripadvisor-page of ‘hotel Heritage’.

Source: http://www.traveldailynews.com

Excellent news for ‘In Bruges’. The film is nominated in 7 categories of the 11th Britisch Independent Film Awards:

- BEST BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM
- THE DOUGLAS HICKOX AWARD [BEST DEBUT DIRECTOR] for Martin McDonagh
- BEST SCREENPLAY for Martin McDonagh
- BEST ACTOR for Colin Farrell
- BEST ACTOR for Brendan Gleeson
- BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR for Ralph fiennes
- BEST TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT for Editing – Jon Gregory

BIFA takes place 30th of November

Website BIFA

Together with my colleague of fietsroute.org (Belgian Cyclist-site), I created an ‘In Bruges’-walk. It’s a 6 km (3,7 mile) long walk in the historic centre of Bruges along the main filmlocations used in the movie ‘In Bruges’.

You can find the map over here: www.inbruges.info/in_bruges_walk.html

Click the links to view a 3D-map of the movie locations:

• The first pub Ken and Ray visited in Bruges. It’s called ‘Zwart Huis’ (Black house). ‘Zwart huis’ is the pub of the former ‘cinema liberty’ and ‘English Theatre of Bruges’. It was built in 1482 and you can still see some valuable interior details such as the wonderful woodsculpture above the fireplace. In july and August 2008, there are daily showings of ‘In Bruges’.
  
  

• The restaurant in Bruges were Cloé and Ray had their romantic date. It’s called ‘Cafedraal’:
  
  

Photograph rights movie pictures: Focus Features

Some more making of pictures of ‘In Bruges’. Some scenes were filmed in the Philips studio in Bruges:

The hotel were Ray and ken stayed really exists. Some shots of the hotel were filmed on this set, other scenes were filmed in the hotel itself (http://www.relaisbourgondischcruyce.be/).

Hotel-set Bruges

Top of the Belfry/Bell Tower Bruges

Stairs Belfry/Bell Tower Bruges

Photograph Rights: Frederik Casteleyn

The making of ‘In Bruges’:

Dijver Bruges (360° panoramic view)

Burg Bruges (360° panoramic view)

Burg Bruges (360° panoramic view)

Dijver Bruges (360° panoramic view)

Groeninghe Museum Bruges

Beguinage/Lake of love Bruges (360° panoramic view)

Market Square Bruges (360° panoramic view)

Market Square Bruges (360° panoramic view)

Rozenhoedkaai Bruges (360° panoramic view)

Rozenhoedkaai Bruges (360° panoramic view)

Gruuthuse Bruges (360° panoramic view)

Photograph Rights: Bruges city film office

According to the members of Tripadvsisor.com, Bruges is worth place 20 in the ‘Top100 destinations Worldwide’. In the ‘Top25 Europe’, Bruges even scores better with a 7th place!
You can find the top100 here:  Tripadvisor Awards

Click the links to view a 3D-map of the movie locations:

• Romantic scene filmed on the bridge at the ‘Meestraat’ between the ‘Vismarkt’ (Fishmarket) and the ‘Groenerei’.
  
  
  If you’re lucky you can see the dog looking through the window:
  

• Great moment when Harry appears in the movie. This scene is shot on the bridge of the ‘Minnewater’ (aka ‘Lake of Love’).
  

Photograph Rights: Focus Features

 click the links to view a 3D-view of the movie-locations:

• Scene on bench shot in front of the statue of ‘Jan Van Eyck’ on the ‘Van Eyck-plein’ (Van Eyck-square). Jan Van Eyck was one of the best Northern European painters of the 15th century. You can visit the ‘Groeningemuseum’ in Bruges to admire some of his paintings.
  
  

• Two scenes shot in the ‘Koningin Astridpark’ (Queen Astridparc) between the pavilion and the little playground near the church:
  
  
  
  

 

Photograph rights movie pictures: Focus Features

For those people who aren’t familiar with the city of Bruges, here are some pictures from ‘In Bruges’ and a link to maps.live.com where you can see where it’s shot:

• The hotel where Ray and Ken stayed (click to view 3D map). The hotel does really exist, it’s the ‘Relais Bourgondisch Cruyce’-hotel. Not all hotel-scenes were filmed over there, they also made a hotel-set that looked less fancy than the real hotel.
  
  Some pictures of the real ‘in Bruges’ hotel:
  
  
  
  Look at the hotel from the ‘Rozenhoedkaai’ (360° view Rozenhoedkaai):
  

 



• The ‘Groenige’-museum Ray and Ken visited (they call it ‘Gruuthuuse’ in the movie):
  
  Entrance Groeninge-museum:
  

Photograph rights movie pictures: Focus Features

www.inbruges.info gathers all kind of information about the city of Bruges (Belgium) and especially information about the ‘In Bruges’ movie who was shot there…