Having never been on the Eurostar before, I woke at the crack of dawn last Wednesday like a child on Christmas morning – with a sense of excitement and anticipation. The journey to Bruges was incredibly easy: direct train to St Pancras International, Eurostar to Brussels and a local train to Bruges and voilà! Nifty little guidebook in one hand, I was off!!
A friend recommended I play a little language game – a day each of speaking French, German and English to see how I was received when using each language. My experience on the first day, addressing the locals in my best French, was that, as soon as anyone clocked anything that gave away my country of origin, such as the English heading on my train ticket, they instantly began speaking English. I made an effort to use French at various points along the way but in essence this was, sadly, a very short-lived game!
A friend recommended I play a little language game – a day each of speaking French, German and English to see how I was received when using each language. My experience on the first day, addressing the locals in my best French, was that, as soon as anyone clocked anything that gave away my country of origin, such as the English heading on my train ticket, they instantly began speaking English. I made an effort to use French at various points along the way but in essence this was, sadly, a very short-lived game!
"In Bruges"
My guidebook and I were inseparable. Bruges, the “Venice of the North”, is a city made for walking. The Youth Hostel lay on the edge of the city, within easy walking distance of its centre and the main points of interest. The Burg and the Markt were not more than ten minutes’ walk away, linked by the Breidelstraat. Bruges is famous for its lace and Belgium, as a whole, for its chocolate. My guidebook was explicit as to which shops sold authentic Belgian lace and the finest quality Belgian chocolates – “Pralinette” on Wollestraat for chocolates and the Breidelstraat for lace. I saved this shopping for the end of my trip – I was rather fearful of eating the purchases before I got home if I didn’t!
Whilst the guidebook steered me towards the best places for traditional Belgian treats, it was less helpful in my other mission. Buying a Winnie the Pooh book in the language of my holiday destination has become something of a tradition. (I now have a whole shelf of Winnie the Pooh stories in various languages!) Dutch is spoken alongside French in Belgium and is especially evident in Bruges. I always thought my being able to understand snippets of spoken Dutch stemmed from its similarity to German. It has been shown that Dutch is the easiest language for a British person to pick up – I intend to test this theory out on friends with less German knowledge than I have in the near future!
Whilst the guidebook steered me towards the best places for traditional Belgian treats, it was less helpful in my other mission. Buying a Winnie the Pooh book in the language of my holiday destination has become something of a tradition. (I now have a whole shelf of Winnie the Pooh stories in various languages!) Dutch is spoken alongside French in Belgium and is especially evident in Bruges. I always thought my being able to understand snippets of spoken Dutch stemmed from its similarity to German. It has been shown that Dutch is the easiest language for a British person to pick up – I intend to test this theory out on friends with less German knowledge than I have in the near future!
Dinner for One!
The idea, as a lone traveller, of splashing out on a three course meal in a restaurant really doesn’t appeal – I’d prefer to save my pennies for a cake-shaped snack on the run. But I couldn’t resist the chance to try some traditional Flemish cuisine. Various restaurants around the Markt offered a two course set menu for about €18. After a prawn cocktail and a tasty Vlaamsche Stooflees (traditional Flemish beef and beer stew), I got slightly carried away, ordering an Appeltaart for dessert. The surprising down-side to the meal experience was the waiters frowning on me for requesting, as we might instinctively back home, a simple glass of tap water. Many cafes and restaurants around Europe would be only too happy to comply and some even bring it over as a matter of course! Yet, as a nearby couple made the same request, it became clear that Bruges does not subscribe to this tradition!
Medieval Meanderings
Bruges can be explored comfortably on foot, by boat, by horse and carriage (very much in keeping with the medieval setting) or even by segway! It turns out that guidebooks have lots of useful information in them that I haven’t always paid attention to in the past. Mine talked me through walks in each direction beyond the Markt (the length of which I vowed to work out on my return!), explaining in detail the many important landmarks. In one day I traced routes to the south, past the magnificent Koningin-Astrid-Park and Minnewater Park, and west – although here my navigation skills failed me to some extent and I added a good few kilometres to my wander by accident! Unable to make sense of my scribbles in the guidebook to the north of the Markt, I cut my exploration of the area short and, after a short stroll along the river, returned to the Markt past the Sint-Annakerk (St. Anne’s Church).
Spying a sliver of blue sky between the grey clouds overhead, I embarked one afternoon on the boat trip. For less than €8, you can follow the river past some of the most beautiful scenery with commentary from a knowledgeable guide in English, French and Dutch as required. We passed Fidel the dog, notorious for surveying the river from his window day in, day out, and even I had to duck as the boat passed under the lowest bridge in the city!
Spying a sliver of blue sky between the grey clouds overhead, I embarked one afternoon on the boat trip. For less than €8, you can follow the river past some of the most beautiful scenery with commentary from a knowledgeable guide in English, French and Dutch as required. We passed Fidel the dog, notorious for surveying the river from his window day in, day out, and even I had to duck as the boat passed under the lowest bridge in the city!
The Day Wigan Came to Town
Now, I’m all up for people travelling the world to support their teams but the disappointment among British holidaymakers when what seemed like half of Wigan descended on Bruges was evident. In a matter of moments, the peace was shattered by scores of loud, rowdy football supporters, all sporting blue and white. Some had successfully managed to get themselves embarrassingly drunk before lunchtime on the day of the match against a local town and were shouting and raucously singing their way around the square. Several disgusted English onlookers commented that, “If we were at home, there’d be lots of police out supervising this!” Around the Markt, we could see just three… The following morning, we returned to find this beautiful square littered with beer cans…
Diamonds Are Meant To Be A Girl's Best Friend....
Flanked by my suitcase on my last day in the city, I dragged my walk-weary legs down to the Diamantmuseum to take in its informative displays about the history of diamonds in Bruges, before enjoying the diamond-polishing demonstration at the end. The demonstrator was highly knowledgeable and, whilst excited to learn that the rarest, most expensive diamonds in the world are pink (hooray!), I was disappointed to discover that they are only to be found in Australia! (Seriously, what’s that all about?!)
.... But Chocolate Is Mine!
Come on - it *had* to be done, didn’t it? The Choco-Story was the perfect blend of factual museum and chocolate-making demonstration, including tasting the chocolate at the end! A combined ticket for €12 gave entry to both this and the Diamantmuseum, without compelling me to visit both attractions in one day. A video in the museum was played on a loop, alternating between Dutch and French, with subtitles in English. I amused myself by watching both videos and came away feeling proud at how much of the Dutch dialogue I grasped without sneaking a peek at the subtitles. One of the cutest things at the museum was the series of tableaux of Playmobil figures, depicting every scene from Aztecs to royalty!
Bursting The Bubble
I had come to the idyllic medieval setting of Bruges, keen to play my friend’s little language game but, with a camera slung over one shoulder and my little guidebook with its English title in the other hand, the results were somewhat disappointing. If I was determined to practise my French, the Belgians were equally keen to communicate with me using their best English. Even with degree-level French and the ability to make myself clearly understood in the language, I found it difficult to discourage the Belgians’ persistent attempts to speak to me in English. I began to wonder just how difficult a college student visiting the country, with the hope of improving their own language skills, might find it to do so, given the natives’ clear enthusiasm for speaking our language. Could I, should I have done a better job of concealing the English headings of my travel documents or the cover of my English language guidebook? Would this have made any difference? Do citizens of other European countries have such a good grasp of the English language that it hinders British people, students in particular – gaining more experience of theirs?
Language students of any age should not be afraid to persist even in the face of temptation to revert to speaking English. Although I did not have the opportunity to use my languages as much, or as often, as I had hoped, did not detract from the enjoyment of exploring such a beautiful city. I have come home excited at the thought of planning another adventure - the only question is – where to?
Language students of any age should not be afraid to persist even in the face of temptation to revert to speaking English. Although I did not have the opportunity to use my languages as much, or as often, as I had hoped, did not detract from the enjoyment of exploring such a beautiful city. I have come home excited at the thought of planning another adventure - the only question is – where to?
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