Brugge, Belgium Fujifilm X100V

[Dirk Hofman]

Don't know how many of you have visited, and yeah, it's kind of become medieval Disneyland with chocolate and beer, but man still such an amazing town. Hope you enjoy the photos.

[raysachs]

Nice photos - you have a really good eye. Nice camera too - I had the first generation X100 back in 2011. I always liked 28mm more than 35mm in a fixed lens camera, so ended up moving on from it. But it was really fun to shoot with regardless…

-Ray

[frankmcr]

Nice looking town.

[Colin_Mac]

Bruges is a very nice place. I disagree with the Disneyland comment, because it is not an invented place, just well-preserved and restored. I recommend staying at least one night, so it can be explored without the tour groups and day visitors.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by Colin_Mac

Bruges is a very nice place. I disagree with the Disneyland comment, because it is not an invented place, just well-preserved and restored. I recommend staying at least one night, so it can be explored without the tour groups and day visitors.

It's changed a LOT in my lifetime. It used to be a quiet town with some tourists and a few nice shops. Lots of great restaurants, which there still are. It's now all chocolate, diamond, and beer shops, many chains, and really, really crowded. Yes, it's better in the mornings if you stay over, but the crowds stay well after dark in the evenings, so the less busy time you get if staying there is limited. Of course it's not literally Disneyland, but a few of the buildings are in fact made up and not actually authentic. https://www.the500hiddensecrets.com/...fake-buildings

Anyway. It's well worth a couple days to visit, as is Ghent, which is a more "real" feeling city, a thriving university town with a beautiful medieval center also.

Thanks for posting your photos!

[Colin_Mac]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

It's changed a LOT in my lifetime. It used to be a quiet town with some tourists and a few nice shops. Lots of great restaurants, which there still are. It's now all chocolate, diamond, and beer shops, many chains, and really, really crowded. Yes, it's better in the mornings if you stay over, but the crowds stay well after dark in the evenings, so the less busy time you get if staying there is limited. Of course it's not literally Disneyland, but a few of the buildings are in fact made up and not actually authentic. https://www.the500hiddensecrets.com/...fake-buildings

Anyway. It's well worth a couple days to visit, as is Ghent, which is a more "real" feeling city, a thriving university town with a beautiful medieval center also.

Thanks for posting your photos!

Thanks for the link, interesting to see that some of the main buildings are comparatively new. Even so, percentage-wise, Bruges seems more authentic and better preserved than most places. Looking at some old photos (https://monovisions.com/bruges-belgi...ric-bw-photos/) it _seems_ largely unchanged over the last two hundred or so years.

I tried to visit Ghent last year (almost exactly a year ago) but there was a cycling event on and the whole centre was inaccessible to cars - roads closed and police posted - so there was basically nowhere to park anywhere near the centre. Maybe one day....

[endpin]

I briefly lived in downtown Brussels in the early ‘90s when a lot of money was flowing into the city to reflect its new status as a European capitol city.

As I walked through the city I saw a lot of old buildings where they had shored up the finely carved stone fronts with steel reinforcement beams and torn down the original building behind it to be replaced with new construction.

They DID kind of resemble a Disney set as you saw this imposing stone facade from the front and then walk around a few feet to the back and there is absolutely nothing behind it!

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by Colin_Mac

Thanks for the link, interesting to see that some of the main buildings are comparatively new. Even so, percentage-wise, Bruges seems more authentic and better preserved than most places. Looking at some old photos (https://monovisions.com/bruges-belgi...ric-bw-photos/) it _seems_ largely unchanged over the last two hundred or so years.

For me those photos underscore the amount of change, but to your point, it's always had the old core and the canal gates. My "Disneyland" comment was more about the level of tourism and commercialism which has really dialed up in the last 25 years, it's got a really different feel now. That said, it's fantastic, I highly recommend it, and I loved my day out.

Originally Posted by Colin_Mac

I tried to visit Ghent last year (almost exactly a year ago) but there was a cycling event on and the whole centre was inaccessible to cars - roads closed and police posted - so there was basically nowhere to park anywhere near the centre. Maybe one day....

Was it March when you were there? Wondering if it was Ghent-Wevelgem, a big classic, though there are a bazillion kermesses happening all around Flanders most of the year, so some traffic control could be happening at any point.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by raysachs

Nice photos - you have a really good eye. Nice camera too - I had the first generation X100 back in 2011. I always liked 28mm more than 35mm in a fixed lens camera, so ended up moving on from it. But it was really fun to shoot with regardless…

-Ray

Thanks Ray, much appreciated. You sound like a candidate for the Leica Q3 with the 27mm Summicron. That is if you have a spare $6k lying around...

[Colin_Mac]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

For me those photos underscore the amount of change, but to your point, it's always had the old core and the canal gates. My "Disneyland" comment was more about the level of tourism and commercialism which has really dialed up in the last 25 years, it's got a really different feel now. That said, it's fantastic, I highly recommend it, and I loved my day out.

It's a common theme. Cities like Venice, Prague, Florence and Barcelona are struggling with the sheer number of people visiting, and closer to home in Edinburgh (and other places around Scotland) it's hard for people to buy or rent property because someone will outbid them and put it on AirBnB.

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

Was it March when you were there? Wondering if it was Ghent-Wevelgem, a big classic, though there are a bazillion kermesses happening all around Flanders most of the year, so some traffic control could be happening at any point.

No it was September last year. I don't think it was an international pro event, but important enough to clear the roads in the old town.

[raysachs]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

Thanks Ray, much appreciated. You sound like a candidate for the Leica Q3 with the 27mm Summicron. That is if you have a spare $6k lying around...

When I was still shooting a lot, I lusted after the first generation of that camera, but didn’t have the $5000 (I think that’s what it was then). There were some good smaller crop sensor cameras around at that focal length, though. Nikon had a great one, Ricoh did too. Fuji even made one for a little while. I had gear that worked for me. Then I burned out on serious photography - I was one of those people that couldn’t just walk down a street or trail without CONSTANTLY framing images in my mind. Happened when I was young and way into photography and again a few years ago. Stopped cold Turkey both times. Now I’m happy as a pig in slop taking pics of the grandkids with my iPhone camera…

-Ray

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by raysachs

When I was still shooting a lot, I lusted after the first generation of that camera, but didn’t have the $5000 (I think that’s what it was then). There were some good smaller crop sensor cameras around at that focal length, though. Nikon had a great one, Ricoh did too. Fuji even made one for a little while. I had gear that worked for me. Then I burned out on serious photography - I was one of those people that couldn’t just walk down a street or trail without CONSTANTLY framing images in my mind. Happened when I was young and way into photography and again a few years ago. Stopped cold Turkey both times. Now I’m happy as a pig in slop taking pics of the grandkids with my iPhone camera…

-Ray

Sounds nice, sounds smart.