bruges is an insanely old city in belgium. therefore lots of tourists, including us, go there. it was really beautiful, but also depressingly lonely. this side trip really made me realize that traveling to any city is really only cool if you know people and are doing cool things. i'm a terrible tourist, all i want to do is either sleep or work. see old buildings and museums? nah!
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Bruges, Belgium
bruges is an insanely old city in belgium. therefore lots of tourists, including us, go there. it was really beautiful, but also depressingly lonely. this side trip really made me realize that traveling to any city is really only cool if you know people and are doing cool things. i'm a terrible tourist, all i want to do is either sleep or work. see old buildings and museums? nah!
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10 comments:
Really? I must be the world's best tourist then. All I want to do is sit around cafes, and stare at old buildings while drinking really strong coffee and eating pastries that I'm not supposed to be having.
Loved the hot turtle-on-turtle action.
Oscar
on second thought
i guess the definition of tourist depends from person to person.
i too like to sit around and eat pastry and drink coffee. i also do love old buildings as well. hmm, i guess i'm a non-tourist tourist.
I guess, Ryanne, you are an entrepreneur who loves her work and is so passionate about it that it is not work anymore. Work becomes life and you cannot be too long without it.
sylvester- that's a great way to put it, you're totally right!
cool turtles!
great video! thought-provoking in a positive way... great still-shot of the old building and the sky, btw.
yes, indeed: bruges is a strange city, albeit a very beautiful one... functioning in a soporific winter-sleepy way, it never recovered from since the 16th. century.
the automatic touristy mode one is then overwhelmed by, and subsequently swept into, can, could or even should be recorded in images that would cross-circuit the lethargy, into some sort of present, a "cool" presence, depending on a passionate "view" of things and situations.
old buildings and museums: yes. embrace them, see them, and transform the situation(s) and the people acting within them, into something different, with a renewed gaze.
your fine video inspired me to re-visit a local museum... and to record a possible oblique gaze on the act of seeing, in old buildings and museums.
(coming up on patalab and semanal08 week 7 cross-post, tomorrow)
best regards, sam
It's funny that you mention the loneliness of Bruges. My wife and I spent 3 days there this past summer, and thought the best part of the city was the way it empties out at night. We felt like we had the run of things. I guess one person's lonely is another person's idea of fun.
tim,
i think part of my fun is people watching as well. so an empty town feels just so....empty! it was really beautiful though, so i was relishing in it's oldness for sure.
I went to brugge / bruges for just one day last year (first time) to go to a conference. Had many magic moments that I got on film (but still have to edit).
The memory is still to good to meet with the disappointment of not having the talent to edit it the way it should.
I'm from Belgium :)
And did you know they are saying in your video in Dutch: "You do that in your free time! not on your work!" hehehe
Bruges is not that dirty and angry :)
I experienced a quiet and nice city ^^(with friends idd yes)
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