Odds 'n' Sods

 

The Burg triangle of light,
majestically soaring to the dark sky.

Think I will write about Odds ‘n’ Sods today, or to put it more elegantly, Various Unrelated Items which crossed my path or my eyes in these last few weeks of shorter and shorter days. Not too long before the shortest day arrives, December 21^st, and then it will be the first rumble of the train starting to travel to 2021, and less and less Covid as vaccines are implanted though authoritative opinion, like Bill Gates, thinks that the first several months of 2021 will be the worst.

Wintergloed arrived just over a week ago and was such an immediate success that ‘t Zand was SO overfull with enthusiastic sightseers, that the Burgomeester immediately cancelled the next night’s

Winter glow in Brugge

show and reduced viewing hours of this winter light feast, discovered in a ten stop illuminated walk through the centre. I accept that older people are more resilient and can therefore accept new guidelines to limit normal behaviour but I just CANNOT understand why families and others are so desperate for light relief in a reduced world, that they ignore sensible, temporary safety precautions. No one wants to stop eating and drinking out; meeting friends and the wider family; wandering in slow-moving crowds to discover beautiful sights; enjoying exhibitions, visiting concerts and clubs. It has not been an easy year for anyone and many, including me, have spent about 95% of the past ten months, alone. But most, probably almost anyone, can adapt, especially if the threat of a potentially killer virus hovers.

The Markt in all its festive finery.

In spite of no Christmas Market, the commune has made a great effort with selected, central sites like the Markt which is delightfully stuffed with Christmas trees, some big, some less, but all a-glitter with garlands of tiny electric lights. SO pretty. The streets are less-decorated this year but the Markt is dressed to kill befitting its central place and importance in the city. Echoing this light-in-the-darkness statement, the facade of Frederiek Van Pamel, half-adorned for weeks, is now shameless in its festively ripe flaunting of red seductive baubles and bunting. A treat for the eyes of the passer-by. And as I write almost, Jan van Eyckplein has had several Christmas trees of varying size, installed with tiny lights; it looks magical in the dark as I glance out of my study window. The town IS less decorative overall than usual but in several points, great effort has been made to lighten up the Covid gloom with festive décor.

This photo hardly does justice to the splendour of 
the Van Pamel shop exterior. It glows
with exuberance and baubles!
A truly festive sight; the best in Brugge!

I am trying, in my apartment, to titivate, to remind myself of Christmas; in advance to give myself encouragement for an unusually solitary Christmas Day. I do look forward to see if I come up to my expectations and enjoy the Day as I think I will. The Day will begin with a Christmas Walk when I may well remember Christmases Past, especially when my children [now well into their fifties] were young. An early canal-side wander as the morning light emerges will be a magical start to December before I return home to my warm flat and Christmas lights and carols. After 10.00 a,m I need to pop down to Cezar to collect my special meal-for-the-day before lighting candles and luxuriating in the ambience. I am hoping to be lucky enough to have Zoom and/or Facetime calls from family at intervals linking me with California, London, near Oxford and rural Suffolk. Plus, sudden thought, Papplewick in Notts. Sounds good at least!!

My metal tree lined with Led lights
and looking better than this photo!

The nearby restaurant, Cezar, a beacon of light
for me during Lockdown, with its
splendid array of take-aways.
Solely responsible for lifting the standard
of my culinary intake!