I am in the midst of a day trip to the Flemish medieval town of Brugge. In English, it is usually referred to by its French name, Bruges.

Brugge used to be a booming medieval trade center, thanks to its proximity to the North Sea and its extensive network of canals. But as the sea link silted up and more modern ports in Zeebrugge and Antwerpen took over, it fell into decay, until being rediscovered as a medieval time capsule by more recent travelers. Its cathedral houses the only Michelangelo sculpture to leave Italy during his lifetime.

I love the flower pots hanging from the wall to the right. It's a very Dutch touch - Flanders is ethnically and linguistically Dutch. The linguistic face-off between the Flemish and the French-speaking Walloons is one of the biggest headaches Belgium faces; they hate each other so much that when they meet, they simply agree to speak a mutual third language, most likely English. And that works out just fine for me as I do not speak Dutch.