Bruges is a simply wonderful city, a considerable extent of which is carfree. It is an old city that fortunately survived the ravages of the many wars that have scarred the face Belgium. It seems usually to take centuries to build truly fine urban spaces. These buildings, by their various architectural styles, appear to span quite a period of time.

The bridge in the foreground almost certainly crosses a small river, which is a natural demarcation between neighborhoods, but the gate was added at some point to throw this boundary into sharper relief.

Notice the gallery in the gate - this gate is actually a bridge that carries a corridor between two buildings. Those passing across this bridge have a momentary view of the street through the old, wavy glass in leaded panes. (This cannot actually be seen, but the fenestration in the foreground and the style of the gate itself strongly suggest that this treatment was applied.) The interior will have a lovely, dappled light, softened by the imperfections in the glass.

I have no particular objections to posters, but they really should not be randomly applied to any flat surface. (Graffiti is an even worse eyesore, of course. It is nearly impossible to remove from brick surfaces, which often leads to their being coated with a thick layer of epoxy that changes the character of the brick. Fortunately, most of those spraying graffiti seem to prefer the blank canvas of stark concrete walls.)

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