We combine our stay in Bruges with a short visit to Ostend.
For about 20 km from Bruges to Ostend, we take a train. The train ride takes about 15 minutes. A return ticket costs € 8.40, seniors pay € 6.50. We think it doesn’t pay off to use a car, because probably the parking fees in the city are higher.
In the spacious and modern train station in Bruges, you find a variety of shops to shorten your waiting time.
The train runs through flat meadows, probably flood plains.
Upon arrival in Ostend, we see the industrial harbor, where a floating platform for the construction of wind power plants lies at anchor. It is the wind turbine installation vessel Vole au Vent, first built for Hochtief and sold to the Jan de Nul Group in 2015.
The station building in Ostend, built between 1907 and 1913, is in the style of the Belle Époque.
In front of the train station in Ostend, we observe a sailing ship entering the marina. Therefore it has to pass two bascule bridges.
As we walk along the harbor basins, we see in the distance Fort Napoleon, a fortress built in 1814 by the French Emperor Napoleon. Today it is a museum and congress center.
In the opposite direction, we see the Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk, a mighty Gothic cathedral that we will visit later.
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More InformationFinally, we reach the sandy beach and are surprised by its dimensions.
There is even a dog beach.
Right at the harbor entrance, at the Zeeheldenplein, the long promenade along the sandy beach, the artwork Rock Strangers by Arne Quinze was set up.
We walk about 600 m further to the Casino and the Kursaal. From there we turn into the Leopold II-Laan. Opposite the Leopoldpark is the Cultuurcentrum De Grote Post.
Again we turn into the Jozef II-straat, where we come across the Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk. But before, we cross the Kapellestraat, the pedestrian zone of Ostend with many shopping possibilities.
The Sint-Petrus-en-Pauluskerk was built from 1899 to 1908 with the support of King Leopold II. The architect Louis Delacenserie based his design on the Cologne Cathedral and the Votivkirche in Vienna. The church is 70 m long and 30 m wide. The towers are 72 m high.
We are now again directly at the railway station and drive back to Bruges.
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Soundtracks in video:
- On the sea by unreal_dm (c) copyright 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/unreal_dm/45042 Ft: diaphane
- Fishes in the Sea by Clarence Simpson (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license. http://dig.ccmixter.org/files/casimps1/32480 Ft: Scomber, Jeris