Funky Friday: Off the Beaten Path

The Novotel hotel in Brugge is on the edge of the historic area, on a kind of main street that runs into the center of the city.  A street that was alive with people, and traffic, and tourist focused businesses. The hotel is set back from the street on kind of a courtyard between other buildings.  If you exited out the back corner of that courtyard, you were in a different world. A local neighborhood, with narrow streets lined with residential front doors.  While only a couple of blocks off the main street it was a world away. It was peaceful, and unhurried. It was a place where local people live their day to day lives. 

I am an early riser. When we travel I get up - pull some clothes on, go have breakfast, come back shower and dress for the day, about the time the Sweet Bear is opening his eyes. I take a nice hour or so walk, while he has breakfast and gets ready for the day.  A couple of mornings I took long walks off the beaten path, down those delightful side streets of Brugge. 

I was fascinated by the doors, many of the them hundreds of years old, and each one a unique expression of place. Just as the people living inside are different, each door was different. I took dozens of photos of doors.  Doors are portals to inner worlds, protection against the outside, the way in, or the way out, doors can open to reveal secrets, or remain locked securing what is within. Getting off the beaten path, I was able to see the local side of a charming town. 

Auto Correct, misspelled Brugge on the print I had made, and I missed the spelling until the print arrived.