A grey chilly day. A melancholy little old town. Here everything makes you to believe that the eternal beauty of Bruges is a legacy of its glorious past, when medieval merchants has transformed the once sleepy town into a prosperous port city famous for its wool and cloth trading. Full of pleasure and joy, you stroll along centuries-old colonnades, cross ancient stone bridges and wind through tiny intricate alleyways, fulfilling your long desire to go back in time. Here nothing reveals the 500-year decline of the town after the commercial port has been abandoned. Fortune receded but proved to be a cycle. A slight Potemkinist touch and a long-lived effort of preservation, Bruges has found a new story of success since late 19th century, being one of the earliest tourist destinations in Europe.
Here the real master is you and me, my fellow tourist.
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