There was an interesting-looking vessel in Zeebrugge this time around – the Pauline – which caused a bit of a discussion for the couple sat behind us as we departed the port on our excursion to Damme; she was convinced it was a commercial vessel while he was convinced it was a cruise ship; she was right.

The last shots of Zeebrugge as we left Belgium in the evening coincided with some lovely low sunshine generating some beautiful pinks and oranges on the white surfaces as the light refracted through the thicker atmosphere.

We then proceeded around the ring road of Bruges passing several reproduction windmills and made for Loppem Castle, only open for tour groups by appointment at this time of year so we would have the place to ourselves. The castle was built in the mid-19th century of brick and in the Gothic Revival style. On our approach we passed a maze that looked quite interesting but our trip was too early in the season for it to be open.

We gathered outside the castle for a few moments to hear a little about the building’s history. The condition of Loppem Castle is impressive with it being more-or-less in its original state inside and out.

Inside we were given a very short tour of the ground floor rooms starting with the entrance hallway. There were many nods to hunting and religion in the decoration but I think the most interesting aspect from my perspective was that the many impressive-looking fireplaces were mostly for show as the castle had been built with underfloor heating installed. I also liked the bannisters on the stairs; these were individually carved with scenes of hunting so that one of the inhabitants of the castle who had developed cataracts at an early age could feel what had taken place.

We were then given a short amount of time to explore on our own which meant we could take a quick look upstairs. There were many rooms there with many interesting museum pieces (tribal masks, paintings, knives, etc.) but we just didn’t have the time to look at anything closely and taking photographs with high reflections from the glass cabinets didn’t appeal on this occasion. I grabbed a few shots from the balcony overlooking the entrance hall but that was it.

We then headed out via the small gift shop (naturally) where we picked up a bookmark (my wife collects them) and took one last look at the grounds of Loppem Castle before making our way back onto the coach.

For more information on Loppem Castle, including its opening times and prices, visit the official website: Loppem Castle.

Our time at Loppem Castle was pretty limited and we were too early in the season to visit the building and its grounds, including the maze. I think it would be a pleasant place to explore at a lot more leisure in the summer but we accepted that taking a cheap cruise at this time of year would reduce our options somewhat and had no real complaints about our excursion as a result. If P&O offer this same excursion in the middle of the year it would be interesting to see how much time is allowed at this stop because it really would benefit from more.

Departing the castle we made our way back to Oriana for an afternoon of drinking, an evening of formal dining, and a night of cruising back to England.

Our experience of P&O cruise excursions is that they’re handled very well, and certainly a lot better than those with Princess. Instead of gathering in a lounge or the theatre then waiting for half an hour or longer before heading off P&O simply asked that we get off the ship ourselves and find our coach ten minutes before the departure time. Dead easy as there was only one coach waiting when we made our way ashore and we were in our seats with fifteen minutes to go; we weren’t the earliest by any means. Some people can’t read and so turned up a couple of minutes after we were supposed to leave but not too awful in the grand scheme of things.

Damme Town Hall

We hadn’t really been sure how long we would have to explore on our own so were pleasantly surprised to be told we had about an hour from when the coach parked up to when we’d need to be back on. As it would turn out this would be plenty of time for the town on a Saturday morning in February as the town was very small and there was practically nothing open. I don’t doubt that some people headed straight off to grab a coffee as suggested by our guide Pascale but this was camera time for me; it was incredibly cold with a wind chill taking the temperature below freezing as evidenced by the ice we saw around the place but that crispness added incredible clarity to the light on a cloudless day. With the coach at the market square of Damme the first, obvious point of interest was the Town Hall and its lovely architecture.

Damme Poplars And Windmill

Our coach had crossed into Damme over the Damse Vaart canal, a popular spot for taking photos on account of the poplar trees lining the canal’s banks and the Schellemill windmill along one side. We encountered plenty of cyclists along the path we took to the windmill and a large group of them stopped to take pictures of the picturesque location too. We didn’t see anyone from our coach come along to see the structure but they may have after we returned to the town. While a windmill has existed on the spot since the town’s formation the present one was more recently constructed, having been built in 1867.

Damme Herring Market

We headed back into Damme, picking pretty little streets at random. There weren’t too many to choose from because Damme simply isn’t that big, but you’ve probably ascertained that already by now.

In a short amount of time we ended up coming upon the Herring Market. The exterior decoration of the former poorhouses along with the pump, statue, and tree in the centre for some reason reminded me of Portmeirion in Wales.

Our Ladies Church Of Damme

We headed back towards the main street of the town on the lookout for any other interesting sights. Despite the bijou dimensions of Damme there was a lot to still catch the eye thanks to the combination of the age and somewhat untouched feel to the place coupled with visiting on such a crisp, bright day.

Aside from the town hall the other easily seen sight from within Damme itself was Our Ladies Church on account of its tall tower. We’d been told that the church was open and free to visit and this was technically true and would have been nice as its interior is supposedly quite impressive but there was a funeral taking place and out of respect I took a glance through the door but no photographs inside.

In the grounds of the church was an oddly surreal piece of sculpture called Blik Van Licht (Look Of Light) by Charles Delporte to whom there is a museum dedicated in the town.

Market Square

We finished off back in the market square waiting for our coach to arrive and I took a few more photos of the area to pass the time, a covered well and the prominent statue of Jacob Van Maerlant (a Dutch writer and part of the reason for Damme being known very much as a book town these days) being two specific areas of interest.

Damme was a very pleasant little place but with us visiting so early in the year and day there was little for us to do other than take a quick stroll around. I think if you were staying in the area of Bruges it’s a pretty pleasant walk or bicycle ride along the canal from there and in the early summer I imagine it would be lovely to do. Surprisingly, we weren’t told about the Battle of Damme by our excursion guide which I think would have been a nice thing to do for a British group.

You might think that adults know how to tell the time and couldn’t possibly be tardy with regards to returning to the coach in a small town such as Damme but you would be wrong. We made our way to our next stops of the chocolate shop followed by the castle at Loppem only a few minutes after we were supposed to. Again.