To gild the lily:
Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Not sure what attracted me to this scene… perhaps the contrasting colours of the orange (or chrome yellow?) banner and the aqua see behind.
The small white sign reads, “Hahahaha Yes we know. It’s the Right way around inside. ‘Merry Christmas.'”
Upon entering the Grand-Place (coming up next post) I noticed this woman unfurling a hammer and sickle banner and getting photographed with it. An almost unimaginable sight in the US, I grabbed a couple of shots and then went over to speak with her and ask about the flag. Although she only spoke Portuguese, and I could only manage some French, a girl with her spoke English and helped her cheerfully explain that they were with the Communist Party of Brazil and she pointed to a brass plaque above her on the wall, noting Karl Marx’s connection with the spot. According to Wikipedia, “In 1885, the Belgian Workers’ Party (POB/BWP), the first socialist party in Belgium, was founded during a meeting at the Grand-Place, at the same place where the First International had convened, and where Karl Marx had written The Communist Manifesto in 1848.” I showed her the pictures I took and she expressed interest in having copies so I gave her my card.
