I’m not quite sure what this promotional campaign was about, but certainly it was eye-catching. Click any of the pictures to see them all larger (if you’re seeing this in email, you may need to click the post title above, first).
Welcome to Antwerp
Tag: Belgium
Antwerp
This is the view from inside the Antwerp train station, coming up from the depths of the modern platforms. From the outside one can see the magnificent, baroque, historic (well, turn on the 20th century) structure, which I failed to take a picture of, pushing a suitcase as I was, but you can learn about this most beautiful train station from Wikipedia and get a sense of its significance from W G Sebald’s novel Austerlitz.
Still More Brussels
Just found a few more pictures from our last morning in Brussels. In the middle picture on the left you can see the barriers around the massive building works on Stalingrad were celebrating the life and music of Toots Thielmans, the legendary Belgian harmonica player, most recently brought to the attention of American audiences, perhaps, by Jaco Pastorius (see below).
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For the Django Fans
All of these were shot at the Place de Brouckere in Brussels, shortly before we left. I’m guessing it looked rather different in Django’s time. Click any image to see them bigger (if you’re seeing this in email you may need to click the post title, above, first).
Colourful Recycling
Belgian Countryside
A shot grabbed at high speed from the train window taking us back from our day in Bruges to Brussels.
Canals
Bruges is famous, of course, for its canals, laden with sightseeing boats.
Music Festival, Bruges
There were music festivals going on everywhere we went in Belgium. This one was in Bruges’ Grand-Place or Grote Markt. All the bands we heard sounded like American bands but when they announced songs or players it was all in Flemish. This band played My Sharona, among others.
Groeningemuseum
Bruges’ Groeninge Museum was excellent. Laid out in a somewhat traditional chronological fashion, century by century, it offered laminated placards in every room with explanations for most of the artworks so you didn’t need to bend over to read ill-placed, scantily illuminated placards and block other visitors’ view. Of course, as I’ve been doing in almost every museum we’ve visited, I found the mirrors tto photograph myself in.
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In Bruges
We took the train to Bruges for a day. It’s a beautiful city with scarcely a modern structure to interrupt the ancient lines. However it was absolutely rotten with tourists dawdling and gawking about, making many of the streets impassable and forcing one into pathetic tourist impostures oneself. As a friend of mine from Antwerp commented, “nobody from Belgium goes to Bruges – it’s for tourists.” Or, as Yogi Berra is reported to have said, “nobody goes there anymore – it’s too crowded.”
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Opposite the Manneken Pis
Back in Brussels
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Ostend to Brussels
Beer Garden Concert
We wandered away from the beach into the town and came upon a plaza that had been set up like a beer garden where a Flemish band were playing American reels to an attentive audience.
Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul
Sint-Petrus-en-Paulus Kerk van Oostende
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On the Beach
(with apologies to Nevil Shute)
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Ostend Terrace
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Ostenders
Actually, most were probably day-trippers to Ostend. Click any image to see them all larger (though you may have to click the post title above first, if you’re seeing this in email).
Beach Geometries
Having a Blast with Buddha at the Beach
More of what we saw along the boardwalk (only it was really just paved) in Ostend. Click any image above to see them all full sized (if you’re seeing this in email you may need to click the post title, above, first for this to work).