Starting in Persia…ending in Palestine with a flow through art nouveau and odd contemporary in between.
We had a late start and a lazy day. Our first stop was for coffee at KooKoo with a Persian touch. Cappuccino and slice of pistachio rosewater cake for Grubb and chai latte with a slice of lemon cake for me.
Just to emphasize how lazy I am today, I’m giving you the bare outline of the day. Grubb will fill in the details…at some point.
From the ancient Persian whiff of subtle spices, we strolled through blocks of art nouveau finery stopping at the Victor Horta house and museum. Horta was a major player in building design in the art nouveau era. Following on his coattails, we strolled to the Hannon house, another art nouveau marvel, although perhaps not quite as clever as Horta.
Still plenty of daylight left, I suggested we head to Wiels. An “experimental” art gallery / museum. The best thing about the exhibition was the panoramic view from the top.
Stomachs grumbling we headed back to our neighborhood and sat to eat at the tiny Olive restaurant serving Palestinian and Gazan food. Grubb had the musakhan: roasted chicken, sumac, and caramelized onions on Taboon bread. I had shakshuka: eggs poached in a simmering, spiced sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion, and garlic. We both had Qamar al-Din, a chilled apricot drink. Absolutely scrumptious.
After dinner, strolling towards our apartment, a sign leapt out at me “pasties de nata”, my favorite Portuguese pastry. Whelp, there’s my dessert!
Sounds like it actually ended in the other P country, Portugal!
Ah, yes I guess it did! And those natas were worth it. I remember you and Charlie were the ones who told us about natas way back when.
We are looking forward to a Louise Nevelson exhibition in Metz, France. Art is universal! As are delicious European snacks.
So true! Enjoy the exhibition.