Happy to be Traveling

Around the corner from where we’re staying is the house where Victor Horta lived. Victor, along with Gaudi in Spain, was a  Fin de Siècle architect who defined art nouveau in buildings all over Europe. Museums, libraries, mansions, train stations, if it had the art nouveau stamp, the blueprints were probably drawn up by Horta. Some…

Street art speaks for itself, whether it’s comic strip murals, feminist statements or god-help-us, the Smurfs (which were created in Belgium. That could actually explain the nutty train platform maze). The Mallones neighborhood of Brussels is rife with large scale paintings. Also, I broke my sunglasses (just cheap ones) and needed a replacement. I also…

Friends Charlie and Wynette are currently walking the Camino and everyday they post a shadow picture. So Charlie and Wynette, we think a shadow challenge is in order. 

Our neighborhood (Sint-Gilles / Ixelles) is particularly dense with art nouveau buildings.

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…

Outside of some religious art in the dark confines of centuries old cathedrals, Mechelen struck me as one big outdoor café. That’s where most everyone seemed to be, sitting at tables with sweaters tied around their necks drinking beer and wine. Duck in a church to glimpse a Rubens and you’d most likely be alone….

It was the dark look in Kafka’s eyes. A warning. “You might think that taking the train to Mechelen tomorrow will be an easy trip, brief, barely eventful,” they seemed to say staring out at me from the lampshade in the basement of the Parliamentarium, “but trust me, you’ll feel the frustration of sitting in…

Subtitle: Toto, we aren’t in Japan anymore. Mechelen, a charming little town just north of Brussels. “Punches above its weight” Claude says. Today we decided to head that way. Tram to train station, train to Mechelen. No biggie. So, the tram was good. First tram ride. No fussing with tickets. Tap our phone to pay…

Yesterday morning we tried to understand how the European Union worked.  Then we had a gourmet lunch that was low on everything that was supposed to be bad for our bodies. It was in a restaurant that was part of swank health club.  Just exiting the building I felt I was brimming with health.  That didn’t mean…

Or, if you’re more cultivated, go ahead and say, “E U”, either way we know you’re talking about the European Union. I’ve always imagined the EU to be some abbreviated code for a select group of European bankers who meet periodically behind barrels of distilled spirits in some dank rathskeller to determine the exchange rate…

Thanks to the many wars that have been fought on its turf, Belgium has been called the “European battlefield”.  If one wanted to take this to the economic level and make a killing in Brussels all they would need to do is land a hot air balloon hauling a load of chocolate treats smack in the…

On the walk down to the Parliamentarium, some interesting pics. And lunch. I’d checked in with Claude to ask what might be of interest near the European Parliament. Parc du Cinquantenaire and a nearby cafe called Seven was on the list. Who could resist eating at a place called Seven which turned out to be…

Brussels is a hub of European activity, so what better place to learn more about the European Union. What is it exactly? How is it governed? How do you get in? And…well, Britain showed us how to exit. The Parliamentarium answered those and many more questions. The Parliamentarium is what they call the Visitor’s Center…

As example of “zwanze” or bratty Belgian humor there’s Mannikin Pis, the little boy fountain that is located in the heart of Mont des Arts. It was easy to come across; we just funneled  down one of the narrow cobbled streets towards the crowd of tourists clogging the corner where the jokey statue is arcing his…