Luxembourg, an Unexpected Surprise.

LOCATION:

Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

 

Though Luxembourg wasn't originally on the itinerary, I decided to make a quick day trip there because of its proximity to Brussels and after hearing what a gem it was. According to my guidebook, Luxembourg consistently ranks among the world's three richest countries and Luxembourg City was described as having a "fairy-tale quality." The train takes about three hours each way - meaning I actually spent more time traveling than exploring the city - but it was still definitely worth it. The city is filled with beautiful cliffs, gorges, valleys, and has a river running through it.

Looks like a fairy tale to me!

Just some ruins on the side of the road, NBD.

 

View from the top of the Casemates.

 

A friend recommended I check out the Casemates, a series of underground caves that were originally built in the 10th century. Over time they have been occupied by Belgian, Italian, Spanish, French, Austrian, Dutch and Prussian defense systems, and they could provide shelter to almost 40,000 people during bomb raids in both World Wars. They have since been reduced in size and plans were made to dismantle the fortress all together, but because of its underground location the city above would also be damaged. It was eerily quiet inside, but such a cool place to wander and explore!

One of the windows looking out.

 

The purple lighting inside gave it a spooky feel.

 

I was almost too scared to go down this staircase - I was the only one in there!

 

Overall, I wish I had decided to spend a night in Luxembourg City and explore it a little bit more but who knows, maybe I will get to go back someday! It was beautiful, and absolutely lived up to the "fairy-tale" description. Time to say goodbye to Belgium though, and ease on down the road again - back to London! Hard to believe today marks four weeks of traveling, with only six left to go. It is going by so fast!!

 

One last shot of Luxembourg.

 

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Brussels - A Mixed Review

LOCATION:

Brussels, Belgium

 

I have to admit that even before stepping foot off the train in Brussels I had some reservations. I had heard good and bad reviews of the city from many people, but I tried not to let it cloud my judgement. I also knew that Brussels was primarily French speaking, as opposed to Brugge and Amsterdam where it seemed like English was everyone's fist language, so I tried to channel what little French I remembered and set off to explore. My first mission was to find the famed Mannekin Pis - a fountain that is a little boy peeing. I knew I had found it well before I could even see the little thing - there were crowds blocking off the street! Keep in mind this bronze fountain is tiny - only about 2 feet tall - but the crowd was almost more interesting than the fountain. People were so fascinated with this! Apparently he gets dressed up in a costume at least once a week, and occasionally is hooked up to a beer keg and glasses of beer are handed out to visitors. Sadly, I saw Mannekin Pis on an ordinary day.

Yep, that's it! Pretty small to be so famous.

 

The fountain is really close to the Grand-Place, or the main square in Brussels. I have to admit, it was quite beautiful. I did not go in any of the buildings - one is the town hall, one is a museum, others are restaurants - but they were breathtaking from the outside.

The tallest one is the Town Hall.

Another view, the guilded storefronts were beautiful.

 

The next day, I got an early start on two museums I was excited to check out. The first was an exposition on Leonardo da Vinci. It opened at ten, and I was there at 9:55 which meant I had the place to myself for a while. I learned so much about the artist - he really dabbled in everything! Flying machines, paintings, civil works, sculpture, anatomy, and so much more. The exhibition opened with a few of his notebooks, which were interesting because of his writing style. He had relatively little formal education, so developed his own way of writing - backwards. His journals included sketches, along with to-do lists and budgets.

Two journals. The only privately owned one belongs to Bill Gates!

 

The exhibition continued with recreations of many of his inventions. Virtually none of his technical drawings ever made it into real objects, so a team of artists and engineers recreated his vision as best as they could.

One of his flying machines.

 

A scuba suit. Not sure I would feel safe underwater in this!

 

The exhibit also went into great depth about two of his most famous paintings - The Last Supper, and of course The Mona Lisa. A few fun facts - The Last Supper was so controversial because it was the first of this type of painting to portray the moment when Christ says "One of you will betray me" so shows Judas at the table along with the other apostles. Da Vinci also experimented with a new type of fresco, allowing him to paint on dry plaster which gave him longer to work. The unfortunate result though, was that just a few years after the painting was finished it began to crumble. Many restorations have been completed, but some have done more harm than good so the fresco is almost nothing today like it was when it was completed in the 15th century. I also learned a bit about the Mona Lisa, and because I didn't make it into the Louvre in Paris to see the original (from 20 feet away, encased in bullet proof glass) I was just fine seeing this huge replica up close.

I detect a smile.

 

The second museum of the day was the Magritte Museum, housing a large collection by surrealist artist (and Brussels native) Rene Magritte. He became most well know for painting ordinary objects (pipes, hats, jingle bells) in unexpected ways. No pictures were allowed inside the gallery, but here are some of my favorites courtesy of the Internet.

Titled "The Explanation" which of course explains nothing.

 

Magritte's "Mona Lisa." Huh?

 

Overall, I will say that Brussels has been my least favorite city so far. But after 1, 2, 3, lets see... 9 cities in four weeks, they can't all be winners right? Because I have an extra day here though, I decided to book a spontaneous day trip to the neighboring country of Luxembourg, which I am really excited about. I never imagined I would get to the tiny country, but it is only a few hours train ride away so, why not! Besides - I have had just about as many chocolate shops and waffle stands as I can take for a lifetime!

 

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Fashion and diamonds! What more could a girl want.

LOCATION:

 

Antwerp, Belgium

 

To be perfectly honest, Antwerp was not initially on my radar. But after doing a bit more research, I decided I would stop for a night on the way to Brussels. I knew there was a strong diamond connection, but was pleasantly surprised to find my hotel was located right in the middle of the diamond district - meaning that I passed shop after shop after shop. I stopped to look in each of the windows, and probably drooled more than one time. Antwerp has had a long history in the diamond trade, and up until 2012, an estimated 84% of the worlds diamonds passed through here for cutting or polishing. In the last year though, many of these services have been outsourced to cheaper locations.

One of each, please!

 

The other thing I learned I doing some research is that Antwerp has quite a fashion scene. One of the best fashion schools in Europe is here, and it has an impressive museum which I was excited to check out. The primary exhibit featured silks from the Abraham Archive, which dates back to 1878. Another cool exhibition was from new students, where the assignment was the shape study of a dress.

The rose silks were beautiful.

Here is a finished product.

It is no surprise I was drawn most to the animal prints.

Where can I find a coat like this? Seriously. Love it.

This was my favorite piece, the picture doesn't do it justice!

 

From one of the students... At least your hands would stay warm!

 

Sometimes my favorite part of fashion design is the sketches.

After the fashion museum I made my way to the Sint-Anna tunnel. It was opened to the public in 1933 as a passageway under the river, so residents no longer had to rely on ferry service. The wooden escalators are still in use today, but were a novelty in the 1930's!

Wooden escalators, for two stories.

The tunnel is 0.4 miles each way and is open to bikes and pedestrians. Surprisingly clean inside!

I also saw the main square in Antwerp, and learned some of the interesting folklore surrounding the city. Legend has it that the river was once guarded by a giant, and he cut off the hands of sailors who refused to pay his toll. Roman soldier Silvius Brabo defeated the giant and as punishment cut off his hand and threw it into the river. The story is of course untrue, but is where the city gets its name - hand-werpen (werpen = to throw), and the giant hand is still a symbol of the city.

A statue of Silvius Brabo

A giant hand sculpture, near the main square.

 

One last thing about Antwerp was just its overall opulence. Even storefronts and office buildings were beautiful. Though this is Belgium's second largest city, I feel like one day was enough to see the main sights. Now, off the largest city in Belgium, Brussels!

 

This was just an average street corner, with McDonalds and The Gap below!

 

 

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B is for beer! And Brugge.

LOCATION:

Brugge, Belgium

 

Brugge has absolutely been one of my favorite cities so far, if not my favorite. After a few weeks of drinking wine in France and English ale in London (warm and flat - gross!), I was ready for some good beer. My beer education began in Amsterdam at the Heineken brewery - four ingredients, fermentation, blah blah blah. If Amsterdam was the kindergarten for beer, I graduated straight to beer college in Belgium! Beer is everywhere here - and most bars have beer menus that are a lot longer than their food menus. One of the cool things here is that all beers come with their own glass. So if a bar stocks 200 Belgium beers, that's 200 different glasses! Beer here can also be a lot stronger as far as alcohol content goes, so be careful!

My favorite types of Belgium beers are Trappist beers. For a beer to qualify as Trappist, it has to be brewed in a monastery by monks, and all profits (after Abbey costs have been covered) must go to charity. So really, by drinking a Trappist beer you are making the world a better place. There are currently seven Trappist breweries, and six of them are in Belgium. The bad news for tourists like me though, is that you can't visit any of them.

From the triple treat tour, brewed especially for the Ter Doest monastery but not an official Trappist brew.

Rodenbach, fermented in wine barrels, so it had a wine-ish taste. Not my favorite beer.

Karmeliet - not that special of a beer, but the best glass I have seen!

Westmalle is a Trappist ale, and is one of the few Belgian beers easy to find in the states.

Brugse Zot is from De Halve Maan brewery I toured.

Delirium Tremens is one of Kyle's favorites - I like the elephants on the label.

Chimay is my absolute favorite of them all!

I know it looks like all I did in Brugge was drink beer, but I saw some attractions as well. The first was the famous Belfort tower, with 366 winding steps to the top. While climbing the tower I learned about the importance of bells in earlier times - different chimes would signal time, celebration, mourning, or other important city events. When I was inside the tower the bell started to ring but I could not hear it at all - I could just see the gears moving. But when I rounded the corner and the bell came into view from a more outside angle, it was so loud! Strange how that works!

I made it to the top!

Hard to tell which way these steps go, right?

The inner workings of the bell!

View from the top - worth the climb.

 

I also made it to the Basilica of the Holy Blood which - you guessed it - contains the alleged holy blood of Christ. Though the small vial of blood has a storied past, research shows that - regardless of the origin of the vials contents - the vial likely only dates back to the 11th or 12th century, and has not been opened since arriving in Brugge, around 1250. Real or not, it was interesting to walk in front of the vial and think "what if." The basilica was small and otherwise unassuming, which made it quiet and peaceful because it is off most tourists radar.

No pictures inside, but this is the outside.

 

My favorite thing about Brugge (besides the beer!) is the simple charm. I have been to the canal cities of Venice and now Amsterdam, but Brugge exudes a picturesque quality that I have never seen before. Perhaps because it is a low tourist season, but many of the streets were deserted making the canals even more beautiful. Overall I loved Brugge, and know I will come here again someday!

Lovely canal.

Pretty tunnels and bridges everywhere.

The canal my hotel was located on, at dusk.

 

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The Brugge "Triple Treat"

LOCATION:

Brugge, Belgium

 

First things first, is it Brugge? Or Bruges? I have seen it both ways, but I learned the inside story while on my day trip. Belgium has a strong connection with France, and Bruges is the French spelling, while Brugge is Flemish and is pronounced like "bruh-ggah." Depending on where you come from, the city has a different name!

 

In addition to the triple treat (waffles, chocolate, and beer), the tour included some cool historical sites. First, the moated Tillegem Castle. Though the castle has a rich history including Flemish, French, and Spanish occupation, it has belonged to the province of West Flanders since 1980 and is essentially now a venue for rentals. There are a few offices in the top now, wouldn't I love to work in a castle! In the picture below, that red window was actually once used as the bathroom, and deliveries to the castle came to the little door below it - so suppliers made sure to look up for bums in the window before docking!

All houses should come with a moat.

 

After the castle, we went to the neo-gothic Chateau of Loppem. Jean van Caloen is the last living heir to the estate and is 91, not married and has no children. When he dies, the centuries old estate will unfortunately be given to the national trust. The chateau contains an impressive art gallery, but is otherwise empty today except for a groundskeeper that lives there part time. No pictures allowed inside the chateau, but I did get this one at the door.

 

I knocked, he wasn't home.

 

The tour also included some Flemish country side - windmills, the medieval harbor of Damme, and a stop inside a barn to see some Belgian Blue cattle. When looking at the churches in Flanders, most have flat tops instead of pointy spires. This is not because of damage, material or construction costs, but rather so that they could be used as lookout towers during battle - men would stand on top and alert the city to danger. Another interesting thing in Damme were the stones hanging on the city hall. Or guide gave us four guesses why they were there: 1) for weather - if they were wet, it was raining, 2) because of the architects accuracy - he quoted the number of stones required "plus two," 3) as punishment for women who gossiped, 4) as a flood line for the city - these were about 12 feet above ground level as a reference. I guessed incorrectly! As for the cattle, they are unique because of their heavily muscled build - some think it is because of hormone injections, but it is actually because of a genetic mutation that the cows have short legs and extra muscly appearances. A Belgian blue calf is so large that it has to be born by caesarean, meaning there are a lot of vets in Belgium!

 

This windmill is used for grain, but only works in the summer.

Damme church (say it fast and try not to giggle!)

The stones - hung around a woman's neck as a punishment for gossip!

Belgian blue cattle! Some of them were mad - I was happy to get out of there!

 

And now for the treats! First, waffles. Two fun facts about Belgian waffles - they aren't typically served with syrup because they are so sweet alone, and they aren't eaten for breakfast but are considered an afternoon snack. My opinion - very tasty! But to me they would still be best in the morning with a side of bacon!

 

My first authentic Belgian waffle.

 

Second, the chocolate. In Belgium, a praline is any chocolate that has a filling. Very different than a Texas praline - which is made of butter, sugar and pecans - but no chocolate. We went to a chocolate shop for a demonstration, and it was especially exciting and busy because of the Easter shopping rush.

The molds being filled with yummy milk chocolate.

Filling the pralines with lemon goo.

Do you think they would be mad if I stuck my face in there?

These bunnies are a bit scary, I think.

Beer? Or chocolate!?

 

The final treat, the beer! There is so much beer in Belgium that it deserves its own post. Stay tuned!!

A preview - Westmalle and tomato soup!

 

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