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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