Brussels, Belgium [Part III of III]

It’s Brussels… …where comics come to life literally in the streets!

Above: Comic strip wall murals can be spotted all around the city.

…where one can have waffles, fries, chocolates & Belgian beer all day!!

…and where a tiny pissing boy (girl and dog too) can draw so much attention!!!

Above: A whole lot of pissing. From left: Manneken Pis, Jeanneke Pis and Zinneke Pis (which isn’t a fountain).

Of course, there’s more to Brussels. The capital of Belgium & home of the EU has its own distinct character due to the co-existence of both French and Flemish culture. [For that reason, street signs and names of places/monuments are all printed in both languages! For simplicity's sake I shall describe them in English].

The look of the city is characterised by its strikingly picturesque Grand Place, legendary monuments and vibrant boulevards. I chose a hotel near the central train station, in the area of Grass Market. It’s an excellent location, with lots of eateries, shops and close proximity to the Grand Place, where the heart of the city beats. While the hotel (& its service) though was not great, thankfully its location and view from the window saved the day.

Above: View from my hotel room window as the night falls. The bell tower of the town hall, illuminating the night sky.

Above: The Grand Place, listed as UNESCO's World Heritage Site. Clockwise from top left: The House of the Dukes of Brabant, The King’s House, Row of Guild houses, The Town Hall.

In the old days when the houses here were not numbered, they were recognised by their architecture or simply by the different statues sitting on top.

Near to the Grand Place is Butcher's Street (for eating) and St. Hubert Gallery (for shopping).

Above: The narrow Butcher's Street lined with restaurants on both sides. It was impossible to walk down the street without being stopped by touts from every restaurant.

Above: St. Hubert's Gallery, where you can find luxurious shops selling fine Belgian lace & chocolates, as well as cafes.

If you only have time for visiting one church in Brussels, it has got to be the St. Michael & St. Gudula Cathedral. The Cathedral was named after the 2 patron saints of the city and the most outstanding feature of it is the stained glassed depicting the scene from 'The Last Judgement'.

If you're a fan of Tin Tin or the Smurfs, you have got to visit the Comic Strip Museum which is housed in an Art Nouveau Warehouse. Comics in Belgium is serious art + literature! At the museum, you can learn more about the history of comics and the entire process of the making of a comic strip.

And if you're a fan of chocolates, visit the Museum of Cocoa & Chocolate!

Above: Learn more about the history of cocoa, the myths & truths about chocolates, catch the chocolate master in action and of course, chocolate tasting :)

One other place that was not within the city center and actually requires taking the MET to get to was the Atomium. The Belgians call it "the most astonishing building in the world". And I'm sure it could have been at some point in history.

The structure of the building was modeled after the atom concept, magnified 165 billion times. It was built in the 1950's for Expo '58 (Brussels World Fair) and it represented modern architecture in Brussels at that time though it wasn't intended to be kept. Eventually it was kept and today it remains an attraction providing a 360 degree view of Brussels, as well as a venue for exhibitions and events. Above: The view from the top sphere of the Atomium. Above: A guy attempting the flyingfox down from the top of the Atomium. This wraps up my summer holidays in Belgium. Lots more coming up!

Antwerp, Belgium [Part II of III]

With a train ticket that cost just 8.60€, I left Ghent for Antwerp Central Station. I was so pleased to realise that the hotel I booked (De Keyser Hotel) is located in the block of buildings right in front of the train station, as claimed on their website. The room was nice and breakfast was superb too. A highly recommended hotel!


Above: Antwerp Central Station and De Keyser Hotel in front of it, on the right.

What I liked about Antwerp was that it has a good mix of history and modernity, and that the city center was laid out in a manner which makes it so easy for visitors to navigate on foot.

Diamond boutiques (Antwerp is acclaimed for diamond cutting apparently) as well as their Diamond Museum are centered around the central station, so is their Zoo. And if you walk straight down from the central station via the main shopping belt (Meir Street), you'll reach the rest of their historical sites which are clustered in the western part of the city center by the Schelde River. Just 20min walking time, sweet.



Although I said it takes only 20min to walk down Meir Street, it wasn't true for me as I just had to check out the shops along the way. It's a shopper's trap alright!




Above: Inside the Urban Outfitters store. I wish for one near me soon stocked with all the LOMO goodies...


Above: Stumbled onto the Laurent Perrier Champagne Bar located in a mall on Meir I think. I thought it's not quite a champagne glass, but well, you get the idea… and it's rather cute.


Above: How nice! A wet wipes dispenser at the entrance of a supermarket! If only ALL supermarkets have this.

Making a left turn halfway through Meir Street, you can find The Rubens House. Peter Paul Rubens was a famous artist in the 17th Century who settled & built his grand baroque style home in Antwerp. Apart from just a living space, he also designed a gallery, studio, as well as a garden within his compound.

Centuries later, the municipality of Antwerp acquired & restored the property, opening it to the public as a museum. Photography is not allowed inside the museum, but visitors are given a booklet which highlights the life of Rubens and tells the story behind all 52 pieces of his artworks on display. Neat. I prefer this to audio guides.


Above: Rubens' garden

[Side Note: Rubens is to Antwerp who Michelangelo is to Florence. He was a great inspiration to several Antwerp artists and he was also involved in the publications of The Plantin-Moretus House (UNESCO World Heritage Site) - a printing & publishing house in Antwerp. It was inscribed because it's associated with the invention and spread of typography in the 16th Century, contributing towards the development of science and culture. I regret that I didn't make it to the Museum Plantin-Moretus though.]

Continuing down Meir, you'll eventually see this...


Above: The Giant's hand (from the Legend of Brabo & the Giant)

So what’s the story behind the gigantic hand? Read on, we'll get to it.

Just a little further down from Groenplaats (Green Place) stands the splendid Cathedral of Our Lady, the largest and most important Gothic church in Belgium.


Above: The main façade and the interior.

Besides being a place for the adoration of Our Lady, the Cathedral is also partially being used as a museum, housing some exquisite art pieces.



The noteworthy ones include of course, those by Rubens.


Above: Paintings by Rubens depicting Jesus in "Raising of the Cross" (top) & "Descent from the Cross" (bottom).

Just further down from the Cathedral is The Town Square (Grote Markt). Here you’ll find the Town Hall decorated with coat of arms and adorned with coloured flags. Also facing the Town Square are rows of Guild houses.







In the last picture above, the statue of the legendary hero, Brabo can be seen standing on a fountain, in the motion of tossing something.

Legend has it that Brabo, a roman soldier angered by a Giant who terrorized ships passing through the river Schelde by forcing them to pay toll, decided to put an end to his tyranny. Brabo fought hard and eventually sliced off the Giant’s hand with his sword and tossed it away in the river. So this is the story behind the giant stone sculpture of a hand seen earlier on Meir Street.

As you continue walking towards the river Schelde, you’ll eventually reach The Castle Steen. And guess what? Over there you will find the sculpture of the Giant.



Today, the Castle houses the Belgian National Maritime Museum.

Having a bit of time left, I headed to ModeNatie for the MoMu Fashion Museum – which unfortunately seemed to be closed / under some renovation. ModeNatie also houses the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, the Flanders Fashion Institute, Copyright Bookshop (which I love!) as well as the largest flagship boutique of Yohji Yamamoto.


Above: The minimalist Copyright Bookshop which stocks a very cool range of art / photography / architecture books, and Yohji Yamamoto’s designs appearing like free silhouettes floating in the white & airy boutique. That’s all from Antwerp! Still more to come.

NEXT up, Brussels!

Ghent, Belgium [Part I of III]

Ok, so let me get back to blogging about my summer holidays as promised. I love Ghent. I must say it's got one of the prettiest river views I've ever seen. It was simply breathtaking...

The city of Ghent grew around the river Leie flanked by the 'Korenlei' & 'Graslei' (busy port areas during Medieval times) on each side of its banks. Today, the beautiful guildhouses that line the river on both sides are preserved & restored mostly as restaurants and they remain as the glories & charm of the city. Above: The river Leie, with Korenlei on the left and Graslei on the right.

Above: Frontal view of the Guildhouses on Graslei, from Korenlei.

On the Graslei side of the river bank lies the important monuments of the Historic Center of Ghent. Three of most prominent buildings forming the early skyline of Ghent are found near the St. Bavo's Square.

Above: St. Bavo's Square Above: St. Nicholas Church, The Belfry with 44 bells (it's an UNESCO World Heritage Site and it offers a fantastic 360 deg. view of the old town) & The St. Bavo's Cathedral. Above: View from St. Michael's Bridge Another important building is the Town House of Gent. It was originally built in a Gothic style during the 1480's and expanded in size over time, resulting in a new wing being built in Renaissance style from 1518. Above: The Town Hall's Renaissance wing. Above: Friday's Market with the Statue of Jacob van Artevelde, once a leader of Ghent. Apparently this was the way he often stood before his people.. Above: Koren Market Square, a good place to find food.

What's a medieval town without a castle? This one's called The Castle of the Counts built around the 1170's. It was orignally used for military purposes but was later used as a mint,a court of justice, a prison, and even as a cotton plant. Today it houses the Judiciary Museum & Weapon Museum. Above: The Castle of the Counts. Above: A pretty view from one of the arrow slits of the castle. Ok. It's time to move on to something more "this decade". Besides old towns and castles, Ghent also has a very interesting Design Museum on the Korenlei side of the river. Its collection ranges from art noveau to contemporary designs. Here're some of my favourites of the latter. Above: The super cute carousel made out of Alessi household items. Love it. Above: Some of the furniture, jewellery, metalware and other whimsical design pieces. I strongly recommend the Design Museum of Ghent even if you're not an art lover. I'm sure you can find something in there that amuses you and make that 5 euro entrance fee worthwhile.

Moving on, another place I would recommend (especially if you're a girl who has a sweet tooth) is Julie's House.

Above: I soooo wanna own a shop like this!! I'm sure Julie the owner dreamt of this as a little girl and made it come true. Above: Cupcakes & Meringues in more flavours than you can imagine, Cheescakes, Brownies & much more! It's a nice place to hang out with some girlfriends, have tea and gossip for a while, and of course spoil yourself silly with sweet stuff :) If that's toooo sinful for your taste, then check this other one out. Above: A flower shop selling flowers and guess what, flower flavoured ice cream!

Unfortunately it was end of the day when I was there and everything was almost sold out. Anyway I'm not so sure about tasting something which might smell like aromatheraphy oil or shower gel.

Of course, there has got to be something for the boys. Look what I spotted...

Above: The "feestfiets" bar on the move.

The Feestfiets is basically a roof covered Bar / Cafe on wheels which sits up to 20 persons and can be used for all sorts of group outings but I heard guys rent it mostly for bachelor parties. It comes fitted with CD player for music as well as beverage dispenser. I sure hope at least one person remains sober to keep the vehicle on track!

That's all for Ghent! Next up, ANTWERP!