Angel statue in the church that had a statue by Michelangelo. I took a picture of the statue, but it didn't come out... too many tourists!!! It was a gorgeous while marble piece, as his works often are, sort of a miniature of the Madonna and Jesus in the Vatican. Anyway, got a good photo of this angel, who I loved. There was a twelve foot serpent circling around her feet, tempting Eve.
...And like all churches, a TV in the corner showing a video about Jesus....
Can't tell you how excited I was to find graffiti in Bruges...
After Bruges, I took the train to Ghent, a larger, more modernized town a step closer to Brussels. There, I stayed the evening with a wonderful couple, Lars and Frederik, who treated me to a full tour of the town, including all the prime chocolate shops, and took me to a party, complete with DJ in a beautiful old theatre. The venue reminded me of Vet's Hall in Santa Cruz, but most likely a few centuries older, and much more ornate.
Ghent was an equally frosty town, complete with a beautiful brown winter river, and superbly old buildings. Christmas lights and bakeries cheered the town up, and in complete contrast to Bruges, the city streets were bustling all day. It's a university town, which explains some of the graffiti, noise, and atmosphere. I loved it.
Look! I love Ghent!
In the hallway at the university. The building itself was incredibly old and gorgeous, but rather than photograph it, I opted for the mustached mosaic...
More Graffiti!
Shoes!
Beautiful River.
And Ghent's Castle. Pretty cool, but we were too cheap to pay the entrance fee. Lars told me it wasn't that excited, and I believed him. So, we headed to a café and spent the money on baked goods instead. A much more authentic cultural experience I'm sure.
Well, those were all my photos for Ghent. Thought I had more, but apparently not. That evening, Lars and Frederik took me out, and we danced the night away to brilliant Euro techno. THEN we ate Bicky burgers at 3 am, which are kind of the Belgian version of In N Out, though probably not as "healthy." It was lovely. Then we rode our bikes back through the cutting icy air, and went to SLEEEP!!Next day: Brussels! I stayed with Melanie, a really sweet girl I met through Lars, who invited me to stay with her in the suburbs right outside of the city. She and her mother are from Newcastle, so I found myself slowly adopting her British accent while we spent the day together wandering all over the city, eating chocolate, visiting the Christmas markets, and seeing the sights. She was a wonderful tour guide, and I hope she makes it to California sometime so I can return the favor. She also had one of the greatest cats I've ever met.
This was our breakfast... a sampling of some amazing local cakes.
Sunrise on the metro into town.
Brussels' Central Plaza:
The shopping streets:
Perhaps the most intense Candy shop ever!
Oh barbie.
Waffles and Obama! Look, he's happy to see them!
Waffle number four or five. I kind of lost count. 
City streets.
Biscuit shop.
This is Pierre Marcolini, the hyper exclusive chocolate shop in Brussels, where the woman behind the counter made me turn off my camera. Don't tell them that I put this photo online, they might arrest me... Anyway, the chocolates there tasted like expensive, and were quite pricey. You had to walk upstairs to another room to pick out individual pieces.
Government building at night:
Alley way with Absinthe pubs, down which Melanie showed me the statue of the peeing girl. Built by a shopkeeper to rival the little boy, and bring tourists around to this part of town. Don't know what it did for business, but I love her!
My apologies for the vulgarity of this photo.
Cool cafe. Designed by a Belgian architect that built most of the interesting buildings in Brussels.
Yes, those are REAL dead animals.... what a lovely Christmas display, no? Ugh.
Here's my ultimate tourist shot. I'm eating a Belgian waffle in front of the statue of the peeing boy. Click his name to be linked to the wiki description.
Chocolate shops! They love that boy.
Beautiful streets. Very expensive restaurants.
Beer Cellar!
Yep, a waffle van!
I loved the carousels here that the city had set up for the holidays. They were strangely sinister, with the old world French surrealist creep aesthetic... if that makes any sense. Sort of deconstructed carousels, a little mechanical and VERY cool.
This was the perfect way to finish out the night... eating filling, typical Belgian foods. Melanie took me to a restaurant with a sample plate of meatballs in different sauces, and of course french fries! SO GOOD! Though, not a vegetable in sight sadly. Does my wheat beer count?
In the airport on my way out, ode to Americana and Belgian culture. What a beautiful juxtaposition!
All right, getting closer to being up to date...
No comments:
Post a Comment