HOW DOES TIME GO SO FAST ???
Enjoying the gothic, and the coffee, and the chocolate, and doing lots of walking, and looking, and people looking (I'm wondering when some of the new styles here will hit chicago?).
wrote the following as we traveled - now got it into some semblance of english and posting -
05- 17 June - Brussels, Koln, Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels
recap: so far the intrepid travelers have landed, used non-existant french to eat, shop, and get around. Negotiated train tickets, and even managed to change cities. Now for the details!
Sunday/5 June appeared somewhere over the Atlantic as we tried to fool our bodies into believing that 8 pm to 2 am (breakfast) was really 8 pm to 8 am. It worked...sort of.
We arrived in Brussels, dropped our bags, and per rickie, kept moving to avoid turning into blobs on the bed.
One of my aims is to hear live music every day - and the mojo is working.
Prelude to service in St. Micheal -- jazz quintet outside St. Hubert covered mall - single fiddler (x 2) - all the first day. Is this a great continent or what!
"standard' gothic buildings in the gran place (town square), and looking out of the town hall, some slumped glass in the VERY old windows. The cartoon museum - home to all things TinTin - is housed in an art nouveau formerly department store - architecture!
Monday/6 June--Brussels
woke to rain and smiling. No a/c, so you hear the rain, and the birds and the church bells...and yes, the room is muggy, and often hot.
and it's monday, and the museums are closed, so we're going shopping...! (mostly window, I have no doubt. And..surprise, surprise..money is not the greatest issue - space and weight is. Stores w/ the entire line of Kipling! 3 swaroski stores w/in 2 miles!
City 2 is the big mall, and Gallerie Innes their Fields. From seeing the stores as we walk around (miles...) it's starting to sort which stores are chains & which single - & how the tourist lace is equal everywhere - & how some individual stuff is ABSOLUTELY lovely. Goblein tapestry store (Bayreux in a golf cap or unicorn copy for your wall?)
The mall had a Best Buy store; didn't realize they were international. Naturally had a look. Saw a laptop I liked, but even more I like the european stoves. Narrower, with top gas and oven electric, and prices not sky high (as that combo is in the US) in the 500 euro range - ALSO, the gas ranges come with a panel that lifts for cooking, and provides extra counter space when not. America take notes? In the end, I did a bit of buying. Ended up with a fountain pen made in germany, and a new address book - they still believe in paper.
Naturally, we took a walk to see the fountain, Mannikin-piss, which is much smaller than I thought from all the hoopla (and which you can take home in beer bottle openers, wine bottle openers (yes...) and chocolate - all colors (yellow, pink, white, blue) and from 2" to 3' (yes that is feet)
My desire when traveling is always to hear as much music as possible. I have already been richly treated. Organ prelude to service in St. Michael - worldfly (street group from austrailia touring the summer in Germany) - jazz street quintet(stand up bass, sax, guitar, and 2, count them, 2 accordians) - solo violins, classical or pop - and last night, sop w/ guitar w/ a voice that would work for Bach cantata. Oh yes, and we wandered into a church to look, and found that they were starting their 'once a month on monday' organ concert - and the first tune was bach, wachet auf - which went beyond B! (musician joke).
I also see a lot of instruments being carried. which makes sense, given cities that walk and use public transit. 5 cellos all ala backpack - and this am one VERY cool case.
...and of course I am knitting. I brought one (yes, only one) small project. I cast on a cowl -- and the pattern calls for 400 yds of sock yarn (370 m) Figure it will be done in two weeks, and I'll send it and the needles home w/ Bob - and buy another project in York - & no knitting in Munich.
As said, I'm re-reading Outlander series. Finished book 1 last night, so? now wait till London for book 2?
Tuesday/7 June - Brussels
Music - Tuning/installation of a new 8 rank tracker organ - Notre Dame Du Sabon; the final exams of violin (3rd year bachelor's) at Brussels conservatory. the Gran Salle is a lovely hall, narrow and high, with 2 balconies and boxes; music of 1920's w/ projected sheet music in Magritte Museum.
And the Magritte Museum. Icons I know, up close and personal, and real. 'this is not a pipe'.
Belvue museum is about the city and installed in part of former palace. How could you ever mis-behave if you lived in such rooms?
Brussels also seems to be a city full of trim abdomens. ?Does it rub off in 2 weeks?
Our hotel fronts on a small square, cafes spilling into the square with umbrella topped tables. We ate at one, a huge meal for me - omelet, Kriek bier (cherry - yumm), and strawberry crepes for dessert w/ expresso.
Our hotel must be carved out of an old building. The ceilings are easily 12' and that is w/ a dropped ceiling..and back in the land of complex window mechanisms that open the same window frame pane to the side or at the top. Again I wonder why these haven't made it to the US? - great during rain. No screens & no mosquitos, or flying beasties in general. This room reminds me of the room the summer at Aston Magna - very small, and very high, which prevents feeling boxed.
Saw the hat violin player walking by as we ate.. carrying the violin out of its case.. & later w/ a duffle & violin in a paper shopping bag sitting on a bench in the park having a drink. no case, no concern.
?why are pulpits in the churches 1/2 way down the nave? St. Giles in Edinburgh, 2 in Brussels, in Koln?
Wednesday/8 June - Brussels--> Koln
Started the day and finished the city w/ a visit to Brux City Museum, on Gran Place. Again a great building, and the collection of Mannikin-piss costumes on the 3rd floor..The exhibit included a video of 'man in the street' answers to "what is the legend of Mannikin piss" - and the answers were all over the place.
The room at Hotel Engelbertz, Koln, is huge by comparison w/ Hotel "the Moon" (yes, for really) - and I won't turn off the water in the shower when I bend to wash my knees!
Did the german tourist thing for dinner at Peter's Bierhause. Bier in tall skinny glasses - 0.2L - though no limit on how many you order. (grin)
the knit cowl is 1/2 done.
Music continuing to pop in front of me --
..fiddler this am as left Brussels - same one (w/ tech) doing Handel Water music this time. In Koln the 5 piece group from Australia, includes cello. Talked w/, and she is classical, in Australia, and does this during the summers. Got one picture, and some video, which I cleverly erased when I transfered to computer. They were selling a cd, so probably on youtube.
...toured the cathedral. Fantastic. & another candle. Did I mention lighting one in @ city visited? St. Michael in Brussels, here in Koln. the Dom/cathedral prompted by housing for the bones of the 3 magi (skulls), which put it on the pilgrim circuit. Took lots of pictures.
Thursday/9 June - Koln
Started the day with the Ricky walk. Along the Rhine, past the Rathaus (city hall-not rodent convention), archeology site, and getting 'lost' a couple of times. FYI - Ricky is Rick Steves, my long time travel guru, and for anyone traveling anywhere that he covers, cannot say enough good about his comments.
returned to the Dom for the formal tour. Our guide had French, German, English, some spanish and some Polish (dad is from Poland).
Bought our tickets for the next leg of the trip, and found out that buying tickets and reserving seats are separate processes! Ah, the learning on a trip.
Museum time: Roman (bob call) - interesting, including a huge mosaic floor found, and left in place w/ the museum built around it. (now down 20+ feet from 'street' level). My fav was the Wallraf-Richartz. 3 floors - medieval, 18th, 19th - and the enlightened policy that pictures w/out flash are just fine, thank you.
Did the Konditteri thing in great luxury --
and took an evening stroll along the river --
OH yes - bought some 'wool' - in the department store. And some cotton and bamboo crochet hook which might get on the planes? we will see.
Hotel Eng.. is 1/2 block off the Hohe Strasse, the shopping mall/pedestrian street.
shall post this much and get week two up over the weekend - also pictures!
No comments:
Post a Comment