What we saw at a market in Brussels:
We were in Belgium from the 12th to the 20th of July. It's kind of random we ended up there because honestly the only things we knew about Belgium were waffles, fries, and chocolate, but it fit the space between the Germany Euros adventure and settling in Nijmegen.
A visual of this part of the journey:
Jonty & I parted ways with Will in the morning of June 30th and caught our Flixbus from Dortmund to Brussels (pop. 1.2mil approx). Our Airbnb was in the south side of the city so we needed to get a train (or walk 40 min in the big backpacks). The woman at the help desk told us to watch out for pickpockets… not an auspicious start.
Our apartment was right next to the south station which meant that the area was not the most shall we say ‘touristy’, aflluent, whatever. But we didn’t ever feel unsafe, walking around so no drama.
Our funny bedroom:
It was the guy’s actual house, but he was away for the 4 nights we were there so it was fun for us to be like this is OUR inner city apartment.
The first night was kind of depressing because Germany was CHEAP and there was a lot of tourist infrastructure like public toilets and signs in English. Our panic at the increased cost of living lead us to purchasing and trying to pan fry (?) a frozen pizza at 11 pm. An hour long period that truly tested our relationship.
The next day we went to Waterloo! As in the song that won ABBA Eurovision and the Napoleonic battleground! We took a train to Braine-l'Alleud and then walked for like 40 minutes to get to the Lion’s mound and museum. Confusingly, the municipality of Waterloo is not where the battle took place.
Lion’s mound and buildings etc:
The museum was a shocking €43 per person! (Cheaper for students though so if you’re reading this right now and have a student ID you should bring it on your trip to save $$). We did not enter the museum, we did not climb the Lion’s mound to look over the battlefield, we did not go to the tourist priced restaurants.
Jonty surveying the scene:
I did learn a lot from a children’s information book in the gift shop though! I think I would recommend going to Waterloo if you know more about the history and your currency has a healthier conversion rate to the euro.
Watching the Belgium v. France game that evening, drinking delicious Belgium beer! (France win):
Treating ourselves after the frozen pizza debacle:
Frites, salad, fried onions, x2 hamburger patties, SAUCE in a beautiful baguette. It was €16 for both. Well worth it to join in the big line of people outside the stall.
The sauce options:
In all the places we have visited so far you buy fries in a big paper cone with sauce drowning them, YUM.
Our dinner view!
The city centre was a 20 minute walk from the apartment and it was so beautiful!
This was in the huge old town square, lots of gold, lots of statues, LOTS of expensive tourist-y chocolate shops.
A Brussels highlight if you remember to look down:
The following day our focus was on contemporary politics. I kind of don’t understand how the EU works or what the different areas are, but they have the Parlimentarium in Brussels which is a free visitors centre/museum.
Jonty before we went in, all official:
Inside there were audio guides that unlocked interactive slides that could be whatever language you spoke. My favourite exhibitions were the photo wall that showed snapshots of European history over time towards the formation of the EU, and the videos of different Europeans talking about their jobs and passions and how the EU supported them.
We Love an interactive aspect:
Afterwards we came across a small market with a stall that sold only oysters and champagne! How glam!
We ate frites and I drank a single espresso in a cute cafe-like place next to this square, reading our Kindles:
Aioli in a little cone:
We walked past this beautiful chocolate shop:
This:
And this cafe that was apparently a favourite of the Surrealists:
On Wednesday, July 3rd, we went to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium for the show ‘IMAGINE! 100 Years of International Surrealism’.
Artworks seen:
Dora Maar, Untitled (Hand-Shell), 1935
Salvador Dalí, The Temptation of St. Anthony, 1946
Max Ernst, Forest, Bird and Sun, 1927
Odlion Redon, Eyes Closed, 1890
Pablo Picasso, Minotaur stroking a sleeping woman’s hand with his snout, 1933
Giorgio de Chirico, The Melancholy of a Beautiful Day, 1913
Jonty’s fave:
Max Ernst, The Angel of the home or the Triumph of Surrealism, 1937
Though it was very cool to see these works in the place where the ideas of surrealism were born, I think that the surrealism show that came to Te Papa in 2022 was more comprehensive and better set out, though this show had a good audio guide. The actual physical gallery space was also a lot more run-down looking than galleries I have worked in at home, less care or money allocated towards smoothing out the walls.
Because we were there on the first Wednesday of the month, there were two other museums that we could go to for free!
Art seen at the Magritte museum:
René Magritte, The Use of Speech, 1927-1929
René Magritte, Portrait of Anne-Marie Crowet or The Battle, 1960
René Magritte, The Return, 1940
The works by Magritte were interspersed with works by Jean-Michel Folon who was a Belgian illustrator inspired by René’s work. At first I was like ‘why isn’t it just Magritte?’ But you have to keep looking, Folon’s art was charming and beautiful and sad maybe? I liked it a lot.
Jean-Michel Folon, Leave, undated
Jean-Michel Folon, Untitled, 1963
Jonty’s favourite Magritte:
After looking at Surrealism and Magritte for what felt like 100 years I was exhausted and hungry. We wanted to take a break and eat our sandwiches but couldn’t be bothered to leave the museum area and try to reenter.
Art seen at the Old Masters Museum:
Jacque-Louis David, The Death of Marat, 1793
Pieter Bruegel I, Winter Landscape with Bird Trap, 1565
Lucas Cranach I, Apollo and Diana, 1525-27
Rachel Ruysch, Still Life with Flowers Arrangement and Plums, 1704
Messy close-up of Hieronymus Bosch, Triptych of the Temptation of St. Anthony, 1501
Everywhere you turned there was something interesting and it made me wish I knew more about it all. When you’re in a gallery it feels very urgent to see everything, but to truly know it all takes more time than we have.
I don’t think I have ever been more overwhelmed by the quantity and quality of art than I was that day. We just moved from room to room to room trying to see it all. I feel very happy to be with someone who also sees this as a good way to spend 4+ hours. At the end there was a van selling waffles with various sauces conveniently placed at the museum’s exit…
The interior of the museum ‘complex’ area, absolutely insane:
On our evening walk we stumble across a mediaeval reenactment, Brussels Ommegang. It was explained to us as a recreation of the procession that a king took when he arrived in Brussels, a long long time ago. There was a seemingly unending parade of people walking the streets in costumes, it felt incredibly surreal and very cool! I think that there was an event or something in the square at the end but there was no space to see.
An angel departing, the guys dressed in beige standing by the angel took turns carrying it from the inside so it was always moving:
A cute dog riding a horse:
View from our seats outside the bar, Delirium:
We love waffles!
Then it was July 4th, time to take off!
Next up is Brugge! Honestly I was going to post the write ups together, but there is simply too much to say.
Again please message me or Jonty with questions, comments, or things you’re curious about!
We have been in Nijmegen for over two weeks now (more on that later) and are going to Amsterdam with Alex and Zoe this weekend!
Thank you for reading xxxx
Olivia <3
Brugge preview:
