BRUSSELS LANDMARKS

I can't believe I haven't written for several weeks!  Time flies and I have been very busy - not pacing myself very well.  Funny, isn't it, how retired people seem to be so busy! :)

I thought you might like to see some of the landmarks of Brussels.  The architecture in this city is helter-skelter.  Over the past two centuries, the urban planning has not been coordinated and so one finds a bit of everything everywhere.  One French author calls Brussels "une ville traumatisée" from an architectural point of view.  However, things are changing and every building must now pass through an urban planning committee: the deciding factor is "architecture" and not "engineering".  For example, all the new skyscrapers being built, are different in shape but are all of glass: they reflect the sky and the clouds, making them seem lighter.

This is the Dexia skyscraper.  You can see what I mean by being all of glass.  There are others like it around it.

This is the Berlyamont building of the European Union - again, glass.  It's in a cruciform shape and its facade is covered with glass louvres which move automatically to regulate temperature and reduce glaze.

These are the Belgacom Towers, headquarters of the Belgian Telephone Company, taken on one of the many grey days here.

Les Galeries du Roi - an elegant mall with a glass roof - built by King Leopold II.  And there are some affordable shops in it!  Life here is relatively cheaper than Paris or London.

The contours, footprint and volume of the steel and glass structure mimic those of the 17th century chapel of Les Brigittines beside it.  I love the idea of paying homage to something beautiful that is already there.

The narrow elliptical shape of the rectorate building on the campus of the Vrije Universiteit Brussels (VUB) where I take my Flemish courses.  No room in it has 90-degree angles!  I have my written Flemish exam today and my oral on Monday......

Glaverbel - a circular building named after the Belgian glass manufacturer for which it was designed and accordingly, the facade is covered in a curtain of tinted windows.  You can see the reflection of the surrounding trees in the windows.

CBR administrative offices (cement company) - the bronze glass mirrored windows reflect the suburban location and leave the facade uncluttered.  Rather unique!

The Atomium - Brussels' Eiffel Tower - the centrepiece of Expo '58.  The design was based on an iron molecule magnified 165 billion times, with each globe representing an atom.  There are escalators along the linking tubes.

St. Augustine Church, in Place de l'Altitude Cent, the highest point in Brussels (100 m.).  Not a very pretty church (made out of concrete) but it is a city landmark.  And the square it's built in is not very elevated so you can see that Brussels, in spite of its 'hills', is quite flat.

Le Paquebot jaune, or The Yellow Steamship, as Brussellers like to call it, is a cultural arts centre on Place Flagey.  Haven't been there yet but hope to before I leave.  Another grey day....

The Basilica of Sts-Michel-et-Gudule by night.  This is the church in which the royal family is married, christened and buried.  It sits in the heart of Brussels and is very beautiful inside.  During the summer, the park outside is filled with people taking their lunch break.

La Porte de Hal, the only remaining fortified city gate from the Middle Ages.  Built in 1381, it was a gate in the second set of defensive walls around Brussels.

An outstanding example of the 'Art nouveau" style.  It used to be a store called "Old England" that sold British goods but today it is a beautiful museum of musical instruments.  Still to be visited!

The Koekelberg Cathedral, the largest church in Brussels, can be seen from all over Brussels.  It is a huge church on a 'hill' that regularly holds beautiful art exhibits.....but it is also used as a church for mass on Saturdays and Sundays.

And last but definitely not least, le Palais de Justice with its gilded dome topped by a crown.  Again, this was the work of Leopold II, a megalomanic.  The building is gigantic and always under some kind of repair.  No one around has ever seen it without scaffolding of some sort (I took the picture at an angle that covers most of the scaffolding).  And no one today really knows how to use this white elephant.  I have to admit, though, that it is very impressive.





And so this is another aspect of this beautiful, enticing city called Brussels that is my home for a year.  One of my joys is to wander around the city without an agenda, and take pictures of whatever interests me.  I'm surprised at how much I love living in a city.  I never thought I'd say that, coming from the suburbs.  But living 'downtown' means living close to so many interesting things to do and see, and public transportation takes me relatively quickly all over the city.  And my sidestreet is relatively quiet.

Hmmm........

HURRAH FOR THE BELGIAN ROYAL FAMILY !

The royal family has a second palace set in beautiful parkland in the commune of Laeken, on the outskirts of Brussels, though still part of the city.  Every spring, for 3 weeks, they open up their greenhouses to the public so that people like myself can enjoy the beauty of the flowers, plants and trees.

King Leopold II (perhaps familiar to you because of the Congo) decided in 1868 to build the enormous greenhouse complex.  He called on the leading botanists, nurserymen and suppliers to turn the greenhouses' collection of plants and flowers into one of the continent's loveliest.  He spared neither expense nor effot to make his glass city something unique.

And it shows.  I have never seen such a layout, such an extravagant show of colours and sorts of flowers, plants, ferns and trees.  It was breathtaking.  We walked through greenhouses, winter gardens, pavilions and galleries, each one more beautiful than the one before. Azaleas are in full bloom right now: what a glorious, spectacular show of orange, red, pink, white, yellow and all the shades in between!  And I think I saw every colour imaginable of geraniums.  And of course, many of the flowers are arranged in settings with mirrors or sculptures or exquisite Eastern urns or statues.

It was so outstanding I went twice!  As a treat for your eyes, I'm sending you via email my web album of photos taken in the royal greenhouses.  Here's just a wee taste below. Enjoy!

 

UNITY IN DIVERSITY !

A few week-ends ago, the 20s-30s group at St. Andrew's invited me to come along with them on their annual week-end retreat in the countryside of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.  I was flattered and of course said 'yes'.

And what fun we had!  Lots of singing, laughing, talking, preparing meals and cleaning up.  One of the young men, Evan Lamos, led us in meditative reflexions on the Christian's walk with God.  Saturday afternoon we took a long hike through a beautiful forest with steep, twisting valleys made intimate by woodlands, rushing streams and dramatic rock formations.  I was proud of myself for being able to keep up with these young people, though ..... I was the last one in the line of hikers!

The thing that struck me the most, as I walked, talked, ate, slept, meditated and sang with all these young people, was their unity in their diversity.  These are Christian young people who are united in their desire is to serve God and live a life that is pleasing to Him and, at the same time, diverse in that they come from many different countries: Belgium, Holland, the USA, Congo-Brassaville, Nigeria, Hungary, China, India, Ireland and Indonesia.  It will be fascinating to see how God will use them in their own countries once their work or studies are over here in Brussels.  It was a beautiful image of the Body of Christ/the Church as it should be.

After leaving on Sunday afternoon, we stopped at a covered butterfly garden before heading back to Belgium.  And what a spectacular visit that was!  The most gorgeous, exquisite, fragile butterflies I've ever seen!  Even beats the Botanical Gardens in Montreal.  I was amazed at their colours and variety as they flew freely around us, in the midst of gorgeous orchids and tropical plants.  I didn't realize that butterflies could literally eat fresh fruit: there were hanging feeding trays of fresh fruit all over.  I'm sending you via email my web album so that you can enjoy all this beauty too.

What a special guest!

A few weeks ago, my niece Rebecca Klinck visited me - my first overnight guest.  We had a wonderful time together as I showed her "my" Brussels.  We went walking around the old part of town, meandered throught the sereine park of my Commune Ixelles (and sat outside in the sun and had coffee) and visited the Horta House museum.  Of course we ate out and had Belgian dishes and of course, she tried our Belgian beer!  It was the week before Easter, so she came with me to the Passion Week evening services at St. Andrew's and saw where I "work".

Interestingly, this was the first time I had attended evening services every night of the week leading up to Good Friday and Easter.  What an excellent preparation for the Resurrection service on Sunday!  We meditated and reflected on that last week in Jesus' life and the meaning of the Cross, and expressed our gratitude for the death of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.  Easter Sunday, Resurrection Day, explodes on one with greater power after such a preparation.  Thank-you, Jesus!

May Day

May 1st in Europe is like Labour Day in North America, traditionally a celebration of solidarity among workers and a holiday.

However, here it also officially celebrates the beginning of summer. On May 1st, 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily-of-the-valley as a lucky charm.  He decided to offer the same each year to the ladies of the court.  At the beginning of the 20th century, it became custom to give a sprig of lily-of-the-valley, a symbol of springtime, on May 1st.

And so I did.  I took a small bouquet and a delicious brioche to some friends' apartment and had breakfast with them :)

... and I followed that lovely beginning of the day with a visit to a show of antique porcelaine and ceramics.  There were exquisite vases, dishes, serving pieces, figurines, crystal bottles and flasks, clocks, urns and much more from many countries in Europe and the East.  The colours and designs, the intricacy and the shapes were candy for the eyes.  I loved it!

Stolpersteine

A what ......?

A 'stolperstein' is the German word for a 'stumble stone'.  The artist Gunter Demnig has given this word a new meaning, that of a small, cobblestone-sized memorial for a single victim of Nazism.  These memorials commemorate individuals - both those who died and survivors - who were consigned by the nazis to prisons, euthanasia facilities, sterilization clinics, concentration camps and extermination camps.

Demnig manufactures a concrete cube of 10 cm (4 inches), which he covers with a sheet of brass. Then he stamps the details of the individual on it: the name, year of birth and the fate, as well as the dates of deportation and death, if known. The stolperstein is then laid flush with the pavement or the cobblestones in the sidewalk in front of the last residence of the victim.  In French, they're called 'des pavés commémoratifs'.  And so a stroll down an ordinary city street is suddenly transformed into a walk across the stage of history.

There are thousands of them in continental Europe and there are two sets in Brussels: not many, since we know that about 26,000 Jews were exported to concentration and death camps.  So I went looking for them and found them.  As I walked through the two different neighbourhoods, I tried to imagine what it must have been like there during the German occupation in WW II, the stigma of being Jewish and the terror of the doorbell ringing...

Goedemiddag! Hoe gaat het met jou?

Now what does that mean?

Do you think, knowing me, that I would come to live in Belgium and not take a stab at learning Flemish?!

That's exactly what I'm doing.  The Flemish-speaking university here offers courses in Flemish.  It's called 'Nederlands' = Dutch spoken à la Flemish.  What that means is that Flemish is really Dutch with different pronunciation here and there, and some different expressions.  So, I'm getting 2 for 1!!  I go twice a week for 3 1/2 hours each time = 7 hours of Flemish per week.

We have a great teacher, Sylvia Philips.  She is young, vivacious and goes about teaching beginners like me in an interesting way.  As a teacher of linguistics, I have been impressed with how she concentrates mostly on oral comprehension, and I am amazed to be able to understand almost everything she says after 2 months of classes.

There are about 20 of us in the class.  EVERYONE of us is from a different country!!  It shows you what a cultural mix Brussels is!  It also shows you that Sylvia HAD to teach her class in Flemish right from the start: it's the only language we all have in common.  During the breaks, however, we have found that most of us speak either French or English, so we switch back and forth over a cup of coffee.  But the fun is that, as we get better in Flemish, we are speaking to each other in Flemish!!  I often think of my Dutch friends the Geleynses: I am learning their language!

Actually, I'm finding Flemish quite easy.  The grammar is easy and many words are very similar to English, and there's a guttural 'g' like German.  I'm listening to a Flemish TV channel to get the music of the language and I have found a new Flemish friend I can practise with.  By the end of the year, I should be really at home in the language.  Can't wait!

Oh ..... and what does the title of this post mean?  Guess :)!