In Bruges...it's in Belgium (and so am I)

So, I went to Bruges and it is well, as the movie says, a "f-ing fairy tale." Bruges was the center (or a center) of Paul's trip to the Low Countries and he went up there a day before I did so I could get some work in at the archive. Of course, when I went up it rained and rained and rained. But, the town is still beautiful.

We climbed the bell tower that stands in the center of town and had a pretty nice view. Bruges was a cloth town and a very important one at that, so the town is awash in beautiful old guild halls and houses that sit on the canals. There is a certain "fake" quality to the place. Once the residents realized that they were never going to have the same wealth in trade, the decided to preserve the town as much as they could.

Paul and I ventured to the oldest cafe in Bruges. Since 1515 someone has been serving beer at this little bar that is off the beaten track. (Thanks Lonely Planet.) According to local legend, as told by my Lonely Planet, the painter Rubens did a dine and dash out this cafe when he ordered his brew and then painted a coin on the table. There was no trace of the coin.

After our beer and some food we made our way to a replica Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Built in the 15 century by a rich family it is a, well, weird church. In side is this morbid altarpiece that is covered with sculpted skulls, ladders, bones, tools. Just weird. According, again to our guidebooks, the church contains a "replica of Christ's tomb, complete with imitation corpse." Now, I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but I wasn't expecting what we found.

Paul and I began the "hunt for Jesus." We went up stairs and to the chapel behind the altar, no luck, until I found a little -- like 3 foot high -- opening in the wall and looked in. "Found it!" I reported to Paul and we entered the "replica tomb." Now, I'm not sure, but I don't think Jesus was buried in what looked to me to be a 1970s tiled room that could be found in the gym of my middle school. But, well, that's what this "replica" looked like. The replica body, too, was more or less just "off." We found this all together very funny. Good thing there wasn't anyone else in the church so we left before the lightening came down to strike us dead.

On a more somber and serious note, we did get to see the precious blood that is housed in the Basilica of the Holy Blood in Bruges. Brought back from the Holy Land during the Crusades, the blood is in a vial that is in a clear glass canister and, from time to time, put on display. It is housed in a double naved church. The lower nave is a bare Romanesque church with little decoration. The uppernave is more more impressive and gilt. Now, all relics are to be taken with a grain of salt since it's hard to test their validity, but the beauty in which it is displayed and kept and venerated is hard to dispute and, the Catholic I am, I followed the crowed and touched the canister that it is kept in, monitored by a stern looking nun dressed in a resplendent robe.

Walked around some more, took in the museum, and had a few drinks and some food. The walk back to the train station was in the rain, but we did manage to see the town after dark and it is a beautiful "night town." The buildings are light up well and the canals are so still that the reflections -- even in the rain -- are amazing. It's a place to go back and explore more on a better day.

Return to the Blog

Well, now that the holidays are over I can update the blog a bit more. (Yeah, I know, you were all so worried!) I don’t know if anyone is still reading this, but I’ll try to keep these updates short, so scroll down to see the older posts (trip home, Christmas).

Travels with Paul (Amsterdam and Utrecht)

Well, my friend Paul is visiting from the US so we’ve been doing some travel. Here is what we’ve done so far and some comments:

Amsterdam (Saturday/Sunday 9/10 January)

It wasn’t what I expected it to be. I thought it would be a larger and grander, but it wasn’t. The Dam – their central square – is actually pretty small and unimpressive. That said, seeing Anne Frank’s House, wandering the lovely canals, visiting the Royal Museum, and taking the Heineken Brewery Tour made the trip very worthwhile.

Paul, a master European traveler, found a great hostel with a great location and after a little mishap meeting up (Amsterdam doesn’t have arrival information at the train station) we set out to explore the city.

It was snowing and, from what we could tell, it always snows in Amsterdam. Despite the cold we made our way through the city and took a canal tour – very romantic. It took about an hour and we saw the narrowest house in Amsterdam – not much wider than the door itself – and the furniture hooks on the gables of the houses – narrow stairs preclude taking sofas and the like inside when moving, so they use hooks to bring things through the windows – and houseboats that people live on year-round. A good choice to see a lot of the city and do some icebreaking in our little canal boat.

We visited Ann Frank’s House, which was very powerful and moving. The secret annex – where she and her family lived during WWII before they were “discovered” – is devoid of furniture and it’s a little haunting. There are quotes by Frank, from her diary, all over the house and pictures of how the rooms had looked. Just thinking about being cramped in these small rooms with others and not being able to go outside, being quiet every day, was very affecting.

(There is no good transition from Ann Frank's House to anything else...so forgive the abrupt shift.)

After taking that tour and in need of some time to decompress we stopped for some food and a drink before wandering some more and, yes, we eventually visited the Red Light District. It is a disconcerting place, but Paul and I did not play “how much for that hooker in the window.” Nor did we stop at any coffee shops for some pot or hash. Just not our style.

The next day we visited the Royal Museum and saw some amazing Rembrandts and Vermeer. They had another exhibit that depicted the power and glory of the Dutch in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. I always forget how powerful the Dutch were at that time and it was interesting to see it all laid out before me.

Utrecht

Our time in Amsterdam was up and we moved on toward Brussels and stopped in a town called Utrecht. It used to be a seat of Catholic power, but after the Reformation the cathedral was ransacked. The faces of statues of saints are clearly smashed off and the niches where others are supposed to be are empty. Most interesting is that the church now only consists of the choir (where the altar is) and the transepts. The long nave that connected it with its beautiful gothic bell tower collapsed in a storm in the mid-1600s and was never rebuilt.

As Paul and I wandered around the church a man approached us and in German and English said if we had any questions we should ask him. “No,” we said,” just looking” as we made our way toward the altar area. “Oh, if you want to go up and look around the altar you can.” Now, Paul and I are Catholic and in Catholic churches you don’t do that, so we were a little taken aback. “Oh,” we said. “We didn’t know you could do that. We’re Catholic.” The kindly older man grew a little sterner and said “Well, we’re Protestant here so you can go behind the altar.” We did and checked out the tomb of a famous resident.

After lunch we climbed the 465 steps of the bell tower. For some reason when I travel with Paul I climb a lot of stairs. The view from the top was very pretty, though the snow and fog prevented a clear view over the Dutch countryside. Since there were only four of us on the tour, we got to see where the bells (the carillon) are housed the ropes that are used to make them ring on special occasions. (No, we couldn’t ring them, but Paul did play a nice little tune (When the Saints go Marching In) on a toy carillon in the tower’s museum.

After climbing down we got on the train and headed to Brussels….I gave Paul the usual tour and this weekend we’re of to Bruges and Tournai. More to come!

Christmas in the USA

It was nice to be back in the US for the holidays. I really do love living here, I like the culture and am enjoying my work, but I miss my friends, family, and girlfriend a great deal. The 18 days I spent back home went fast, in part because I was traveling so much while in the US. A few days in NY and then NJ for Christmas with Carly, my uncle, brother, and cousins. Then down to Atlanta for Christmas with Carly’s family. We had a great time and it was nice to see the sun! (It was cold there, but at least the sun was out for more than an hour or two.)

Now Belgium has fantastic cuisine, but it was great to have US food again: pizza, a deli breakfast sandwich and, down in Atlanta, Chic-fil-A.

The trip back to NYC on New Year’s Eve, however, was a bit of a hassle. Our flight was cancelled, but Carly is a master traveler and got us on a flight that got us into Newark not too later than we were supposed to be…but we still cancelled on our NYE plans: I got sick. Of course I did! So, if Mark and/or Erin are reading this: again so sorry for missing!

All in all it was a nice trip back, but a whirlwind. I got to see a lot of family and friends, but not nearly everyone so, if you’re reading this and I didn’t touch base with you when I was back. Sorry!

American Airlines Sucks, but my fellow travelers were really nice

So, I flew back to the US on 21 December and wasn’t expecting a big deal. But it was. See, England and Belgium have been having a lot of weather and snow. The weekend before I left for the US Brussels got a few inches of snow. I was happily sitting in my usual morning café and watched a number of cars just slide down the road. It seems that the Belgian drivers don’t really get what to do when it snows, even though it snows a bit each year. You just kinda push through, but don’t shovel or plow. (Not that they really can. It’s hard to plow or shovel cobblestones.) Makes for wet and cold feet, but the beer helps.

Anyway, I got to the airport about 2.5 hours early and, since I wasn’t checking a bag, was just going to use the kiosk, get my boarding pass, and chill with my book. No dice. So, I went to the counter to check in. Again, nope…back of the line…of about 900 people. See flights were cancelled left and right AND the Eurostar (the high-speed train) to London was shut down because of weather. And, of course, I was flying to the US so we all had to go through like 50 layers of security.

Now to vent I call my poor girlfriend – it’s like 5am or something in the US when I do this – for no other reason to vent. And I just wait, but thankfully I met two really nice travelers: Damian (a Belgian) and Amy (a Brit). We’re all three on the same flight to London (Damian is on it to go to Boston where he’s studying and Amy is on it to go home, she was stranded because of the Eurostar problem).

We had a lovely time chatting about the insanity of travel, our thoughts on our own countries, on each others’, Christmas traditions in each country, and the like. It was just a pleasant time. Thankfully our flight was delayed to let all the passangers get through security and passport control, then we waited an hour at the gate to get a new flight plan and then got in the air.

The rest of the trip was fine-ish and I was just happy to get home and see Carly and not lug around a suitcase.