This past weekend was Nuit Blanche in Brussels. Translated as "white night" or "all-nighter," Nuit Blanche is a late-night "reclamation" of urban space with music, art, dancing, clubbing, movies, etc. Most museums were open late and for free. A lot of other European cities have their own versions and, well, it's pretty neat.
I hit the town late with my flatmate, AS and his girlfriend and a couple of her friends from back home. AS is Pakistani and his girlfriend is Romanian. It's a mini United Nations here.
Anyway, we didn't have much of an agenda. Our attempt to meet up with some others failed, so we headed over to the Bourse (the old Stock Exchange) and encountered a group playing the drums and a guy playing a kazoo.
We wandered a bit, trying to find more events. Oddly enough, there was nothing going on Grand Place so we headed for another square, Albertine and there we found a small art exhibit and a lot of young Belgians hanging out drinking. (It seems that open container laws don't exist her.)
We wandered some more and happened upon a girl with a huge puppet spider "spinning" its web across a street and "attacking" passers-by.
Now, I was told I needed to go to a European techno-club. Well, I now have -- sort of. There is a big "gallerie" (or shopping arcade) called Ravenstein and there was a huge (and loud) techno dance party going on. We didn't join in, but we just hung around and watched and listened to the heavy bass beat do its thing and move the people on the floor to flail arms and make out. We left about about 15 minutes. I got my hearing back about 30 minutes later.
Then it was the the Royal Park and there was another dance party going on, so it was over to the Royal Palace (not much there) and then to BelVUE....
Now BelVUE is pretty cool. It's an old hotel right next to the Royal Palace. It's been turned into a museum of the history of Belgium. I spent about 2 hours in it earlier in the day on Saturday.
There is a restaurant on the ground floor and for Nuit Blanche it was turned into a ballroom dancing floor with a bunch of couples dancing to music.
We left there and continued to wander a bit and by this time it was late, around 1am and we decided to call it a night. One the way back I again stopped at Quick for a bite to eat and, of course, there was a problem with the order. There always is....and I got home around 1:30 and into bed around 2:30 or so.
All in all an enjoyable evening out with a nice and interesting group of people. Now it's back to the archive where I hope things pick up a bit. It's been slow going with boring records of corn imports and the like....
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Monday, October 5, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
An Evening at the Royal Conservatory
My attitude when it comes to activities is if someone I know here suggests something, I’m going to say yes. If it’s free, I’m going show up early.
The Program Manager of the fellowship I’m on, MC, invited the US fellows out to see a former Belgian fellow give a piano recital on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Robert Schumann. I was free, too. I was the only fellow to take her up on it. Now, there are only about 4 or 5 of us here so far (out of a total of 9.
The Royal Conservatory isn’t resplendent. It’s old and there is a pot in the atrium for donations for its renovation. The hall itself has wonderful acoustics and the performance was wonderful. I don’t really know much of Schumann’s work, but I’ll certainly check out more of his stuff now.
Afterward, it was off for a beer on the Grand Sablon, the square I pass each day to the archive. They have those outdoor heater things so it wasn’t too cold – fall is reaching Brussels – and pestered MC about good restaurants and things to do/see in Brussels.
All in all a nice night out that didn’t cost a dime (or, centime, as the case may be.)
Tomorrow I go with a Belgian friend to a dance performance in the Walloon Brabant part of Belgium, which is to the south of Brussels. Should be interesting....
P.S. Post Offices in Belgium are just like in the US. Four counters, only two people working, no one's happy, lots of standing in line, and the stamp machine is broken. I think I felt more at home in the Saint Gilles Post Office than I did at McDonalds.....
The Program Manager of the fellowship I’m on, MC, invited the US fellows out to see a former Belgian fellow give a piano recital on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Robert Schumann. I was free, too. I was the only fellow to take her up on it. Now, there are only about 4 or 5 of us here so far (out of a total of 9.
The Royal Conservatory isn’t resplendent. It’s old and there is a pot in the atrium for donations for its renovation. The hall itself has wonderful acoustics and the performance was wonderful. I don’t really know much of Schumann’s work, but I’ll certainly check out more of his stuff now.
Afterward, it was off for a beer on the Grand Sablon, the square I pass each day to the archive. They have those outdoor heater things so it wasn’t too cold – fall is reaching Brussels – and pestered MC about good restaurants and things to do/see in Brussels.
All in all a nice night out that didn’t cost a dime (or, centime, as the case may be.)
Tomorrow I go with a Belgian friend to a dance performance in the Walloon Brabant part of Belgium, which is to the south of Brussels. Should be interesting....
P.S. Post Offices in Belgium are just like in the US. Four counters, only two people working, no one's happy, lots of standing in line, and the stamp machine is broken. I think I felt more at home in the Saint Gilles Post Office than I did at McDonalds.....
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Easy Listening in the Belgian State Archives....
It was about time, but I spent the whole day in the archive today. I left the US two weeks ago today and I'm as settled as I can be. It felt good to be back among documents and books and to have a purpose to my day. Yes, there will be plenty of travel and time off -- the girlfriend booked her ticket for the first week in November! -- but it's time to get to work. So, I figured I'd share two things this post: the commute and my first day of work. (Neither are too exciting, but made an impression on me. Like I said not all of this will be crazy tales of me escaping EuroPol or making a fool of myself in French....)
It takes me no longer to walk from my place near Place Louise to the archive just behind the fine arts museum than it did to walk fro my car in T-Lot to Wood Hall when I was back at UConn. The major difference is that instead of walking by whatever is festering in the lake outside the Chemistry building, I take my life into my heads crossing the street and walk past some of the most beautiful spots in Brussels.
Walking in Brussels is easy enough. In fact, it's a pretty walkable city. (Your feet get used to the cobble stones after a while, but I'm interested to see what happens in the rain and the winter....I already saw one poor woman, I think a judge or lawyer (she was wearing a robe, and in Europe often times lawyers wear robes in court) wipe out in her heals.) The major pain is the traffic. It's terrible -- evidently there was no drivers licensing until the 1960s -- and the only way -- and I mean only way -- to make it across many tough intersections is to just step out into traffic, and that includes the (wonderful) trams. If there is no light -- and not every crosswalk has a light -- you just gotta go. Place Louise is one of the most congested spots and, right now, it's under construction so that makes it worse, but enough of that.
After surviving the first 200 feet or so of my commute, it becomes something different, a little surreal even. As I head from Place Louise I pass the Palace of Justice on my left. It's huge. Bigger in area than St. Peter's in Rome (but not as beautiful.) On the right are newer offices with judges and lawyers running in and out in black robes with white cravats and something that kinda of looks like a fur scarf, but probably isn't. (Yes, ignorant American!)
Then it's a sharp right turn down Rue de la Régence and toward Place du Petit Sablon, one of the prettiest squares in the city and past Notre Dame du Sablon, one of the prettiest churches in the city. A gothic chruch from the 15th/16th century, it's not a bad thing to see at the start (and end) of the day.
Then it's down a narrow side street -- cobble stones all the way -- to the State Archives which are housed in a lovely neo-Stalinist style building.
When you walk in, there is a picture of the king, Albert II and his consort Queen Paola. The same picture graced the walls of the Belgian consulate in New York. I don't know why, but I always notice them and look for them in official buildings. I know the President's official picture is in American government offices and such, but these pictures are just different. I guess it's just part of the (generalized) American fascination with the concept (and reality) with royalty. On Sunday I went to Mass at the main cathedral here, Sts. Michel et Gudule, and at the end of mass (which was said in Dutch and French) there was the "priere pour le roi" (prayer for the king).
Now inside I went to floor -5. No, that's not 5 floors under ground, it's up. I really don't know why they use the negative sign, but they do. Anyway, today I decided to go to the library to look over a diary of a Belgian woman who lived in Brussels during the war. The diary has been edited with a lengthy introduction and takes an interested view of the war. The woman, Constance Greaffe, was of English, French, and German extraction and was partial to the *German* side during the war! Others in her family were not. One of her sisters actually housed CRB delegates and was more decidedly pro-English. Anyway, that's what's there.
The librarian does not speak English so I muddled through in my French -- and pointing -- to find out how to order up a book. Until about 11am I was the only other person in the room, but that's okay because we were listening to Belgian easy listening radio which, oddly enough, is a lot like easy listening back in the US. Actually, it's the same because it was all American, except for the ads and traffic update.
Now, I will say I don't think the librarian -- who is extraordinarily nice -- has a great deal to do day-in and day-out, so the radio, I guess, fills the void, but I did find it weird to be in a library -- there were books around me, signs to be quiet -- and be listening to music. It was doubly weird to be in a foreign country and listen to the exact same music I could hear on a light classic rock station back in CT or NY. I'll make sure to bring my iPod tomorrow, maybe some classical would suit the mood better.
What is really nice about such an easy commute is that I can come home for lunch and 1) eat at home and save some money and 2) hop on Skype to talk to the girlfriend before she heads to work in the morning.
The rest of the week will be more of the same, I'll post if something exciting goes on. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the weekend...will I attempt to leave Brussels and go to Antwerp, maybe?! I just don't know....
It takes me no longer to walk from my place near Place Louise to the archive just behind the fine arts museum than it did to walk fro my car in T-Lot to Wood Hall when I was back at UConn. The major difference is that instead of walking by whatever is festering in the lake outside the Chemistry building, I take my life into my heads crossing the street and walk past some of the most beautiful spots in Brussels.
Walking in Brussels is easy enough. In fact, it's a pretty walkable city. (Your feet get used to the cobble stones after a while, but I'm interested to see what happens in the rain and the winter....I already saw one poor woman, I think a judge or lawyer (she was wearing a robe, and in Europe often times lawyers wear robes in court) wipe out in her heals.) The major pain is the traffic. It's terrible -- evidently there was no drivers licensing until the 1960s -- and the only way -- and I mean only way -- to make it across many tough intersections is to just step out into traffic, and that includes the (wonderful) trams. If there is no light -- and not every crosswalk has a light -- you just gotta go. Place Louise is one of the most congested spots and, right now, it's under construction so that makes it worse, but enough of that.
After surviving the first 200 feet or so of my commute, it becomes something different, a little surreal even. As I head from Place Louise I pass the Palace of Justice on my left. It's huge. Bigger in area than St. Peter's in Rome (but not as beautiful.) On the right are newer offices with judges and lawyers running in and out in black robes with white cravats and something that kinda of looks like a fur scarf, but probably isn't. (Yes, ignorant American!)
Then it's a sharp right turn down Rue de la Régence and toward Place du Petit Sablon, one of the prettiest squares in the city and past Notre Dame du Sablon, one of the prettiest churches in the city. A gothic chruch from the 15th/16th century, it's not a bad thing to see at the start (and end) of the day.
Then it's down a narrow side street -- cobble stones all the way -- to the State Archives which are housed in a lovely neo-Stalinist style building.
When you walk in, there is a picture of the king, Albert II and his consort Queen Paola. The same picture graced the walls of the Belgian consulate in New York. I don't know why, but I always notice them and look for them in official buildings. I know the President's official picture is in American government offices and such, but these pictures are just different. I guess it's just part of the (generalized) American fascination with the concept (and reality) with royalty. On Sunday I went to Mass at the main cathedral here, Sts. Michel et Gudule, and at the end of mass (which was said in Dutch and French) there was the "priere pour le roi" (prayer for the king).
Now inside I went to floor -5. No, that's not 5 floors under ground, it's up. I really don't know why they use the negative sign, but they do. Anyway, today I decided to go to the library to look over a diary of a Belgian woman who lived in Brussels during the war. The diary has been edited with a lengthy introduction and takes an interested view of the war. The woman, Constance Greaffe, was of English, French, and German extraction and was partial to the *German* side during the war! Others in her family were not. One of her sisters actually housed CRB delegates and was more decidedly pro-English. Anyway, that's what's there.
The librarian does not speak English so I muddled through in my French -- and pointing -- to find out how to order up a book. Until about 11am I was the only other person in the room, but that's okay because we were listening to Belgian easy listening radio which, oddly enough, is a lot like easy listening back in the US. Actually, it's the same because it was all American, except for the ads and traffic update.
Now, I will say I don't think the librarian -- who is extraordinarily nice -- has a great deal to do day-in and day-out, so the radio, I guess, fills the void, but I did find it weird to be in a library -- there were books around me, signs to be quiet -- and be listening to music. It was doubly weird to be in a foreign country and listen to the exact same music I could hear on a light classic rock station back in CT or NY. I'll make sure to bring my iPod tomorrow, maybe some classical would suit the mood better.
What is really nice about such an easy commute is that I can come home for lunch and 1) eat at home and save some money and 2) hop on Skype to talk to the girlfriend before she heads to work in the morning.
The rest of the week will be more of the same, I'll post if something exciting goes on. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the weekend...will I attempt to leave Brussels and go to Antwerp, maybe?! I just don't know....
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