Belgium trip - the last day

It isn't easy shopping in Europe on a Sunday. Many stores are closed on the Sabbath and the streets can be eerily quiet, something that my Taiwan-born spouse sometimes found difficult to understand:

But there is hope for those in need of some retail therapy. Jeff took us on a long walk to a street market that's open every Sunday:

Though quiet by Chinese or Taiwanese standards, it was still pretty busy. In addition to foods, clothing and household goods were also available, and I walked away with several pairs of decent-material socks. Pamela purchased some bread, which we ended up bringing back to China. Best of all, there was no bargaining, which meant there was no shouting or yelling. All in all, it was a very civilized affair:

After letting Amber burn off some of that stored-up energy of hers in a nearby playground, we moved on to a pub and the first beer of the day:

Suitably fortified, Jeff took us on a tour of the grounds of the Katholieke Universiteit van Leuven (KUL), founded in 1425. I know my alma mater doesn't have an old palace on its campus:

It felt more like a park than a school, and many people were out enjoying the beautiful weather:

One particularly attractive stretch that Jeff took us through was the Groot Begijnhoof, containing many red-brick houses lining the River Dilje. Once the abodes of widows and unmarried women known as begijns, the university has converted them into student housing:

We eventually found ourselves in the Oude Markt, the spacious cobblestoned square that is the center of Leuven's nightlife. The cafes were full of people having lunch and drinks...

...which seemed like a good idea. I had a typical Flemish dish called a videé...

...washed down with a beer, of course:

Some retail stores were still open on Sunday, such as this specialist beer shop carrying many of Belgium's 760+ brews:

After taking a break back at the apartment, Jeff, Amber and I headed off on another long walk, this time in the opposite direction, in order to visit a large park. My daughter had a great time there, feeding donkeys and getting to ride on a paddle-boat (and doing her fair share of the paddling):

As for myself, I enjoyed the walk we took past cornfields and horses relaxing in their pastures:

The path took us past an old abbey. Children were running around on the spacious lawn while adults were sitting at outdoor tables drinking beer, with all of this taking place in temperatures in the pleasant 20's Celsius and under an almost-cloudless sky. The only thing that would've made the scene even more perfect would've been to join the locals and have a drink or two ourselves, but it was getting late and the wives were waiting for Jeff and me back in the apartment:

If there was one thing I didn't like about Belgium, it was all the graffiti that could be seen everywhere. Still, some of it was artistic and creative, even if the Chinese didn't make much sense:

For our final meal in Belgium, we had...well, I forget what I ate, but there definitely was beer:

A nightcap back at the apartment. You couldn't ask for more gracious hosts than our friends Barbara and Jeff. It couldn't have been easy putting up with three extra bodies in your home for as long as we stayed there, but they never complained. Our trip wouldn't have been anywhere near as enjoyable as it was without them. I can only hope to return the favor should they make it out to this part of the world before we're scheduled to leave China next summer:

Dawn breaks over Brussels Airport as we wait for our 9:45 am flight to Heathrow:

With time to kill at Heathrow while waiting for our connecting flight to Shànghăi 上海, we had an early lunch, only this time with British food and beer. See you again soon, Europe!:

And that, dear readers, was our ten-day trip to Belgium. It would be too easy, and not altogether fair, to point out all that is right about life in Flanders and Walloon in comparison to all that is wrong with living in China. As Jeff so aptly put it, "Let the Chinese be the Chinese" and not become like Belgians. Still, after too many years of the chaos, dirt and noise of life in Taiwan and China, these ten days in Belgium were quite literally a breath of fresh air. Yes, I drank (and ate) too much, but I was on vacation, after all. My wife discovered a liking for European bread (she wasn't aware that there could be so many different kinds) and Leffe beer, while my daughter quickly picked up the Flemish word for fries. I think the family will have little trouble adapting to Lithuania, provided we arrive there as scheduled in about two years' time. As for China, we're planning on doing a lot of sightseeing before our time here is up (and hope to play host to some very welcome visitors, too), but once my tour here is finished, I hope that will be all, professionally-speaking, in the Mandarin-speaking world. We'll see...

 

In Bruges (again)

Our hosts and friends Barbara and Jeff, having been to Bruges before, decided to return to Leuven early, so my family and I had the morning and afternoon to ourselves to explore the historic town:

We began the day by taking a boat on a half-hour trip around some of Bruges' canals (WARNING: photo overload ahead):

Back on dry land, we next headed over to the nearby Groeninge Museum, the town's most famous art gallery, specializing in Flemish works of art ranging from Flemish Primitive and Renaissance up to surrealism and Flemish Expressionism. I certainly took advantage of the the museum's policy allowing non-flash photography:

The Virgin and Child with Canon Joris van der Paele (1436), by Jan van Eyck:

 

The level of detail in van Eyck's work was astonishing:

Portrait of Margareta van Eyck (1439) by van Eyck of his wife:

St Luke drawing the Virgin's Portrait (circa 1500), by Rogier van der Weyden:

Death of the Virgin (circa 1481?), by Hugo van der Goes:

The Judgement of Cambyses (1498) by Gerard David. This paining used to hang in the Bruges council chambers as a warning against corruption:

The Baptism of Christ (circa 16th century), by David:

Death and the Miser, by Jan Provoost:

The Last Judgement (1525), by Provoost:

The Last Judgement (1551), by Pieter Pourbus:

Secret Reflect (1902), by Fernand Khnopff:

The Last Supper (1927) by Gustave van de Woestyne:

The Assault (L'Attentat) (circa 1932), by René Magritte:

My wife, not being very familiar with Western art and where its inspirations and themes come from, was a little overwhelmed by the gallery, but she gamely agreed to visit the museum next door, the Arentshuis, located in an 18th-century mansion (and free with the Groeningemuseum ticket):

This museum is mainly devoted to the works of Frank Brangwyn, an Anglo-Welsh artist who was born in Bruges:

After the museum, our next stop on the Bruges sightseeing trail was the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk, the Church of Our Lady. Truth be told, while the church has a history going back to the 13th century, it's not as impressive as the cathedrals we had previously visited in Leuven and Antwerp. Due to differences in times of construction, the interior architecture can hardly be described as harmonious, and the noise level of the crowds certainly distracted from the normally somber, awe-inspiring atmosphere found in the other old churches we'd seen:

Still, there was much to be impressed with:

The cathedral is noted for having the only work of Michelangelo that left Italy during his lifetime. Madonna and Child dates from 1504:

By this point, the girls were tired of art and cathedrals and wanted to take a break, while I hadn't had a beer yet. Problem soon rectified:

Following lunch, we continued our explorations of Bruges' streets. Here's Amber on Wijingaardstraat:

The Begijnhof. Once common all over Belgium, this was an area where widows and unmarried women could live in their own communities and perform acts of piety, such as taking care of the sick (the women, known as beguines or begijns, could return to the secular way of life if they so wished). Today, Benedictine nuns live in the houses surrounding the square, making it one of the quieter sections of Bruges:

The 't Begijnhuisje is a small museum, a 17th-century house that provides a glimpse into the simple life led by the beguines:

I did find some of the decorations to be a little disturbing:

The last section of Bruges we visited was the Minnewater, which started life as the city's harbor before turning into its modern-day incantation as the "Lake of Love":

The Poertoren, dating from 1398, used to be where the city kept its gunpowder:

I could've stayed another couple of days in Bruges, exploring more of the charming city, but it was getting late in the afternoon, and our friends were expecting us in Leuven. So we rode the train back, where Jeff was waiting for us at the train station. After dropping off our bags at their apartment, we went out with Barbara and Jeff for an evening on the town. On the way into the center of the city, we passed by the Fons Sapientiae, a statue of a student literally being brainwashed while reading a book. Either that, or he's refilling his skull with much-needed beer. And why is he wearing a diaper?:

Dinner was had at Domus, where the service might've been slow, but where the dinner set menu came with not one, but two of the restaurant's own distinctive brews. I came to love Belgium for many reasons:

Pancakes with brown sugar for dessert. Old World civility never tasted so good: