Monday, June 29, 2015

Bruges, 2015

We visited Bruges in 2013, saw its two great museums and walked around a good bit. This year we wanted a more leisurely visit to the great city but also an opportunity to see the one important art work we missed last time...Michaelangelo's Bruges Madonna. We stayed at the Klein Strand campground again in 2015, a short bus ride from the centrum. We still haven't gotten that bus ride quite right, but we're getting closer.
Panning around Bruges' great square















Thus















And thus















The great bell tower



















Many lace and fine sewing shops



















Artsy view of the Stadthuis



















Disused Medieval bridge, now a welcome little rest area on a
canal
















 Bruges is fairly over-run with tourists, especially Americans,
and they all do the canal boat rides
















"Not another blaring tour boat!"















City of spires















Fish market of yore















Town map done in a lace-look



















Speaking of which, here's the lace lady doing a demonstration;
I video'd a bit of it, until my head exploded, which I'll post to
YouTube shortly; the demonstration, that is; the video is at
http://youtu.be/B19AFILy4Bk

















St. Mary's Church



















Inside of which resides the Bruges Madonna, the only work of
Michaelangelo's to leave Italy during his lifetime
















He did it just after the Pieta



















Unlike any other Madonna and child done up
until that time, whether in stone or paint




















Canal scene



















A few of Belgium's 1000 beer brands and types















Swan island















In  Bruges' Beginhof, older women's residence; the tree-houses
were someone's idea of an artistic statement
















The Maison Blanche, an older house now a fairly exclusive
hotel; and the lovers' bridge
















Garden















View from the bridge

Painted Alley In Ghent

So far in the Netherlands and in Belgium we have seen very little--almost none--tagging, or graffiti, as it used to be called. But then we saw this interesting alley in Ghent that went on and on and on...











































































Sunday, June 28, 2015

Bicycle Riding Class in Ghent Brugge

So we're camped (two nights) at Ghent Bruges's nice, free,
camper-stop, a short bus ride (#3) from the city...
















And, walking back from the teen club where I have been
mooching wifi, I notice a guy setting up a course in the big
parking lot (it's an athletics center) and then 40-50 little
kids arriving on their bicycles

















If you're Flemish, you better know how to ride a bicycle...
well...
















One of the two classes goes for a walk in the park















While the other lines up and receives instruction and then















Does the course! What a treat to watch...

Ghent, St. Bavo's, 2015

Someday I'll get a proper afternoon shot of St.
Bavo's west facade; someday, they'll have the
scaffolding down 





















Nice windows for a younger Gothic















The starboard bow chapel with the Life-Sized Exact Replica
(really very good) is now reserved for guided tour groups;
fine, that keeps them away from the real thing

















Spare parts chapel















Another nice window



















So here's this guy playing a beautiful harp,
beautifully, in a beautiful, large,  chapel, a
bishop's busker, I guess, selling his CDs for
20E, with a portion going to the church, I
hope






















For the indigent, or those who don't really care (why are they
here?), there is a tiny, somewhat worn, working replica in a
chapel over on the port side, amidships

















Rubers' Entry of St. Bavo into Ghent, which we
totally missed last time




















Muy importante..if you're planning on visiting
Ghent to see the Lamb, beware the schedule
above: they're restoring it, in stages, through
the next several years; if you're a casual art
lover, such as I am, this shouldn't matter, since
no one would allow a copy that was not perfect;
nonetheless...
























Old painting around the church















Interior of the tower renovation



















Something else we missed in 2013 (we had a ferry to catch):
Georges Verbanck's massive monument to the van Eyck
brothers in the park just a few meters from St. Bavo's; "Adoration
of the van Eyck's," it might be called; I, for one, remain
skeptical about the existence of Hubert van Eyck...



Ghent, 2015

We visited Ghent in 2013, primarily to see the Mystic Lamb, but were enchanted by the old town too, and I did three posts (http://roadeveron.blogspot.be/2013/06/ghent-sights.html, http://roadeveron.blogspot.be/2013/06/adoration-of-mystic-lamb.html, and http://roadeveron.blogspot.be/2013/06/more-ghent-art.html). I'll try to keep it to two this time. If you're looking for pix of van Eyck's masterpiece, that supreme artistic statement of Christianity in the Middle Ages, as some say, you'll find them on the 2013 posts. This time the special viewing room at St. Bavo's was packed, the staff seemed far more insistent on the rules, and I certainly did not want to get reprimanded or punished in front of what is one of my favorite paintings. On the whole, we tried to fill in some gaps in our previous visit, both in the town and in St. Bavo's, and, hopefully, there won't be too much duplication. And if there is, it's Ghent, and warrants another visit, and another....  
Welcome back to Ghent!















Another of Belgium's great bell towers















The Stadthuis...regime change in architecture















Entry to the TI, and a pretty nice canal-side
restaurant




















One of many canals; large, scenic canals, not over-run with
tour-boats as in Brugge
















Castle from canal















One of hundreds of old buildings



















Street/canal scene















Ditto















Ditto again















And again















And again















All the walking and gawking brought on a snack attack, which
in Belgium can be dangerous
















A fixer-upper, one of the first we've seen in
these urban areas




















Our explorations took us into the Patershol, an old Medieval
area long associated with an hospital/orphanage; and now
home to some of Ghent's more, um, interesting restaurants (if
you can see them, note the awards...)

















Part of the English menu at Vier Tafels; we
would certainly have eaten there but, a) I never
would have figured out what wine to pair with
kangaroo, ostrich, and zebra kabob, (not to
mention the crocodile), and b) they were closed






















Next door, Amadeus, "The Place for Ribs," where Vicki would
have eaten
















The 14th century orphanage (updated a bit), now a school















More beautiful old buildings (now restaurants)



















Another canal view...the girls were going to do the canals in
these little 2-seaters...we saw them later...and they did
















The Big Cannon, 1425, never fired a shot















Socialist Workers Union (left); we sat in its shadow and
enjoyed another decadent snack of vlaamse frites, two orders,
not shared

















Yet another beautiful street
















And Sweet P's, a retro shop for women and kids