Hostel Hostels, Bruges, & Ghent

Before I completely leave the topic of Bruges, I should mention that I stayed in a hostel.  In Europe, hotels can be very, very expensive and as a single traveller, hostels are a much more affordable option.   In that I am from the US, I have only stayed in one hostel before and it was definitely “an experience to remember.”  Perhaps, all hostel stays will be memorable experiences!   

I arrived in Bruges and it was dark and raining, I took a bus and then walked to my hostel.   At Check in I was issued a plastic key card.  After I had dinner and downloaded the photographs of the day to the laptop, I went to sleep.  Because I was staying in a hostel, I wore my white leopard tank top and my light blue penguin pajama pants (so that my pasty irish legs didn’t scare the other patrons).  In the middle of the night, I got up to use the bathroom and added my black sweater and shoes to my ensemble.   When I returned to my room, the keycard was no longer functional.  A couple of travelers back from the bar also attempted my key and concluded that I was out of luck.  They said they saw the manager in the club downstairs behind the bar and maybe he could help.  So, off I went to the “Club” where there was a crowd gyrating to the techno music and disco lights.  The bartender turned to another guy and said – I think she needs some help!  The night manager, came out from behind the bar and looked me over from head to toes, he said, “Wow, out at the club in your jammies!”  He took me to the office, made me a new key, and back to bed I went, thankful I did not have to sleep in the hallway.  

Before leaving the area and heading back to Paris, I had to make a stop in Ghent.  I have heard wonderful things about Ghent and I know that in St. Bavo's Cathedral is one of the masterpieces of the Northern Renaissance, the Adoration of the Lamb by Hubert & Jan Van Eyck.  I got off of the train and took a local tram into the city. 

 Ghent squareRiver in Ghent

 

The Apse of St. Nicholas from St. Bavo's

St Nicholas interior

I wandered around town and had a bite to eat.  While some people do speak French, more speak Dutch and wow is that difficult!  My typical language "cheat sheet" in hand, I attempted to speak a bit, but it didn't help much in Ghent.  After a great lunch, St. Bavo's was my destination.  The cathedral was beautiful, but I immediately paid the fee to see the Adoration of the Lamb and it included an excellent audio guide.  After spending so much time in museums and at exhibits, I can get tired of audio guides rather quickly but this one held my attention to the end.  This masterpiece is truly worth all of the hype that surrounds it.  I love Northern Renaissance art, which is why I chose to visit Brussels, Bruges, and Ghent, and it was not disappointed in any of the work I was privileged to see.  

Adoration of the Lamb

by Hubert & Jan Van Eyck in St. Bavo's Cathedral

I hopped back on the train and made my way to Brussels, but I was not feeling well and didn't leave the train station as I waited for my train to Paris.  The best thing about living in Paris is that not only do you have the city at your fingertips, but the bulk of Europe if you can read a train schedule. 

Reflections Book & 2 Solo Shows

I have recently finished my Blurb book - for the Photography Book Now Competition, and I have officially entered into the competition!  The cover shot of the book and a lot of the photographs featured are from my show called Reflections at the Gallery on 43rd Street in Lawrenceville.   You can preview the book by clicking the link on the right side of this blog page. 

It has been an incredibly busy and exciting few months since I returned from France at the end of March.  I selected photos for, matted, and framed over 70 photographs for two solo exhibitions.  Mary Coleman and the Gallery on 43rd hosted an opening for my Reflections show on May 20th and it was incredible!   Quite a few of my friends and a nice group of people from all over Pittsburgh and Lawrenceville came to see the show!  I feel incredible blessed to have all of the friends and support that I do - Thank you to all of my friends and family - and especially my Mom - who helped me choose, mat, and frame it all! 

I have been a member of the Hoyt Artist's Association for several years.  A few years ago, I applied for a solo exhibition several years ago and it was scheduled for this June-July.   Friday June 17th was the opening, and now having seen the show I feel very privileged to be included with the other featured artists.  In 2008 I entered the Blurb book competition with my book Enlightened by Stories in Stone:  Enchanted Places and Intriguing Faces.  The images for this show come predominately from this book and my adventures in Strasbourg, France and Europe in 2007-2008. 

William Workman is a renowned photographer whose work for this show is a series of gorgeous medium format black and white images that "explores the fine line between the realism of pure nature photography and abstract concepts."  Skip Allen, currently resides in my hometown of Ligonier.  His work is a gorgeous collection of black and white images from all over the United States.  Jesse Katrencik is photographer from New Castle whose images illustrate the unique beauty of Western Pennsylvania.  Upstairs, on the third floor, and not to be missed are the watercolors of Bryce Herrington.  If you are anywhere near New Castle, please stop by before July 29th and see an amazing group of shows!

Bruges Belgium



Bruges from the top of the Bell Tower



Bruges is a romantic city, the city center is charming and easily identified by the tall bell tower.  Surrounded by canals, the water and visitors meander around this "little village" seemingly from another era.  By train, it is about an hour from Brussels or Antwerp and only a half an hour from Ghent.  Belgium is known for Lace, Tapestries, Waffles, Chocolate, and Beer, but not necessarily in that order.

Notre Dame of Bruges - The tower is scaffolded but in the cover of darkness and with a few building silhouettes, one can mask the necessary upkeep and still get a lovely picture of this majestic Cathedral.  Location, Location, Location, and camera angle!

  At dusk, Notre Dame with its scaffolding reflected. 

Near the ocean, and the Netherlands, Windmills are not an uncommon sight in Bruges and other parts of Belgium.

Lace, I have a whole new appreciation for all things involving lace.  In the many lovely stores, there were a few displays to illustrate the time consuming and meticulous process of making handmade lace. 

Lace, close up!

In Notre Dame of Bruges, is one of the rare Michaelangelo sculptures outside of Italy.  This Madonna and Child is a gorgeous sculpture that illuminates the tender relationship between mother and child. 

Notre Dame Interior

Basilica of the Holy Blood

There were several interesting churches in Bruges, this gorgeous chapel in the corner is dedicated to the relic of the Holy Blood.  It is said Joseph of Arimathea wiped away some of Christ's blood at the crucifixion and it was preserved.  No photographs were permitted in the chapel but it was magnificent - Google it, its worth a look! 

This structure was next to the Basilica and it is now a museum, but  I ran out of time for a proper visit inside.

Jan Van Eyck, buried in Bruges, is memorialize with this statue in Bronze.  His art, as well as many of his contemporaries is typically on display at the Groeningemuseum in Bruges, but unfortunately I did not do my research for the visit early enough to see the show that was on display until January 30th.  Unfortunately I missed an incredible exhibition on Northern Renaissance artists And the museum was closed for reconfiguration!  I did however visit the Memling museum at the former Hospital in Bruges, which was great!  Several Memling masterpieces and a Bosch tryptich were on display.

Humourous Window

Natures "elk" sculpture?  Can you see the elk?

Men in Tights, playing horns

Chaotic Chocolate shop display

The city mascot of Bruges is the Bear!  No wonder I felt at home in Bruges, one of my favorite animals, in a charming place recalling medieval europe.

I am far behind my adventuring in the Blog updates, but I am trying to catch up!  Look for Ghent, Rouen, Amiens, Notre Dame Paris, and Milan in the near future!  Happy virtual traveling and feel free to be in touch if I can help you plan your next adventure!  : )

Brussels, Bruxelles, or Brussel (English, French, or Dutch)

Mannekin Pis - The Tiny Guy with a Big Reputation!

This little, and I do mean little, statue is quite the tourist attraction in Brussels.  He apparently has many costumes/outfits that he is dressed in for various occasions and they are on display in a museum that I did not actually visit (Limited time-Limited interest). 

Well, other than being difficult to spell, Brussels is an interesting place to visit.  I was in Brussels last Thursday, it is about 1.5 hours via the fast train from Paris.  All the adventuring that I have been doing caught up to me last Wednesday and I caught a cold.  I went to bed early to prepare for my Big Belgium Extravaganza! 

Central Square or Town Center

Guild Buildings

Alternate View on Town Center

Renard the Fox

Peculiar Gargoyle

I love to look at and photograph gargoyles, I am unsure about the iconography of this one?  The town center is a huge open square, around which are lots of restaurants serving Moules (Mussels), Beer (Belgium's favorite beverage), Frites (That's a fancy word for French Fries) and Waffles.  I am a fan of all of these culinary delights but I settled for the moules and frites in that it was only lunchtime, and I was sick.  There were also gourmet chocolate shops at every turn.  I bought a 100 gram dark chocolate sampler and was not dissapointed!  It started to rain with determination thus I thought it would be a good time to seek out the museums that I wanted to see.

(I had a beer sampler and waffle at my hostel at dinnertime - you will have to wait for my post on Bruges for my exciting hostel story)

St. Michael

Front Facade of St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral

Exterior Apse

Interior Nave

Incredible Baroque Pulpit, carved wood

Statues and Stained Glass

St. Michael trampling Satan

After the quick transfer to the Central station in Brussels the first point of interest I found on Thursday was the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula.  (It is most commonly referred to as St. Michael's)  This gothic church took over 300 years to construct and replaced several earlier cathedrals of differing styles.  The interior was filled with light, in that some of the windows were not  the original stained glass and were replaced with clear panes.  I spent an extra couple of euro and visited the treasury which was filled with intriguing artifacts and reliquaries.  While walking around this beautiful structure someone was tuning the organ, and thus I got to hear a lot of the tones from the various pipes.  The really nice gal in charge of the Treasury visit said that if I stayed until about 2pm I would hear each and every pipe.  Tempting, but I did have other things on my list in Brussels! 

Rene Magritte Museum

This was the really interesting lighting in the welcome area at the Rene Magritte Museum, a relatively new attraction opening in 2009.  It is attached to the Royal Museums of Fine Arts in Belgium, which has two sections, the Beaux-Arts and the Modern Art Museums.  I am a big fan of Magritte, so I was thrilled to visit this museum dedicated to his work and it made it easier to accept that the Modern Art area was under renovation and closed.  The Beaux-Arts Museum has several works of art that I was very excited to see including the Hieronymous Bosch tryptich The Temptation of St. Anthony and a whole room filled with Brueghel's.  The rain continued to pour outside so the museums were a great place to spend time! 

Magritte Art as Light fixture

More Magritte Art as Lighting

Very intriguing idea for display!



There are several other things that I would like to see and do in Brussels - so I will need to visit again.  Hopefully the sun will visit with me : )

Adventures and Interesting things in and around Paris

Sculptures made from Public Works 'Manhole' Caps?  from all over the world

Exploring around the Bercy stop of the Metro, a sculpture park with these charming figures was revealed.  From a distance I thought they were just intriguing caricatures of different cultures, when investigated they were revealed to be even more interesting in that they were created with patterned metal seemingly from discarded public works systems in cities from all over the world.  Some had nameplates to reveal their country of origin:   Spain above, Venice with the White mask, Brazil with the big hair and Jesus silhoette placed rather provocatively, and Canada has the red Maple leaf.

  \          Mosaic tile graffiti?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invader_(artist)

Apparently there is a 'mosaic griffitiest' called Invader that began to place space invader characters around Paris and other cities in the mid-90's.  I spotted an Oscar the Grouch looking mosaic - I don't know if it is one of his? and then there was another near Sacre Coeur.  I know I have seen others but I didn't think get photographs of them.  I will continue to be on the lookout for this fun 'graffiti art.' 

By venturing outside the city center and visiting other arrondissemonts you can see more than just the tourist attractions.  We live in the 14th arrondissemont, and visited the 12th on Sunday. 

Skate Park

It was really cool to see that Skate Parks look very much the same, no matter where they are found.  One of the biggest differences, and boarders - let me know if this is true in the USA - is that there were very few boarders.  There were far more bikers, bladers, and 'scooter's'...  I am not sure of the correct term for the object that the young man doing a flip above is riding.  The Graffiti/tagging is relativly similar as well, however, in Paris I have found a few more of what I call more creative graffiti.  I will continue to take pictures and post what I find.

Statue with a pigeon assisting in directional cues

Gargoyles are also wonderful places to 'chill' for pigeons.

Finally, I took my classes to the Pompidou on Monday after a visit on Free (National) Museum Day - otherwise known as the 1st Sunday of the Month in France.  The detritus on the floor was unimpressive until I looked up and saw what the artist had done - clever.  I wonder how one goes to the museum directors and asks to cut a hole in the ceiling, would have been fun to be a fly on the wall for that one!



I love looking for new ways to frame monuments that are world renowned and photographed by tourists everywhere.  I know it is small, but that is Sacre Coeur in the hole of the Alexander Calder sculpture.

Up next:  Brussels, Bruges, & Ghent. 

Still to Post:  Chartres, Baden Baden Casino & the Black Forest, Colmar (aka Little Venice) & the Unterlinden and more..