Lux Day

Day 131
I got my act together early and grabbed a train to Luxembourg City. I did double check though to make sure that I didn´t end up in the wrong country. When I got there I really had no idea which way the town was and just sorta picked a direction. I figured that the worst thing that could happen would be that I would end up in France!

After walking over a huge bridge with a valley beneath it I found the cathedral first. It was nice from the outside, but I couldn´t find anything really special about it from the inside. I then stumbled on the tourist office. The woman there gave me ideas of what to do. The problem was that there seemed to be some sort of kid sports event going on. The entrance to the castle was blocked. I had wanted to see that. I wasn´t really in the mood for an art museum and I had heard that the one here wasn´t that great anyway. The crowds also made checking out the city not a whole lot of fun.

I gave up wandering and found my way to the Casemates. Luxembourg was founded in 963. Over the next 1000 or so years defensive tunnels were dug all over the city. In 1867 Luxembourg became a neutral country. They were ordered to get rid of their fortress and all of the tunnels. Problem was that destroying the tunnels would cause homes and other buildings to collapse. Therefore about 17 kilometers, or just under 3 miles were left. These tunnels had been used by Napoleon. They were also used as bomb shelters during WWII. The tour took about an hour and consisted of walking up and down a whole lot of steps. It was pretty interesting.

At this point I decided to head back to Brussels. I had some blogging to do and wanted to pack my stuff up for the next day. After the blogging bit was finished I decided that the only way to properly say goodbye to Belgium was to have one more beer. I headed back to Delirium. I ended up chatting with a couple of Norwegians before calling it an early night and heading to the hostel.

Naked People Pictures

Day 130
I was up early, but once again stuck around a bit late to have the excellent hostel breakfast.

For the past few days I have seen some crazy window displays. I thought that they were odd when I first saw them, but that was nothing. All of the people had hinges where their joints should be and they were doing really weird things. One guy was melting, a group of people were about to throw a girl out of the window. It wasn´t until the second day when I noticed that they were all in different positions that I realized they were telling a story. One was of a couple that started off in separate windows but after some time ended up making out on the roof of the building. Another was of a woman trying to fry a rather ornery fish. It was a lot of fun and there were about 12 of them to check out.

The train ride this morning was to Brussels and was only 45 minutes long. These short rides have really been spoiling me. I was a bit shocked to see the red light district and prostitutes in the windows from the train. It was 9 am! When I got to the train station I went out of the wrong exit and managed to get myself really lost. I was pretty tired of carrying my bag around by the time I finally found the hostel. This was a really hospital like hostel after the first one and really lacking in character.

I had checked out both my guidebook and my map and there wasn´t much that I was interested in in Brussels. It really seemed just like a generic big city. It didn´t help that no matter what I did I seemed to get myself lost. I just couldn´t get my bearings in this city.

After cheating at the travel game and having lunch at Subway I went to the Grote Market to take pictures. When I was here briefly 6 years ago I remembered it being really impressive. This time it was just sort of blah. I then headed down the street to check out the main symbol of Brussels, Mannekan Pis. This is a very small statue of a boy peeing. The story is that he put out a fire this way. So that he won´t be naked different groups cloth him, there is even a museum of his rather large wardrobe. I was disappointed to see that he was naked. He was naked last time I saw him as well.

Once I had the obligatory picture of the statue I headed to his sister, Jeanneke Pis. As you might have guessed this was a statue of a little girl peeing. This one never really took off though and no longer pees, just squats behind a gate.

Right next store is the Delirium Bar. This place has a beer list like a phone book, they have up to 2700, but at least 2004 different types of beer (mostly bottled) at any time. It was a pretty chill place.

I didn´t stay long though because I had to do laundry back at the hostel. I spent the evening reading ´Made in America´ by Bill Bryson about American language and culture. I had a lot of problems putting it down, I highly recommend it. Eventually I fell asleep, only to be rudely woken up several times by my roommates who kept forgetting their keys and indoor voices.

In Flanders Fields

Day 129

I was up early again. I seem to have gotten myself in to some sort of pattern that I am unable to break. This does not bode well for my night life. Still, I hung out at the hostel for some time because they have a really good breakfast and I didn’t want to miss it.

After about 2 hours on the train I got off in Ypres. Most of the fighting during WWI took place around here. There is a museum about it and a cemetery, well lots of cemeteries to visit. I just had one in mind though.

The actual town of Ypres is really worth a visit as well, but I think that it is often ignored for the two things I mentioned above. I felt a bit bad that I was only going to be learning about the sad bits of the towns past.

I found the museum, the Flanders Fields Museum, very easily. It’s a small town and I think I would actually have to try to get lost. I did study WWI in school, but I don’t remember much more than the basics. The museum started with a special exhibit about the different nationalities that were represented on every side of the war. I never knew that people from 50 different countries fought and died here. I never knew that there were African and Asian soldiers. It was really quite interesting. There was a section for each corner of the contentment that discussed what role they played and how many lives were lost. The countries with the largest number of soldiers had their own sections. Throughout the whole thing there were quotes. The American quote was from Eric Hoscock of Britain he said “like Shakespeare’s soldiers the yanks were full of strange oaths. The village next to where we were alternatingly resting was suddenly full of men with cowboy hats, who carried packs in the way Indian women carried babies. Their discipline seemed just as odd, with officers and rankers slapping each other on the back and drinking together. They fraternized with the local girls in a way that we could never have achieved or imagined.” I also found the one about the Australians interesting, it was quite long but basically said that the locals love them because they often bought everyone in the bar rounds of drinks.

The main exhibit was well done, but exceedingly sad. Just like at Washington DC’s Holocaust Museum I was given a person who’s story I read throughout my visit. Not only did Antoinette survive, but her family remained intact.

HG Wells said “every intelligent person in the world knew that disaster was impending and knew no way to avoid it.” This quote was at the beginning of the exhibit. Every angle of the war was discussed quite deeply. I think that it would take all day to read everything they had on offer. I just sort of read bits and pieces though, much of it was either very crowded, something I already knew, or just really sad. I did learn about the experiences of refugees, nurses, soldiers and towns people despite my skipping around.

WWI was interesting for well, lots of reasons. However what this museum pointed out was that technology had long out stripped strategy. Most of the war was confined to trenches and gaining ground always came at a high cost of life and was never very much ground. During one Christmas many soldiers laid down their weapons and made peace for the night. They shared cigarettes and food and sung silent night in their own languages. Apparently because the trenches were so close it wasn’t odd for soldiers to have conversations with each other over no mans land while waiting for new instructions.

One room had a simulated raid on a trench. I could hear bombs and screams in different languages. I didn’t stay for the whole thing. At the end of the museum they discussed rebuilding the city and refugees. Apparently people came back earlier then they were meant to and ended up living in bombed out buildings for quite some time.

I was feeling pretty down when I left. Still, I think that its important to remember these things. Europe isn’t just a bunch of pretty castles and good beer after all. I decided to visit Tyne Cot Cemetery. This is the largest commonwealth cemetery in the world and is located where the German front was for much of the war. Almost 12,000 soldiers were buried here. I really almost didn’t go. It’s not easy to get to and it was really cold, too cold for July.

When I arrived I was really shocked that there was almost no one there. I was glad that I had gone. Over a loud speaker the names ever the men buried there were being read aloud. Most of the headstones were for unknown solders, or sometimes they would just know what country they came from. They were all so young. It was a sad trip, but I think it was worthwhile.

Back in Antwerp I checked out a bar that was opened in the 1920’s and hasn’t changed much. The bartender (or perhaps owner) was named Tim. He spoke great English and we spent some time talking about different kinds of beer and travel. I hadn’t had dinner yet though and couldn’t stay too long.

Back at the hostel I made myself some dinner and spent a bit of time writing in my journal. I was hoping to run into Anke and Carola, but didn’t see them. I was tired anyway and simply called it an early night after reading for a bit.

What Counts

Day 128
I was woken up early by some construction going on outside. I knew that I would never get back to sleep so I simply just got up and got going.

Soon I was at the train station and heading to Ghent. Once again I had a fun map all ready to go.

It was raining a bit so I popped into St. Baafs Cathedral to dry off a bit. It was pretty interesting. Ghent has a really beautiful old town. However, the Ghent festival was set to begin the next day and they were setting up everything. The scaffolding and stages were a little in the way when it came to admiring everything.

Still, nothing could obscure Gravensteen, the counts castle. Once I had paid I was given something I hadn’t seen before. It was a video guide to the castle. They filmed a movie about the count who had built the castle and his wife. They also showed the actors in current clothing while they were preparing for each scene. It was like a play within a play. It didn’t really go to far into the actual history and I think it was all made up, but it was really pretty cool.

The tour incorporated a huge number of rooms and even a walk that went all around the castle. The kitchen had burnt down or been damaged at some point, but no explanation was given. I also had a great view of the town from the top battlements.

Apparently the castle was also used as a prison because they had a very descriptive torture museum. It was a bit hard to stomach.

My next stop was the nearby Folk Museum. This place was definitely pretty interesting and I would recommend checking it out. They had all sorts of English leaflets to read, they just didn’t always seem to correspond to the displays.

Most of it was about daily life over the past 100 years. I liked the dresses quite a bit. My favourite part were the mock stores from 1900. They were really well done and the candy looked really tempting. I was also interested to learn that in Belgium paid vacations started in 1936. I wonder when they started in the US. For some reason there were several rooms decked out in orange plastic 70’s stuff. No idea why.

After wandering through the medieval town for a while I found an internet café. It was the cheapest I had seen in a long time and I wished that I had spent more time there. However I was hungry and didn’t have the patience.

I popped my head into a grocery store that had been opened in the 1950’s and hadn’t changed much. Well, I hoped that the food had changed. Luckily this wasn’t like the candy store in Bruges.

The first friekoten I found was closed, but this turned out to be a good thing because I found a more famous one around the corner. This time I tried fries with mayo and meat sauce. It was fabulous.

I decided to head back to Antwerp at this point. Back at the hostel I made myself some dinner. I also met Anke and Carola from Holland. We hit it off and with American Tim headed to a local bar. Before we had gone out Tim told me that he was on the longest trip that he had ever heard of anyone going on. He was travelling for 7 weeks. When I told him about my trip he then told me that he felt like he was too old to be staying in hostels and travelling like that, that it was time for him to be an adult. He was 21. Hmm. I have noticed that where I used to talk about my job as in my former life and now I refer to it as when I was an adult. Or perhaps being an adult is not about a job and a mortgage but about having confidence that the life changing decisions you make for yourself are the right ones. The Dutch girls were far more interesting and we had a really fabulous time. I was a bit of a killjoy again though and headed back early. I guess waking up at 6 am isn’t conducive to going out late at night.

Alluring Antwerp

Day 127
I got my act together pretty early and was out of the hostel and at the train station waiting to get to Antwerp in no time. It wasn’t a long ride. I had also managed to pick up a map in advance and soon had no problems getting to my hostel.

Right off the bat I loved where I was staying. It was completely laid back and the people were super friendly. The building was old and had definitely seen better days, but that was part of the charm. Someone had decorated it in witches and fairies. There was a painting of Adam and Eve with backpacks on. This is just what a hostel should be. The only thing I didn’t like was the beds. My mattress overhung each side of the top bunk that didn’t have bars. I was a bit worried that I would fall off.

Antwerp is bigger than Bruges, but there doesn’t seem to be as much to do. This is a town where people live much more so than Bruges, which was intentionally built to attract tourists.

On my way to my first site I stumbled upon a bookstore with tons of second hand English books. I could have bought half of them, if only someone else would carry my bags!

After my detour I easily found the Rubens House. Peter Paul Rubens was born in Germany in 1577. He moved to Antwerp when he was only 11. After apprenticing in Genoa and Rome he returned to Antwerp as the court painter to the archduke of Brussels. He also opened up his own studio at this time. For unknown reasons (to me anyway) he also worked as a diplomat. Rubens died in 1640.

The museum is in his actual house and where he had his studio. He created about 2,500 works here. Well, he would do the outline and the final touches, but his apprentices would do most of the actual work. A the house they gave me a massive booklet to read and I loved being able to learn about each of the paintings and much of the furniture. The paintings had either been in his personal collection or painted by him. Some of Rubens original furniture was there. This was pretty interesting because after his death the house had been cleaned out.

After dropping off my books at the hostel I headed to the T’steen, a fort on the river. It looks very much like the 11^th century structure that it is. The museum in the fort was about boats, boring, so I skipped it.

After checking my email at a rather rude internet café I took a short nap back at the hostel. I didn’t fall off of the bed. Eventually I got up and made my culinary masterpiece of spaghetti.

After dinner I headed to a nearby Irish pub to meet up with Karlien, a fellow bootie and a local. We spent a couple hours talking travel. Karlien has been to some pretty far flung places on her own. I will definitely be getting in touch with her in the future for advice.

When I got back to the hostel the people who worked there invited me out to a local jazz bar. I went, but was really quite tired and didn’t stay long. It had been a good day, just a rather long one.