Belgium part 2

Not sure what it was about Antwerp. The contrast of our monastic hostel room to the exquisitely tiled/painted/carved ceilings/walls/floors of almost every surface? Wide boulevards with huge, stately buildings with fingertips of narrow winding streets lined with delicately, detailed row houses? Waves of people- walking, riding bikes- there was a vibrancy with a super pleasant vibe.

Our second day in Belgium coincided with free museum day in Antwerp. We scored.
First stop, the Rubenhaus. A lovely tribute to Peter Paul in his own home.  His work, his student's work, art and gardens that inspired him placed his art in context- all tucked away in a brick house  just off a major shopping street.  It was an intimate glimpse into the artist and the period when he lived.

Second stop, was up at the port, the Museum aan de Stroom (MAS), probably one of the most entertaining and imaginative museums we have been to, starting with the building. You start at the top and see the whole city and beyond, putting the city of Antwerp into it's context.

Each floor considered various aspects of city life; from overarching themes like life and death as interpreted by the many different religions in the city- the chutes and ladders game included in that exhibit. Moving down the stairs, exhibits on shipping, on foodways- how the food is grown, how it gets to the city, how we digest and excrete the food with an impressive toilet exhibit.

Another floor focuses on celebrations, highlighting the history of the ommegang parades of giants (and we thought Ommegang was just another beer brand) and Pride celebrations.  Unsure if the way the Pride pictures were displayed were supposed to be like a peep show, but it did seem like it.  Finally, the last floor was an exhibit about museum storage, always fun.

The sun was still shining and we just finished 2 museums and it was still early. On to the third.

No pictures of this but it was stunning.  The Red Line Museum is a museum about emigration- since Antwerp was the major port for refugees to leave for the US and Canada (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Star_Line) . It was pretty brutal. Combined with the Tenement Museum in NY, the Famine museums throughout Ireland  and any Holocaust museum and you have a very real, very tragic picture of the last century. 

After that, we walked from the tip of Antwerp to the bottom, crossing through many different neighborhoods including the Orthodox Jewish neighborhood.  It was the last night of Sukkot and although there were no Sukkah standing there were a lot of people out and a rather significant carnival. Although Belgium has had difficulties with terrorism, the only time we saw armed police were in front of a Jewish school. Impact was even stronger after just going to the museum.  After a very long walk, we ended up at the University and just beyond the Middelheim Park, a huge sculpture forrest/garden.

Capped off the day with another attempt at Mexican food, although not as successful as in Ghent. A lot of walking, we were ready to put Antwerp to bed.

Brussels followed on the third day.  Brussels was beautiful, we spent the day enjoying the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Magritte Museum and the Fin de Siecle Museum, a little overwhelmed especially with the first museum and pretty fascinated by artists we were not as familiar with in the Fin de Siecle Museum.  We found a wonderful diorama  (how could we not appreciate these after three daughters who each seemed to consider diorama the quiessential school project) 

We wandered through parks, around massive and ornate buildings, thinking about the Congo (you kind of can't help it if you have read King's Leopold's Ghost) and then we stumbled on the Grand Palace Square, (not our pics- from UNESCO) so overwhelmed, we forgot to take pictures

This weeks photo of a topless old man looking out window contemplating his life.