Belgium, a world full of images
Rue d'Argent, Rue Léopold, right, left, Rue de la Fourche, Rue de Marché aux Herbes, right into Rue Chair et Pain ... quickly straight ahead. I enter the Grand Place, the Grote Markt. I have just arrived in Brussels, the Belgian capital, moved into my hostel bunk bed (above), walked to the laundromat around the corner, and returned an hour and four euros sixty later with fresh laundry from washing machine number nine. My mind is still all possessed, blissfully touched: Behind me lies a terrific weekend. Spent in Antwerp, spent with two people from my heart whom I met two years ago in Vietnam. Stop! I enter the Grand Place, the Grote Markt – and the world stands still. In front of me, the City Hall, majestic. Gothic architecture, lancet windows, the solitary tower facing the sky. To the right, to the left, slender guild houses. Window fronts, gables ornate, exterior walls: gold details. The baroque facade, sandstone-colored, figuratively decorated. Two falcons circle above the ensemble of houses. A horse-drawn carriage, waiting, in the middle of the square. This is so narrowly laid out, I feel cramped and feel liberated. Behind me, a building with a portico, two stories high. And the world stands still. Physically I am motionless, too, but moved by the heart. Four minutes, five minutes. I don't understand what is happening to me. I do not understand. Later I realize that I had come to this place without even the slightest idea – and had been taken aback. What a rare pleasure in a world full of images!
One week before. Night train trip to Belgium. Admittedly a bit ashamed, I confess: It's the first time I visit my neighboring country. First stop, Ghent. A Western European student city presents itself in the sunshine, lively hustle and bustle, happy laughter, in street cafés: people drinking beer. It is 1 p.m. when I stroll through the city with a bag of Gentse Neuzen // a Belgian sweet // in my hand, along the small canals on which tourist boats sail, past medieval gabled houses. Not hesitating for long, I immediately visit a first sight. The sight of the city, the Ghent Altar. The triptych, almost four meters high and just over five meters wide, was created at the beginning of the 15th century by the van Eyck brothers and is considered one of the most important works of art in Early Netherlandish painting. Richly colored and impressively detailed, it tells the story of the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb from the Revelation of John on twelve panels. But it is not only the work of art that fascinates, but also its history. It heroically survived the iconoclasm of the Calvinists in the 16th century, only to be taken away first by the French, then by the Germans – but the panel altar always returned almost complete // The panel of the Fair Judges, bottom left, is still considered lost and is exhibited as a copy. // back home. I learn all this in a virtual reality tour of the catacombs of St. Bavo's Cathedral. Later, I enter another virtual reality at the Museum of Contemporary Art (S.M.A.K.). A fictitious employee guides, also fictitious, visitors through the museum and gives them recommendations for the selection of pictures, personally tailored and philosophically underpinned. A meta-level from off-screen occasionally intervenes in the conversation, moderating it. I listen to this for a while before continuing my tour. In the next room, Mark Grootes' homage to the rhododendron.
Old art, new art – a world full of images. In Bruges, I get lost in the medieval alleys without trees, find my way back and visit more classics of art history. Immerse myself in a microcosm of shaded colors and equally colorful narratives. Particularly impressive: the Judgement of Cambyses by Gerard David from 1498, depicting the judge Sisamnes, who falls from grace through corruption and is flayed alive. Here: art as a reminder, and as a warning. In Brussels, I learn more about the cultural-historical backgrounds and current trends of the so-called Ninth Art and meet the heroes of my childhood again on the corners of houses and in open-air exhibitions, finally in the Belgian Comic Strip Center: Tintin, Lucky Luke, the Smurfs...
I am on the road again! How nice it feels – how alive I feel the blood circulating in my veins, wild and free. Still shortly before my departure I had no picture to me on the road. For too long, my backpack stood unused in the corner, slowly gathering dust. But now we are finally exploring the world together again, and I am completely with myself. I walk the streets and let life affect me. In a moment I stop, take a break and watch you, citizens of Belgium. I wonder, what are your dreams? Are they different from mine, and what are mine? Sometimes I get lost in my thoughts. And sometimes I find myself smiling in moments of complete mental silence. Then I look at the cloudy sky, beautiful. But just a moment later I enjoy perfectly shaped station architecture. I board the train, the world in panoramic view, and climb up countless spiral staircases of a belfry just to have this one look down. In the evening I contemplate the yellow-shimmering illumination of the cities, and during the day I enter churches, here: shy rays of sunlight in stained glass window reflection.
Friday night, Bar Paniek. It's raining in Antwerp. A few hours ago Rosy picked me up from the station, now we sit at the bar and drink beer. With us a multitude of people to whom you introduce me. Lots of conversations, buzz of voices. What has happened in your life, and in mine? Two years have passed since we met in Vietnam. Our time together in the mountains of the north and in Ha Noi was short and intense. In between, an occasional chat, a like and many hearts. Today: we remember told stories of our lives. Stories that still move us. We were friends from the first moment – Wild is the wind, Rosy! – and so it is now. I have come to see friends, again. Bert keeps us waiting. But finally he comes in the door, drenched in rain, a smile on his face. I feel at home – and from then on we let ourselves drift. Industrial site, former slaughterhouse hall, Soli party: exuberant atmosphere to electronic music, karaoke in the next room. The night I spend with you, dancing and laughing, is endless. Another Jupiler, cheers! Change of scene, 24 hours later. In the middle of life. I don't know you and yet, I am celebrating your 40th birthday with you, congratulating you on your joie de vivre that completely fills the room and my heart. Unknowingly, you, chance acquaintance, give me an idea for my own future. Like you, I will celebrate life, glamorous in gold sequin top. Change of scene. 24 hours later. One last beer at Zeppelin. Your favorite bar, your friends – and me in between, right in the middle. "Nog een pintje?" "Yes." Dank je wel, Rosy and Bert. ♡
On the last day of my trip, I still manage to step out into nature. From Liège, it's three stops by train to nearby Méry. Three stops into another world, unurban. Stone houses line the Ourthe, which ripples sleepily. A small road leads up a slope, on the left a sneak path into the forest, and I'm already in solitude. Two, three breaths of pure air, a refreshing smell, not a soul, but birdsong. The next hours, adventurous: I climb to a vantage point at 200 meters. Best view into the valley, trees, houses, a sea of clouds and carefully the sun peeks occasionally on the foliage. Further, always further I walk slightly shakily through the mud into the forest, jump over puddles, cross the Chawresse – and shoo, shoo right of the river up the steep hill, can hardly hold me on slippery ground, become aware that this is not a path and shoo, shoo down the slope again, crossing the Chawresse, a small river, torrential stream. I lose the way, one time and the other, but I am not lost. I feel no fear, instead the invigorating power of nature, and just keep on walking.
Interesting!
Unfortunately, there is no fully comprehensive, German-language individual travel guide about Belgium – a scandal, in my opinion. Lonely Planet helped out and gave me some interesting details about the country: Most chocolate, worldwide, is sold at Brussels Airport. // Belgium was the second European country, after the Netherlands, to legalize same-sex marriage, in 2003. // Cycling is the national sport in Belgium and its hero: Eddy Merckx. // Europe's first skyscraper was built in Antwerp between 1928 and 1931. // UNESCO has included Belgian beer in its list of intangible cultural heritage; there are more than 1,000 different varieties. // Charles V was born in Ghent in 1500, Jean-Claude van Damme near Brussels in 1960. // Belgium's urbanization rate is 98% and ranks 11th in a country comparison. // The world's largest electronic music festival is held annually near Antwerp. In 2019, 400,000 people visited Tomorrowland, tickets were sold out in a very short time.
PS: I also visited the EU Parliament in Brussels. Mega excited, in the center of power.
*Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version). Made some modifications.
