Brussels: Separating Fact from Fiction

We have lived in Brussels for over a year already, but given the economy and other reasons, we have not exactly had a rush of visitors. However, (exciting!) my parents and my sister will be visiting us in August and September, respectively, and that has gotten me to thinking about shedding some light on Real Life in Brussels to help them and others have a better idea of what to expect.

If you have been reading this blog for more than a second, it will come as no surprise that we love it here. We did not know a ton about Brussels before moving here, other than having this vague notion of it being lovely and little-known and exotically European. So it has been interesting to discover the city and unpack its secrets. There are some absolutely beautiful, charming, and well-designed aspects about living here:

• Gorgeous historic buildings and neighborhoods, and the stunning Grand Place, one of the prettiest squares anywhere in Europe.
• Unbelievably good health care. Socialized medicine as the Belgians do it is amazing. (I know this will be hard for many of you to believe, but it is TRUE!)
  
• Great public transit and not having to drive everywhere. I have driven our car exactly twice and neither time was necessary.
• Daily/weekly outdoor markets.
  
• The international character of the city. It provides the opportunity to speak French all day long, but also have English be very prevalent, which is helpful if you get in a jam.
• Fantastic support for and access to the arts--music of all types, museums, galleries, theater. Jazz is HUGE here, opera is revered, and all kinds of experimental visual arts happen all the time.
• Green space everywhere. Buildings hide amazing courtyards, parks of all sizes pop up everywhere, and there is a bona fide forest in the southern part of the city.
  
• Location, location, location--proximity to so many other cool, interesting places.
• Beer, waffles, chocolates, abbey cheeses, restaurants and gastronomy in general. The list could go on and on (and on).

BUT, lest ye think that life in the Old World is a swirling fairytale of culture and charm 100% of the time, there are also plenty of quirks, oddities, and annoying little things present here as anywhere. To be fair, not all of these are bad...just different:

• The mind-boggling acceptance of dogs pooping on the sidewalk and their owners waltzing off without a second's thought towards picking it up.
• Staring is socially acceptable. It can be unnerving until you get used to it.
• Smiling at or even acknowledging strangers is (apparently) not socially acceptable. (Coming from a state known for its friendliness, this one is weird.)
• Belgians use the equivalent of 'If you please' (either s'il vous plait or alstublieft) for a lot of things: Here you go. Thanks a lot. Next in line. Have a nice day.
  
• The generally dirty nature of...everywhere. Sidewalks, streets, building exteriors. They could employ a swath of jobless people in picking up trash, cleaning the streets, and doing a wholesale graffiti removal and building cleaning project.
• Efficiency is not a value.
  
• Shops are closed at least one day each week and close early on the other 4-6 days. (Actually, in an odd way I kind of like this one.)
• Holding the door open for people is uncommon as, apparently, many women find it offensive. Once Troy held a door open for a man and he thanked Troy in English--he knew Troy had to be an American to do such a thing.
  
• Contemporary workmanship is pretty poor. The mantra is "good enough to squeak by", as opposed to "expect excellence".
• Brussels' Maison Communale (town hall) makes a US DMV look like a well-oiled machine. In our 5 (5 yes FIVE) visits over the last year we have had ample opportunity to witness bureaucracy as its mind-numbingly-horrible-yet-almost- laughable worst. (Ok, so it's highly unlikely that any of our visitors would need to know this, but I had to get it off my chest.)
• Lots of laws are kind of more like 'guidelines'.
  
• Belgian drivers/people driving in Belgium (note that these are not necessarily the same thing) are horrendous. Seriously--you have to be on guard all the time.
• Honking is its own language. It ranges from 'Get out of my way' to 'I'm so frustrated with this long queue' to 'I heard you, but my pride is offended so I must honk back' to 'I'm so excited my football [soccer] team just won'.
• When all other explanations fail, there's always 'Parce que c'est comme ça' (Well, because it's like that).

Actually now that you've read this primer, you're ready to visit too. But, not in the next few weeks as we are off on a two week holiday to Provence. C'est la vie...

Simone Sings Opera at Flagey

Well, it was actually a performance of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy's oratorio Elijah by the Charlemagne Orchestra for Europe, featuring the Brussels Choral Society, of which I am but one member and technically not trained as an opera singer. But, whatever, I like my title better.


Photo Courtesy Charlemagne Orchestra

For those of you who might not be familiar with the term oratorio (and I must confess that, despite my years of singing, I had to look it up once I found out we were singing one), it is basically an unstaged opera. According to my handy 'Chambers Dictionary of Music', an oratorio is a "dramatic, musical setting of religious texts, scored for orchestra, chorus, and solo voices. Originally it was acted out with scenery and costumes, but gradually it became more commonly performed as a concert." Handel's Messiah is probably the most famous example of an oratorio. Mendelssohn's Elijah depicts scenes from the life of Old Testament prophet Elijah, including his dramatic confrontation with the priests of Baal.



This was my first exposure to Mendelssohn's orchestral work, and, with a 200 page score, it was quite a first taste. Add a tongue-twisting German text and every emotion from anger to desperation to angelic gratitude and you've got yourself quite a challenge. (Funny side note, but after months of rehearsals holding up that mammoth score, my right bicep is noticeably bigger than my left one. I kid you not.)

Check out the size of those suckers!

Photo Courtesy Charlemagne Orchestra

A shot of one of our générales (dress rehearsals)

Photo Courtesy Becca Steel

Our concert was on April 20th, at a really cool venue--Studio 4 at Flagey. Studio 4 is located in one of the first radio broadcasting buildings in the world, a 1938 Art Deco gem formerly known as the Maison de la Radio Flagey. Because of its former life, the acoustics in the 900-seat hall are amazing. The room was a dream to sing in--really effortless on the voice, which was incredibly helpful given that it was a nearly 3 hour performance (including intermission).



We sang under the firey baton of le chef d'orchestre Bartholomeus-Henri Van de Velde. Barth is a larger-than-life character that startled some of the more reserved (read: British) members of the choir.


Photo Courtesy Becca Steel

Originally a violinist, he founded the Charlemagne Orchestra nine years ago, and is now also, among other things, an ambassador of sorts for Rolex and BMW. He is dramatic, demanding, exacting, and confident-tiptoeing-near-arrogant. He is also disarmingly charming. Some found that combination a bit off-putting, but I loved his style and enjoyed working with him enormously.


Photo Courtesy Becca Steel

As a whole, the performance went really well. The orchestra had some really beautiful moments, and the soloists (professional opera singers all) delivered fine, albeit not groundbreaking, performances. However, the choir and the alto soloist, Julie Nesrallah, really stood out above the rest. (And, I'm not just saying that because I'm a member of the choir nor because I'm an alto--even my soprano friends agree!)

Julie Nesrallah, the alto soloist

Photo Courtesy Charlemagne Orchestra

This concert was also my debut organizing the altos as their Voice Representative. (A position of real power, let me tell you.) Seriously though, it's really rewarding to be involved with an organization of this caliber, and given the opportunity to perform in such venues, with such talented artists. I am already looking forward to our next concert--two June performances in Holland of Beethoven's 9th Symphony and his Chorfantasie.

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

With our capacity for milking an occasion, we managed to stretch out the celebration of the 'Seven Year Seven' over the course of two weeks, leading us to rename it 'Festival of Seven'. This festival-of-a-first-date-celebration ultimately took place in three countries, featured 2 concerts (which we will blog about soon!), and involved A LOT of fortifiers.

After spending a lovely weekend in Paris, we next set our sights on Amsterdam. We had been to Amsterdam before (twice in fact), but we had several reasons for a repeat visit. 1) Troy and I are both big fans of Vincent Van Gogh, and we had learned of a special exhibition of his night scenes to be held this spring at the Van Gogh Museum, so we decided to make a special trip up to Amsterdam for it. 2) Our friend Bill from the States lives in Amsterdam, and we wanted to hang out with him. (As it turns out, at the last minute Bill decided to visit family in Italy for Easter, so we ended up having his place to ourselves for four days--thanks Bill!) 3) Springtime is the time when flowers are in bloom, including at the world-famous Keukenhof Gardens. Given that the gardens are basically on the way from our house to Amsterdam, we decided to add them into the mix. 4) After we picked Easter weekend to go, we fortuitously learned that one of our favorite musicians (Marc Broussard) was playing there the next Monday, so we stretched our weekend out by an extra day. So a trip that started out being about an art exhibit grew to encompass anniversaries and gardens and concerts, oh my!



This was our second visit to Keukenhof, and it is so beautiful I anticipate that we will keep coming back as long as we live here. Whereas last year, we spent our time wandering through the beautifully manicured gardens, this year we opted to rent bicycles to ride through the lovely miles of flower fields that surround the gardens.





The weather was absolutely perfect--sunny, warm, with only a mild breeze--and we had a wonderful afternoon of cycling, stopping along the banks of a tiny canal for a late afternoon picnic.



We arrived in Amsterdam in the evening, and had just managed to let ourselves into Bill's apartment when the sky let loose in an unusual-for-here fashion: pops of lightening, window-rattling thunder, and quick, violent bursts of rain. However, rain in all forms is a way of life in Northern Europe, so we waited for a break and made a dash for the tram stop, armed with our 'serious' umbrellas. (We have a collection, each for a different type of rain.) We rode the tram all the way into the Central Station and got inside just before the bottom fell out: sheets of water threw themselves out of the clouds at the hordes of unsuspecting tourists below. We shook our heads a bit pityingly at the novices, feeling rather superior with our rain-conquering skills, and scurried out of the station in search of our chosen dinner spot. We dried out over a yummy Thai dinner at Bird featuring two kinds of curry, kicking off what turned out to be a fun, diverse, and sunny weekend.

We had some fantastic meals and fortifiers at several great restaurants and cafés.





We took in the 'Van Gogh and the Colours of the Night' exhibition, gleefully bypassing the ridiculous queue due to our advanced ticket purchase, hooray!



We attended Easter services at the 300+ year-old Christ Church, located on a beautiful canal in one of the oldest parts in the city.





We window-shopped, wandered the Jordaan, listened to a live 'session' at Mulligan's Irish Pub, and enjoyed the beautiful weather by relaxing canalside as much as possible.



We hung out practically ON STAGE for the Marc Broussard and Paul Carrack show. (Couldn't resist offering a sneak peak!)



And, to round it out, we took in a little live jazz at Alto Jazz Club before calling it a weekend.



Amsterdam & Keukenhof Photos - Click Here

I Love Paris in the Springtime

Troy and I have a definable date for our first date: April 7th, 2002. This year marked the 7th Anniversary of our first date, or 'The Seven Year Seven' as we dubbed it. What to do to celebrate this auspicious occasion? A weekend in Paris naturellement.

We have a system of touring via "fortifiers" -- a quick coffee, a pastry, a cocktail, a chocolate. This system is very responsive to your immediate needs (hunger, thirst, need for a restroom break, tired feet) and is easily adaptable to whatever city you find yourself in. In Italy, a fortifier might often involve a cappuccino at a sidewalk café, whereas in Hong Kong it might be a stop for green tea in an air-conditioned tearoom. In Brussels, it would inevitably include beer, chocolate, and/or a waffle. It all depends on the environment.

So, for example in Paris it might go something like this: Begin your day with coffee and croissants sitting at the tiny table in your room since it's still a trifle chilly to eat outside on the balcony.



Once you leave the hotel, make the 30-second walk across the square to Saint-Sulpice and visit the church, discreetly watching the parishioners and their laurel branches as they observe Palm Sunday services.



From there, head towards the heart of the city, stopping off for a quick coffee standing up at the bar in a café as, of course, you don't need to sit down yet.



Make your way over to the Île de la Cité and the Cathédrale of Notre Dame de Paris. Forego the interior and the hordes of tourists it holds, and instead take some pictures outside and wander through the lovely surrounding garden.





Walk over the bridge to the Île Saint-Louis, pausing to listen to the random trio of musicians playing on the bridge. Get a hot crêpe filled with jus de citron et sucre or confiture de fraises from the window of a tiny café, and stroll the isle, popping in and out of its fun little boutiques.





Rest your feet from all that shopping by hopping on the metro. Head over to the Place Vendôme for a late lunch with a glass of dry rosé.



Try to visit the Musée l'Orangerie, and, after being unexpectedly turned away due to a random private party having engaged the museum for the evening, console yourself with a stop at La Duree for macarons.



Nibble on them as you head over to the Arc de Triomphe, popping into a random bistro for a cocktail while you wait for the sun to set.





Walk up the million steps to the top of the arch to take in the view of the Tour Eiffel all lit up and the sparkling lights of Paris at night.





From there, head back to your hotel to change and take a moment's rest. Stroll through the quiet streets of Saint-Germain-de-Prés and sit down at La Ferrandaise to a lovely 3-course dinner accompanied by a bottle of Côte du Rhone at 10:30 pm. C'est parfait.



Fortifiers work! You need sustenance for all that walking and site-seeing, plus potty breaks, supporting the local economy, staying hydrated, resting your feet...Really, you're just being sensible.



Well, at least until you get the bill...

Paris Photo Album - Click Here

Bluebells in the Bois de Halle

Rain is a fact of life in Belgium. Sometimes that fact can be rather dreary and depressing, but it does have its upside: all the rain does a very good job of keeping things green. Trees, shrubs, flowers, and vines flourish in such a moist environment. Coming from the high desert that is Colorado, such lushness never gets old.

One day last week my friend Cornelle had the idea to drive about 30 minutes south of Brussels to go walking in the Bois de Halle. Belgium has its fair share of forests, but this one is special because for a few weeks each spring the forest floor is completely carpeted in bluebells (aka wild blue hyacinth).

We spent a couple of hours meandering, chatting, taking pictures, and appreciating springtime in the forest. We listened to the birds chirping, stopped to look at ducks and tadpoles in a pond, smelled the delicate sweet fragrance of the bluebells and the pungent garlicky odor of wild alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard), and even happened upon a little white rabbit hopping through the woods. It was like walking through a fairytale.







The afternoon was lovely, refreshing, and relaxing, the kind of simple outing that I have not often made time for. It is hard to recall the last time I was so unhurried and present in nature. Hopefully, you can take a second to look at the photos below and have your own moment of zen on this Sunday afternoon.

Bois de Halle Photos - Click Here