[Beth]: Wednesday was our fourth full day in Brussels, and I really felt comfortable in the city. I knew how to get everywhere, so it was a day where I felt less like a tourist and more like a local. In the morning, I went to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts and got to see Belgian and Flemish art from the 14th to 18th centuries. The modern art section was closed for renovations, but that was ok. I really am not a huge fan of modern art (although I will shortly contradict myself when I mention the Magritte Museum).
For lunch and the early afternoon, I feel I truly became a local Belgian. I grabbed a sandwich and water from the local, small grocery store and headed towards the laundromat. Jared and I are notorious over-packers – sometimes we are really too organized and prepared for our own good. THIS trip, though, we vowed to pack light and enjoy the freedom of each having only one medium-sized suitcase. Since the trip was 10 days, this necessitated doing laundry during the trip. I spent about two hours at the laundromat with a few college kids and a housewife. I even managed to help a woman who spoke no English with her washing machine!
For the afternoon, I walked to Upper Town (more truffles!) to the Musical Instruments Museum. It is housed in an Art Nouveau building which used to be an Old English department store. It was four floors of an amazing range of musical instruments. Sadly, Jared didn’t get to see it – I know he would have loved it. There wasn’t a lot of reading or history; you had headphones which would start playing music associated with each instrument when you stood in front of it. There was some great music!
Once Jared finished his day at the conference, we went to the Magritte Museum as it was open late that evening. As I said before, I am not much for modern art. Rene Magritte was a Surrealist painter of the early to mid-1900’s. I really really enjoyed this museum and his artwork. We could get a strong sense of his progression from more classical style and composition into the surrealism for which he is famous. The thing that I especially relished about his paintings was the fact that he used and depicted familiar objects, but in unusual context or juxtaposition. Some examples are below.
After the museum, we walked to a restaurant recommended by one of Jared’s friends who lived in Brussels for several years. It was a hole in the wall place that we would never have found on our own. But it was an amazing atmosphere and scrumptious food. The restaurant was quite small and for most of our meal we had the upstairs dining rooms to ourselves. The walls were completely covered in old tins, steins, and decorative plates of the royal family.
Not surprisingly, we each got a tasting menu and some more beers. Our waiter was especially friendly and helpful in choosing several beers. The foie gras was perfect, the main courses were superb, and we finished with some waffles!
Finally, on the walk back to our hotel, we came across this mural on the side of a building. Tin Tin is a Belgian comic that popped up everywhere!
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