Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent

After Bruges, our next stop was Brussels, which we used as a base to explore two smaller cities, Antwerp and Ghent, which are each less than 45 minutes by train.

First, however, we wandered around Brussels a bit, including to its spectacular main square.

While wandering near the square, we found a street that had literally seven or eight chocolate shops in a row. We still wonder how they all survive.

The one museum I wanted to visit in Brussels is dedicated to one of my favorite artists, the surrealist Rene Magritte. Although many of his greatest and most well-known works are in other museums, we very much enjoyed seeing so many of his works in one place. We also learned that Magritte painted numerous Impressionist style pieces. In addition, we were introduced to the works of Jean-Michel Folon, a later Belgian artist who clearly was inspired by Magritte. In addition to paintings in the museum, some of Folon's sculptures were displayed around the city, including this one, which made a great view even more interesting.

After an enjoyable afternoon in Brussels, and a very good traditional Belgian meal, we set out the next morning for a day in Antwerp. One of the most famous and beautiful sites in Antwerp is the train station, so we arrived at our first tourist destination.

Next, we headed to the Museum Plantin-Moretus, which tells the story of a printing business begun in the middle of the 16th century, and endured for nine generations of the Moretus family. Our regular readers may recall that we visited the Guttenberg Museum in Mainz last summer where we learned a lot about the origin of printing. The Museum Plantin-Moretus extended our knowledge and showed us how important (and lucrative) the printing business became in the centuries after Gutenberg's creation.

The museum is in the building out of which the business was run; it was also the Moretus family's home. The building itself was impressive with its beautiful inner courtyard, but the history of the printing business inclunding a display of the two oldest still existing printing presses in the world, along with many other rare items in the collection, was amazing.

After our time at the museum, and a yummy Greek lunch, we spent a bit of time walking around Antwerp in the cold. We got to see the Het Steen, a medieval fortress, which is Antwerp's oldest building, as well as the ubiquitous central plaza.

On our last day in Belgium, we traveled to Ghent. There, we visited the City Museum, which taught us a lot about the history and importance of the area as Ghent had a very central role in the cloth business. In fact, one display showed that around the year 1400, Ghent was one of the larger cities in Europe. Of course, over subsequent centuries, Ghent's population ebbed and flowed while that of cities such as London and Paris grew dramatically.

Later we walked around the old part of Ghent, which is really quite beautiful (although it would have probably looked even better on a warm, sunny day). Ghent, like Antwerp, also has an old medieval castle / fortress in its center called Gravensteen. It's quite a sight mixed in with the classical northern European facades and architecture.

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And that was the end of our time in Belgium. We only wish we could have enjoyed a Belgian beer outside in the sunshine, but the dreary weather followed us everywhere. More soon from The Netherlands.

Hasta pronto,

Jeff and Shana

In Bruges

After Paris, we spent two days in Bruges, a city that we have wanted to visit for a long time. And, while it is a very pretty old city, it did not really live up to our expectations. In part, this was because the city is so driven by tourism that every other store is selling either chocolate, waffles, fries, beer or sourveniers. I mean, Belgian chocolate is very good, but we have no idea how so many chocolate shops can even survive in a small city.

One of the other problems we had in Bruges was that the weather was rather bad including signifcant rain and a cold wind. This photo is a pretty good representation of our time there.

That said, the main square of Bruges, dominated by the 270-foot. 13th century Belfry, is quite beautiful and impressive.

Part of the appeal of Bruges is just walking around the historic center and taking in the cobblestone streets and old buildings and bridges, all UNESCO World Heritage designated.

The one museum we visited in Bruges, the Groeningemuseum, has a fairly small, but impressive collection, of art from Bruges-based artists through the centuries.

We did get a few brief breaks in the bad weather, and one of those gave us a very nice view of Gentpoort (Ghent Gate), one of the gates from when Bruges was a walled city.

We will say that we ate very well in Bruges, as tourism tends to drive a high-quality and varied food scene. Typical Flemish cooking includes rich beef stew that warms the soul on a cold day.

Finally, for those who missed the reference, the title of this post refers to the 2008 film of the same name starring Colin Farrel. While not one of our favorite movies, it does have its charms, especially the scenery of the city.

More from Belgium soon.

Jeff and Shana

A Brief Stop in Paris

We started our current trip in Paris both because we love Paris and because it was an easy stop on the way to Belgium and the Netherlands, which are the primary destinations for this trip.

We arrived in Paris on a warm spring day, and after a lovely dinner that night at a French restaurant we had been trying to get to for years, we took a nice walk through the city. The Musee d'Orsay and the Seine looked gorgeous.

The next day, we went to two art exhibits. The first on the first Impressionist exhibition that took place in 1874 was at the Orsay. The exhibit included two parts: a collection of the art from that first exhibition, and a virtual reality experience that takes you inside the original exhibition and Paris of the 1870's. We felt the virtual reality experience was ok, but not really necessary and a bit cartoonish. Then, unfortunately, the exhibit itself was waaaay too crowded to actually enjoy the art. Overall we were disappointed. I did enjoy a quick trip through the museum's permanent Impressionist collection, which was busy, but not too crazy. While we were there, Shana got a great shot of Paris through the clock face, which appeared to have been recently cleaned (perhaps for the upcoming Olympics).

After the Orsay, it was such a nice day that we decided to walk over to the Picasso Museum. While we felt the newly organized Picasso collection exhibit was not the best that we have seen (and we have seen many), the relative quiet of the museum made it easy to enjoy the art, so we were glad we went.

Our second day we did two things we had never done before in Paris. First, we found Le Petite Ceinture (the little belt), a series of green areas along the outer edge of Paris that follow an old, now unused, train line. While we did enjoy walking one small section, we were disappointed by how broken up the sections were, which kept us from following the trail more, although we did take a long walk through non-touristy parts of the city we had never visited before.

Our next stop was the Grand Mosque of Paris. While not as spectacular as the mosques we visited in Malaysia, it was quite beautiful and had a fantastic garden.

We were interested to note that unlike the mosques we visited in Malaysia, the French mosque did not ask visitors to dress in full compliance with Muslin dress codes (particularly the requirement that women cover their heads). Perhaps it is the difference between a Muslim-majority country and one that is not.

Finally, as we rode the Metro to catch the train to Bruges, Belgium by way of Brussels, we had a very cute companion.

This Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was incredibly calm despite the fact that when he got on the car it was very crowded (lots of feet that could step on a little guy) -- he clearly is an expert at riding the Paris Metro.

More soon.

Jeff and Shana

A Weekend in Madrid with Friends

We spent the first weekend in April in Madrid. The impetus for the trip was to see Zoe, a dear friend’s daughter, who spent Spring Break with her high school choir touring and performing in Barcelona, Valencia, Toledo, and Madrid. Because we all had school trips like that, right? I remember going . . . oh, nowhere. Not even to Sacramento or Washington DC. We were happy to use the opportunity to see friends who live in Madrid and whom we hadn’t seen for a while.

We arrived on Thursday afternoon and met Nasia, a friend from Spanish school, and her husband Sariel at the Fundación Mapfre to see a Marc Chagall exhibition titled “A Cry of Freedom.” We’ve seen Chagall works in many places, yet this extensive display was uniquely curated to show the broad range of themes, styles and messages Chagall painted during his lengthy career. Most interesting were a group of paintings of crucifixion scenes that were intended as political statements regarding the plight of European Jews in the WWII era. We had never seen these paintings, being more familiar with Chagall’s more nostalgic, poetic, and supernatural works. Afterwards we enjoyed a walk through the city, dinner, and hanging out, drinking, and talking about world events in their apartment.

We met up with Zoe on Friday and showed her around the city and had a traditional Spanish lunch.

The highlight was seeing the Gunn High School Concert Choir’s performance. All their concert venues were churches, which made for a conventianal playlist. We enjoyed the gospel tunes most and were very impressed by the soloists and the acoustics.

Kudos to the teachers and chaperones for coordinating such a large group of teenagers.

We spent Saturday with Carlos, Ploy and Alex, who is now 16 months old. We also had the pleasure of meeting Ploy’s mom, who was visiting from Thailand. It was an enjoyable afternoon catching up and learning more about their lives in Madrid.

It was a perfect weekend trip – pleasant weather, easy train travel, and good company. You can’t ask for much more.

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff

Paris Girls' Trip

Getting to Paris is easy for me – hop on the local train to the border, then on the TGV to Gare Montparnasse where the Metro can get me anywhere in the city. Total travel time door to door (without delays) is about 6 hours. So why is it that last week was the first time I’ve had a Paris Girls’ Trip?

Instead of answering that semi-rhetorical question, I’ll tell you about my highly enjoyable adventure with my dear friend Cori, who came to Paris on her way to an academic conference in Strasbourg. While my train was 30 minutes delayed, Cori arrived 5 hours late, having missed a connection along the way. She was a good sport dealing with jet lag that first evening. We then had two full days filled with art and culture.

We were able to see the Eiffel Tower from several places on our first day. Starting at the City Architecture and Patrimony Museum on Trocadero Plaza where the views never cease to amaze.

We enjoyed two exhibits. The first “Metro! Grand Paris in Motion,” about the history and development of the Metro, was more interesting than expected. The Metro opened in 1900 and is being expanded significantly now to encompass Greater Paris with 68 new stations. (I now understand why France is not prioritizing upgrading the route between the Spanish border and Bordeaux to high speed rail – all the money is going to this Paris project and the Olympics!)

The second “Notre-Dame de Paris, From Builders to Restorers” focused on the extraordinary reconstruction of Notre Dame after the devastating 2019 fire, and the scientific and architectural techniques for doing so. The cathedral is being restored to its 19th century state, albeit with certain renovations. It should reopen by the end of the year, which is incredibly fast considering the extent of the damage and resources needed to complete the work.

We walked to lunch through the Trocadero gardens where Spring was on display.

After lunch we headed to the main event, the Rothko exhibit at the Louis Vuitton Foundation. The exhibit displayed 115 works tracing Rothko’s entire career, including the 9 Seagram Murals that are normally displayed in the Tate’s Rothko room in London. The National Gallery of Art in DC also loaned a significant number of paintings from its extensive collection. Seeing so many Rothko pieces in one place allows one to contemplate his career in an unprecedented way; however, more interesting to me is the logistics behind organizing such an exceptional exhibition. 

It was a full day that started and ended with the Eiffel Tower as we could still see the tower from the top of the LVF and also before and after dinner at a traditional bistro – très magnifique!

We had plans to see the new exhibit at the Picasso Museum, but a national strike of public workers prevented that. Instead, we went to see the “Iris Van Herpen, Sculpting the Senses” exhibition at the Decorative Arts Museum. On display was a huge collection of dresses Van Herpen designed. Her creativity is off the charts! Most didn't even look wearable to me as they are made from such unconventional materials and constructed in odd ways. It was fascinating and visually overwhelming.

The transparent white creation was worn by Beyonce on the Renaissance tour and the one that appears to have arrows resembles a dress that Ali Wong recently wore to the SAG-AFTRA awards.

The Hotel de Ville was decorated for the upcoming summer Olympic games.

In a city like Paris, you never know what you might see as you wander about. I loved the decorations on this building in the Marais area. And we stumbled on a crazy moment near the Louvre: it’s not every day you see a giant horse sculpture being reinstalled!

Finally, we enjoyed Matthew Bourne’s production of Romeo + Juliet at the Theatre Chatelet. The beauty of a ballet / dance production is that the performance does not require translation. The views from the theater’s balcony were fantastic where you could see the progress made on Notre Dame.

Over the two days we walked and talked a ton, enjoyed good weather, and wonderful food. What more can you ask for? Who's coming next??

Au revoir,

Shana

Big Trip II Wrap Up

When we finished the foreign portion of our first Big Trip last year, we had no inkling that we would be doing it again so soon. Still, we knew we’d be up for it. And, lo and behold, we did it a second time less than a year later. Version 2 was different from version 1 in several ways, the biggest being that we stayed put in one location for an extended period with our house swap.

Spending two and a half months in New Zealand was relaxing. We settled in and enjoyed the tranquility that Conway Flat offers. We had a routine that included exercise, cooking, reading and chores. While we spent a total of 13 nights away, these were short, easy trips. The remainder of our foreign travels consisted of 6 weeks, 3 in Tasmania and 3 in Malaysia, before we passed through the United States for 3 weeks on our way home.

The entire trip covered 140 nights (13 fewer than v.1), which we spent in 39 different lodgings (vs. 52) including three overnight flights (same). We took 19 flights (vs. 23). The longest was from Singapore to San Francisco, which was scheduled to take nearly 15 hours, but thanks to the Jetstream came in just over 13. We only took one train this time (to Paris). Jeff drove 6 different rental cars, one for 3 straight weeks in Tasmania, plus 3 cars borrowed from friends and family (thank you!), and he is very happy to be carless again.

During our visit to the US, we enjoyed our time with family and friends. We took very few photos, and most of them include friends’ and family's dogs: Dubs II & Lucy, Bailey, Miles, and Daisy & Piper.

We especially enjoyed the time spent with our nephews. It was great to celebrate Ari’s 15^th birthday in person. He’s going to be taller than all of us.

Seeing Berkeley through the eyes of freshman Jeremy & Ethan was a kick. We wish we had photos with everyone we saw, but alas, it just didn’t happen.

We are grateful to have had a second opportunity for a big trip. Would we do it again? Yes, but not anytime soon. We were ready to be home this time. And while we have several trips planned for 2024, so far none is longer than 2 weeks.

We get many questions about how we managed to travel for months at a time. While a lot goes into the planning, we also try to be flexible. Flights and lodgings are prioritized. We never land somewhere without a place to stay. Tasmania was planned extensively in advance, which was essential for a road trip. Malaysia not so much, which worked to our advantage considering the heat and humidity. This trip we learned not to ever plan multiple flights on a birthday – it is just an invitation for disaster. Because we take our time, we tend to avoid early morning outings and also make a habit of having an hour or two in the late afternoon to ourselves before dinner. Being rested helps a lot. And try not to overpack! Those are our keys for success.

We are slowly settling into our routine. It’s taken a bit longer than expected, but we might finally be in a groove after about 10 nights.

It’s good to be home,

Shana & Jeff