Belgium, we 24/26-07-09

This week end I've been to Belgium to visit some very good friends. Not so exotic you would say, but you would be amazed by the beauty this little country hides.

Our arrival began with a small walk at Brussels by night, with crowded streets, opened chocolate shops and a nice illuminated 'Grand Place', with its Town Hall, gothic building from the Middle Ages, and the Bread House or 'Maison du Roi' at the opposite side.




We stopped by a bar on the Grand Place, to take one of those famous belgian tasty biers, listening to jazzy music.


After some typical waffles from Nivelle for breakfast, we've been to Lier, up north from Brussels, located in the province of Antwerp (Anvers).


There, we can see the Zimmer Tower, built in the early 15th century. The astronomer and clockmaker Louis Zimmer made the Jubilee Clock displayed on the front in the 20th.  It shows time on all continents, phases of the moons, times of tides and many other periodic phenomena.




Lier is known for its canals, but also for the 'Béguinage' (UNESCO World Heritage Site) which is a collection of small buildings where laid several sisterhoods of the Roman Catholic Church. It permitted the sisters to serve God without having to retire from the world. On each door we can read the name of a saint.




After Lier, we've been to Antwerp, my favorite place of the week end! You can enjoy wide shopping streets, high white buildings (is it really Belgium?), the Cathedral of Our Lady, roman catholic church in gothic style that has never been completed (only one tower). The Cathedral contains several paintings from Peter Paul Rubens. Antwerp, situated along l'Escaut, is also famous for its international port of merchandises. The Town Hall of Antwerp is on the Grand Place, with its Brabo fountain.

























Back to Brussels. We visited the Atomium, built for the Universal Exhibition of 1958, and that should have been destroyed after (as the Eiffel Tower). It has the shape of a unit cell of an iron crystal magnified 165 billion times. You can reach the top by taking the escalators going from a sphere to another, and have a panoramic view of Brussels.


After the Atomium, we visited the Royal Palace, and walked down to the city center to see the famous Manneken-Pis.






Huge pic of a street in Brussels. Many walls are recovered by paintings because as you know, Belgium is also the country of comics!