The Beauty of Belgium!

Ciao!!

The weather in Florence is finally warming up and it is sooooo beautiful!!! I spent some of the day just walking around, appreciating the beauty of the city in sunshine. Of course because its finally sunny the tourists have descended and it is almost impossible to move in the Piazza al Duomo but other than that everything is perfect. School is going well and I was nominated for the Coluccio Salutati Award, an award given to four students who have strived for academic excellence and integration into the Italian culture. I have to write an essay about how Italy and the culture has affected me, and then there are four finalists. My two art history professors nominated me so it is a huge honor! But even more exciting is the trips I have undertaken in the past two weeks!! I wrote form the Brussels Airport but I didn't write about my trip! So it begins:

I landed in Brussels on March 12th in the evening and immediately set out for the Grote Markt and its gloriously decadent buildings, so pretty!! The sun was, unfortunately, nowhere to be seen so I scurried under the cover of a newly purchased umbrella (emblazoned with BELGIUM) to the Manneken Pis. Such a cute like bugger! I had my first waffle, which reminds me! When I stepped off the plane in Belgium, I kid you not, it SMELLED LIKE WAFFLES! I had no idea they were as pervasive as they were. Anyway, that night I stayed at the Hotel Mozart (soooo strange! covered in crazy wallpaper and huge pictures of Barack Obama!). The next morning I headed to the Musee di arte ancien. Such a collection! Though I have to say that it was a bit bittersweet because the two works I was most excited to see: The Annunciate by the Master of Flemalle and the Lamentation by Rogier van der Weyden were not there! Memling, van der Weyden, van der Goes, DAVID, Ingres, Bosch, and many others (see pictures below, and I apologize for the blurriness I have such a hard time without the flash, so please excuse the quality of some of the images). After the museum I headed to the train station and boarded a train for Bruges, the focal point of my Belgian expedition.

When I got there I was immediately captivated by the mediveal and quaint beauty of the city. The canals sparkled in the sun, and it was love at first site. My hotel was situated right on a canal and I had an adorable attic room that looked over the whole city! I immediately dropped off my bags and hiked up the Belfort. WHAT A VIEW! After I stared for sooooo long, I headed down and over to the Cathedral where I saw the Bruges Madonna by Michelangelo, I can't get away from Mike even in Belgium! It was exquiste but so much smaller than I had imagined. It fits so perfectly into his Florentine period right before he went to Rome for the Pieta. I really couldn't believe how minute the details were. The church itself was not very impressive other than its huge tower which was under construction. After my Italian interlude I decided to keep the rest of the gems for the next days and headed home to an amazing Belgian meal at my hotel. I had tomato soup and waterlooi, which is chicken cooked in its own broth with vegetables and yummy sauce. After a hearty beer, I was ready for sleep. The next morning I woke early to head ot the Groeninge Museum, the main reason for my trip..... AND IT WAS CLOSED! Closed for installation for a new show arriving three days after I left. So devasted I dragged myself to the Hans Memling Museum to lift my spirits, and did it!! The small shrine of St. Ursula and the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine were enough to galvinize me and put a smile back on my face... well those and a couple of waffles :) After my galvinzation, I strutted out to the Jeruzelkerk, which was by far one of the strangest church I have entered, and if I happened to ever need a setting to film a horror movie about virgin sacrifices to a god, I found my place! It was soo dark and creepy with a hidden room where there was a fake dead Christ in the Tomb for veneration. I quickly hightailed it out of there and walked back into the sunshine and warmth of the center. From then on I just wandered and found awesome little hidden alcoves and blind alleys that dot the whole city. I also wandered into the Basilica of the Holy Blood in time to see over 200 christians line up to rub a cylinder that held a "vial of the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ from his time on the cross." I did not point out to any of them that if someone got a vial of JC's blood while he was on the cross then chances are that person was not mourning but rather maybe from the other side...... Anyway! I left that church before someone could spot me as a heretic and headed over the Markt for more people watching. After an eventful day, I retreated to my hotel bar and once again ate wonderful food and retired with a full stomach!

The next morning marked my departure from Bruges for Ghent. A beautiful, and quick, train ride got me to Ghent at about noon, so I climbed the Belfort there (saw MORE amazing views) and headed to the Gravensteen Castle, which was sooo cool! I climbed ramparts, explored torture rooms (with the instruments still in place) and waltzed in the banquet room. All in all, a very nice little interlude. After my brief respite from the visual arts, I headed to St. Bavo's to view the ONE OF A KIND Ghent Altarpiece by the brothes van Eyck. And what a sight. I stood in a tiny room for 30 minutes while I tried to devour every minute detail and inch. It was one of the works that made me fall in love with art and to be able to stand in front of it for a minute, nevermind 30, was an awesome experience. I will admit a tear came out, just like when I saw the Last Supper of Leonardo in Milan. These works are such a part of me and so heartbreakingly beautiful that I miss them when I can not see them. How strange that I say these things about art... but I don't know much that can equal it.

After Ghent I went back to Brussels for my flight, and headed back to Florence where I was welcomed home with beautiful weather and gosh, it was nice to be home!

That was Belgian adventure, and it followed with an easy week at school.

This last weekend I went on another art tour, but this time it was Piero Pilgrimage....can you name the Piero who roamed the hills of Arezzo and San Sepulcro....

Stay tuned for more on that later this week!!

All the love!
Lydia

Brussels:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2531457&id=8642257&l=6f2faab190

Bruges:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2533704&id=8642257&l=8b9a42476b

Ghent:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2533928&id=8642257&l=67f6e27765