WHAT DID YOU DO THIS WEEKEND ?

This weekend was a street sale on the main street in Waterloo, I thought to go to the park and take some pictures. The whole main street was nicely decorated with baloons, as you can see on the church picture below.



But there was nothing in the park only things for kids to play.

As the Waterloo Exhibition hall is also in the park, I went there to see what Exhibition was going on !
Modern Art !



The sculpture on the right above, was made by my ceramic teacher and should represent the silence of bubbling water or something like that. I also don't know why I should nail cushions on a wooden plank, although I may seem to be an ignorant, I prefer them on a sofa. Modern Art is more and more inspired by African primitive art or what our ancestors produced in their caverns. That means nothing new ! I almost throw my tissu in the "bin" below, fortunately it didn't work because it represents the nuclear catastrophe of Fukushima ! There was a long explanation hanging on the wall, which I really needed !



The only apparently "real" artwork was showing how one restored old paintings ! That at least was interesting ! Disappointed I returned home, without buying anything but a thermometer showing in and outdoor temperatures.

On Sunday Nicole and I took the bus to go to the Midi market which is reputed to be the biggest in Europe behind Ventimiglia on the Italian Riviera! On average 450 stand holders sell their wares, mainly foodstuffs and clothes of all varieties. It was cool but sunny and a lot of people there ! She was looking for some T-shirts and a coat, I was looking for nothing but cigarettes for Mr. G. If you meet the right person you can get them half price, which is a big saving ! I found a beautiful beige jacket already for the cold season, with a hood, very important for me as I always forget umbrellas, and she found T-shirts for a ridiculous price of 1 € (1.30 $ ) per piece. We also bought some fruits and vegetables also much cheaper than in Waterloo.

While she was turning around still looking for a coat or jacket, I sat on the terrace of a café there and looked for my cigarette man. Two other ladies were sitting at my table and it turned out they did the same. They were typical Brussels' women talking in the Brussels' slang, which sounds so funny in my ears. I learned a lot from them, where I can buy the cheapest fabrics, clothes and other stuff also during the week. They both were born in Brussels and had lived there their whole life. We had a lot of fun together and suddenly the cigarette man showed up, he looked around if no police was near and then put them in my open shopping bag. I payed and looked innocent while he went away. I love to have a little illegal thrill ! Then Nicole returned without jacket and we took the bus back.

Usually it takes 45 min, but this time we spent almost 2 h in the bus !



In one of the little Flemish towns just before Waterloo, there was the yearly bicycle tour called the De Gordel. This is a partly political, partly family cycling and walking event in the Brussels periphery. The event is organised each year since 1981 on the first Sunday of September. It is meant as a symbolic affirmation that the municipalities involved are part of Flanders. It also expresses the solidarity of the entire Flemish community with the Flemish living in these villages.

Depending on the weather, up to 100,000 participants attend, either cycling or walking.

So close to Brussels, and passing through several Flemish towns with French-speaking majorities in some areas, this sports event gains wide television coverage through news reports and serves as a very visual reminder that linguistic and political divisions among neighbouring regions remain alive in the area immediately surrounding Brussels.

The main street was closed and police everywhere fearing that Flemish extremist would cause troubles. So our bus took us on a "sightseeing" tour all around the little city and finally arrived on the main street again leading to Waterloo.
 
Knowing that Mr. G. wouldn't miss me at all because he was glued to the TV screen watching the Formular 1, Nicole and I  had a sandwich together before both of us returned home. What an adventure I was half dead when I came home around 4 pm (I had left the house at 10 am)!

For supper Mr. G. had prepared fresh tagliatelle with pesto and shrimps which was very good and then Dominique came over for our "Midsomer murder's" evenings in company of Inspector Barnaby ! This time we reached the average murders of 3 persons !