FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

1. I have a very pleasant but tiring week behind me and feel a little exhausted ! My friend Claudie from the South of France was on visit and as she had been with us already several times, I wanted to show her places of Brussels, she hadn't seen yet. At the same time I rediscovered Brussels and areas where I hadn't been since I was 14 or 15, which wasn't yesterday !



First I took her to the old Market Hall of St. Gétry, which has been renovated and transformed into an exhibition hall where artists can show their work. On the first floor you can sit in comfortable chairs or play games around the tables, we saw men playing chess and Backgammon. There is also a bar inside and in the basement and the second floor were exhibitions.

2.



Besides the halles, all around the square and in little streets are one restaurant, bar or bistro after the other. It has become a very animated area and I didn't recognize anything ! Claudie had the intention to try out all Belgian beers, but as there are more then 2000 variations, she only could try a few !



From there we walked to the Grand'Place, saw the old "Bourse" (stock market) which became now a place for exhibitions along the little houses which stuck against the church.



Lots of places seemed to be in renovation and even another side of the Grand' Place, the first 2 pictures show a large screen representing the buildings which are being repainted. The one below shows the result of this cleaning ! The gold shines again ! We saw the design of the flower carpet traced with chalk on the ground, which will be filled in with flowers to be ready for the weekend !

3. We wanted to see the Titanic Exhibition, but when we arrived there were so many people lining up, that it would have taken us at least 2 h to get in. And it rained ! Instead I took her to the Japonese Pavillion, which is inside the park of the  Royal castle. It is not open to the public, but still nice to see from outside.



Claudie took some pictures, before we entered the Chinese Pavillon just in front.



It is a very beautiful building surrounded by a equally beautiful park, unfortunately we couldn't go inside to see the Chinese artifacts, it was closed for renovation ! We walked a little through the park and stopped at the playground for kids ! 

4. The Brussels Christmas market  starts at the Grand'Place on to the Place St. Cathrine where I took her,  I had never been there in summer !



So it was quite a discovery for me to see flowers and lots of restaurant terraces on this place where I usually saw ice skating  and walked along Christmas stalls.

5. As my friend Nicole was in Ostend at the Belgian seafront, we visited her and Claudie could see the North Sea for the very first time. Nicole showed her around in Ostend,



while I stayed in her flat and rested my poor legs watching the beach from the 7th floor !

Now her holidays are finished and she takes the train home to Southern France, but we won't be separated for a long time as on Tuesday I take the plane and will spent a week in her home where I swear I only will enjoy the warmth and the sunshine and the good food which her husband always prepares for me.

MORRIS DANCERS

Letter : M

Throughout history, the Morris seems to have been common. It was imported from village festivities into popular entertainment after the invention of the court masque by Henry VIII. The word Morris apparently derived from “morisco,” meaning “Moorish.” Cecil Sharp, whose collecting of Morris dances preserved many from extinction, suggested that it might have arisen from the dancers’ blacking their faces as part of the necessary ritual disguise.

While I was in Eastbourne we went to a  Lammas festival, a festival of the wheat harvest, and of course watched the Morris dancers.



Their faces were painted in black






After their dancing performance, people joined in and all danced together.



This one looked quite impressive !

It was a lot of fun !

more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Cash watcher

more participants here

OUR WORLD - MOUSEHOLE CORWALL

During my Cornwall tour we also visited Mousehole, a charming little town which had developed around its harbour (and of course the fishing fleet that sustained it).
Read more here.....

MY WEEKEND OF AUGUST 9

My friend Claudie an ex blogger had arrived for a week from the hot French Riviera into our for the moment rather cool Brussels. She had been with us already several times but there are still new things to discover in Brussels.

This time I took her to the Place Royale, where once a castle overlooked Brussels from Coudenberg hill. This castle had burnt down and on the ruins the new Royal Palace and various mansions had been built.



We went inside under the above place and walked around through the tunnels and what had been discovered from the past.



I had been there in 2008 when only a part of this site had been discovered and was rather surprised how big it had become. The entrance is just besides the Royal Palace.

Then we continued to the Church of Our Lady of Laeken where all Kings and Queens of Belgium are buried. We couldn't go inside, as it was closed.



Just besides the church is the Laeken cemetery the oldest of all the cemeteries in Brussels still in function. Very popular among tourists and residents alike it’s often dubbed as the little brother of the Père-Lachaise cemetery in Paris. We wandered around these very old family graves and admired the beautiful sculptures of famous artists.



Late afternoon my friend Dominique had invited all our direct neighbors in our street. We were only 2 couples and one widow who lived there since the creation of our street at the end of the 60th. All the others had died or moved away and are replaced by a younger generation. We had a very funny evening and enjoyed our get together very much. How nice it is to have such good neighbors ! 




On Sunday morning we took the bus to Brussels for the midi market. Claudie bought these nice trousers and I the table cloth, and when we had finished with our walk through the stalls we had lunch in a little restaurant near the station.

In the afternoon it rained and rained. But we didn't want to stay home so I thought I would take her through the country side and do some sightseeing on cows and sheep.



Claudie took lots of pictures of the little houses and in the pouring rain one of the renovated old farmhouse. We had a drink on the terrace of a Bristro (café) called the "big bike", and chatted with the local people. The bistro owner left us alone and when Claudie wanted to pay and went inside a guest showed her a bell in the ceiling which she had to ring. As she was too short for the bell the guest helped her and the owner appeared. Claudie was rather surprised that the guy left his bistro to the guests and watched TV. We could have disappeared without paying, but would probably have been stopped by the other guests !