A SCAFFOLDING AS X-MAS TREE IN BRUSSELS

Each year on the Grand' Place in Brussels, a beautiful Christmas tree is erected with lights and Christmas decorations. Usually the day where the tree arrives, people are gathered there just to watch how the huge tree will be put up. For years the tree was a gift from Finland and later it came from the Belgian Ardennes.



Like this one. In the evenings there is a sound and light show and with the old buildings the place looks very christmassy and young and old enjoy it very much.

However this year, the City of Brussels (I wonder who had this "glorious" idea) is installing an electronic Christmas tree at the Grand-Place: the 'Xmas 3' ! This awful looking "Christmas tree"??? looks like a metallic scaffolding and you need to have a lot of phantasy to imagine it as even only a tree, not to speak about a Christmas tree ! 

This 'Xmas 3' horror is a 24 meter high monumental electronic thing, made of steel, covered with wood and a screen. For 4 euros, visitors can climb the installation during the day. The collected money of these visits will go to an organization which helps the homeless, which at least is a Christmas gesture !

When I arrived at the Grand'Place, I almost jumped out of my shoes !



I saw this, which reminded me of a scaffold ready to hold up a building !



The white boxes are supposed to be the Christmas light bulbs !



You really get a christmassy disgusted feeling when you see the foot of the so said tree !



I walked several times around this "beauty" trying to see a tree in it but the more I looked the more I got furious !



What has this to do with Christmas ??



If they want to built modern art scaffoldings, they should do it on roundabouts but not putting such a thing in the middle of an historic place !







There is not much more to say, now this thing stands up, protesting failed, apparently Belgium has no economical crisis, because this beauty only costs around 45.000 € (58.300 $ !) that's at least what I have been told by other shocked Belgians !

Now maybe that some people like this kind of "Christmas tree". I prefer the traditional one, cut in the woods and which have this special Christmas smell. 

FRIDAY's FAVE FIVE

more participants at Susanne at Living to tell the Story.

1. The climbing up and down the spiral staircase of the 4 floors in our son's house had made us realize that we are not the youngest one anymore. Mr. G.'s knees hurt and he had to take a pain killer. My legs were more or less OK and after Aqua gym I didn't feel anything anymore.

While I was in Amsterdam my little travel computer went on strike. I was so worried ! I thought I have to buy a new one ! But it was only the battery charger so I went right away to the store and bought a new one. At home I tried it out, charged the battery and now my baby computer works perfectly again !

2. For the first time in about 40 years I took the tram to Brussels ! It is nearly impossible or very expensive to park a  car in the city center I drove to the first stop outside Brussels, left my car there for nothing and took the tram for nothing too (people over 65 don't pay public transport) Of course the tram had become more modern, and there was even  a man in the tram who played accordion and sang songs. After that of course he came with a mug to collect some money. I found this a good idea, people looked less bored !

3. I had seen on TV that on the famous "Grand'Place" in Brussels, a Christmas tree is "built" ! I saw an ugly scaffolding in metal, which should be the Christmas tree of 2012 ! Each year there was a beautiful tree standing in the middle of the Grand Place, a real one coming from Scandianavian countries or from the Ardennes. 



Like this one



But this year we will have an an electronic Christmas tree a 24 meter (70 ft) high monumental electronic Christmas tree made of steel, covered with wood and a screen ! I was more then shocked ! I was furious, such an ugly thing ! They were busy with the construction and it really looked like a boozy scaffolding !
At least the stable with the nativity scene will be classical, they just built it up ! I hope Joseph will not be a tatooed punk and Mary in a Laday Gaga outfit ! I will write about this "Christmas tree" later.



Also the Christmas decoration in the shops were "normal"

4. I spent most of my time with preparing my paintings for our yearly Exposition, I had to fix a cord to hang them up and also check the things I have for the table decoration.



Finally I had put everything together and it was ready.




5.


In the morning we got all together and selected the paintings and started to put them on the screens and on the walls. Of course we had a lot of fun laughing, joking and teasing each other and also had coffee with Brussels' wafels !