Day 3:

A perfect day for museums…drizzly and overcast.  Grabbing umbrellas from the hotel we headed to the new Magritte Museum, www.musee-magritte-museum.be which just opened in June of 2009.   Part of the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium and located at the Place Royale, the museum is totally dedicated to Belgium’s greatest 20^th century artist, surrealist painter, Rene Magritte.   It contains more than 200 works, including vintage photographs, paintings, drawings, advertising posters, music scores and films.  Interestingly, the works on display are not the most well known, but the images that we associate with Magritte are ever present:  the little bell, the curtain, the sky, the pipe, men in bowler hats and women. Tracing his development as an artist, the museum is broken into three floors, starting from top to bottom.

Our next stop, the Musical Instruments Museum(MIM),www.musicalinstrumentsmuseum.com , is located just across the street from the Magritte Museum.  This museum turned out to be a favorite among the group.   Built in 1899 by architect, Paul Saintenoy, this wonderful art nouveau building was once home to the Old England department store. The MIM is a must for anyone with an interest in music.  There are over 1200 musical instruments ranging from tribal drums to harps.  The displays and descriptions are beautiful and easy to follow.  A special touch are earphones that play music as you move around the museum.

A short walk from the MIM, at the Centre for Fine Arts, or as it is known, BOZAR, was an exhibit of twenty six paintings from 1927-1944, by the Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954).   Ms. Kahlo’s paintings are the story of a strong and creative woman  whose life was tragic and tormented.   I found the exhibit to be both moving and disturbing.  It will be at the Bozar until April 2010.

Out on my own for a few hours, I went back to the Sablon, just a few blocks from the museums.  My route led me to a fantastic classical music shop “ut picture musica,” www.outhere-music.com.   After an hour of listening to music with the store manager, I decided on a collection by the German Baroque composer and musician, George Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), and a CD by the Belgian born composer, Andre-Modeste Gretry (1741-1813).  This shop was a real find!

Next stop, lunch at the well-known and trendy restaurant, Au Vieux Saint-Martin.  My original intention was to have a Belgian waffle – but it was still lunch time and the waiter made it clear that a waffle would be fine…after I ate a real lunch!  An appetizer of ham was big enough for four, and included a salad and bread. There wasn’t much room for a waffle after, but there was room for a piece of delicious dark chocolate from Pierre Marcolini just a block away.   A nice walk with a few stops along the way brought me back to the hotel with only an hour before meeting up with everyone and moving on to the evening events!

It was hotel night, and our first stop was The Conrad www.conradhotels1.hilton.com, a full service luxury hotel located on the fashionable Avenue Louise.  The Loui Lounge and Bar is a favorite place to unwind after a day of work …or shopping. A few blocks from Avenue Louise is the Vintage Hotel www.vintagehotel.be, a small hotel that takes great pride in its individually appointed rooms using original vintage furniture and accessories.  Prices here are far lower than others in this neighborhood.  It was a pleasant surprise to find the hotel much nicer in person than it looks on the internet.

Dinner at Odette en Ville www.chez-odette.com was a real treat!  Located in the Chatelain quarter, this is a very chic restaurant with delicious food and a wonderful ambiance. I highly recommend it!  If you drink too much wine, don’t worry, there is a hotel located upstairs from the restaurant with eight beautiful rooms available…ask for the room with the terrace!  Both the restaurant and the hotel earned a high rating from our group!!   If you are travelling to France from Belgium, close to the border in the small village of Williers, France, is the original property owned by this group, Odette.

Day 4

The last day in Belgium took us outside of Brussels beginning with a visit to the new Herge Museum, opened in June 2009 www.hergemuseum.com. Herge the pen name for George Remi (1907-1983), created the famous comic strip character Tintin.   Tintin, is a young Belgian reporter, forever on adventures around the world, accompanied by Snowy, his faithful fox terrier. Other characters include: grumpy, rum loving, Captain Haddock; the brilliant but out of touch with the real world, Professor Calculus; and the totally incompetent, but loveable detectives, Thomson and Thompson. The museum has the largest collection of original drawings from the Tintin series, as well as other works by Herge. It must be noted that much of the humor and political satire in The Adventures of Tintin were – and still are controversial. A trip to this museum is well worth the time.

Although we didn’t visit the Curtius Museum, www.grandcurtiusliege.be as originally planned, we did have lunch in Liege at Bistrot d’En Face – a very nice restaurant serving traditional Belgian fare.

Our final destination before heading back to Brussels was the new Liege-Guillemins  Station. Designed by architect Santiago Calatrava the train station is something to see whether you are taking the train or not! Sleek and modern with filigree architecture – and looking a bit like a spider’s web with a roof – the station is one of the stops on the Thalys train route and connects Liege with cities all over Europe. Travelling at approximately 186 mph, the high speed trains reflect the future of train travel. While the main floor of the station is enclosed and the floor is heated, the train platforms are upstairs and are completely open.. so dress warmly if you are travelling during the winter.

Back to Brussels in time for our “farewell dinner” at Cospaia  www.cospaia.be …another wonderful, restaurant. You may ask how we could possibly eat one more meal…and I asked myself the same question…but we managed. After many toasts to a wonderful trip, we each received a little “reminder” of our trip to Belgium – Les Schtroumpfs…or as we know them…“smurfs” …and  yes, smurfs are Belgian.

http://www.visitbelgium.com