May 7, 2009

May 6, 2009

Some plans were delayed, so I spent few hours in the town of Gent. Not so interesting and charming as Brugge, rained all the fraking day... but... anyways :P

Gent was founded in the 7th century around two abbeys of Saint Baaf and Saint Peter, that time the town was known as Ganda. The town needed a special building wherein it could keep the charters grating its privileges, and from where the city guard could be called out, therefore The "Belfort" was built around 13th-14th century. The Beiaard, consisting of 44 bells, is one of the best known carillons in the Low Countries.

The "Cathedral of Saint Baaf" has its origin in a chapel founded in the 10th century and dedicated to John the Baptist, the oldest patron saint of the trading city. The most interesting piece of the church furniture is the pulpit, completed in the second half of the 18th century.

May 5, 2009

Coffee time :D

I looked many times this building from Brussels's Grand Place, but this is the first time (maybe it's new, who the frak knows :P) I noticed that this little fellow is handling a sword like in SoulReaver; the other guys, the monsters, the angels around and the way it's looking, with those wings... it's like I heard already that music and that voice: "I know you Raziel..." So fraking cute, I loved it!

If you're in Belgium, then it's a must to have some "moule et frittes" (mussels and chips) and a pint of local beer in Brugge :D I really like this town, my preferate in Belgium, very good preserved and a delightful medieval atmosphere :)

In the Notre Dame church is this sculpture made by Michaelangelo himself, the reason this piece of art is still here is because the guys who ordered it didn't pay when it was ready for delivery or something like that.

In this basilisk there is a legend that here is kept a relic containing the holy blood of Jesus Christ. The church itself has two levels, the lower chapel and the upper chapel, where the relic is.

Legend has it that after the Crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea wiped blood from the body of Christ and preserved the cloth. The relic remained in the Holy Land until the Second Crusade, when the King of Jerusalem gave it to his brother-in-law, Count of Flanders Diederik. The count arrived with it in Brugge around 1150 and placed it in a chapel he had built on Burg Square. The real story seems to be that it came from Constantinople, which had an extensive collection of relics including one of the Holy Blood.

The town of Brugge is unique. Everything seems to be the same after one hour, but is not. The weather is changing, the light is changing, colors are different... Nowhere in the Netherlands (they are quite envious because this town is in Belgium), one will find a spot that has preserved its former look in a such a striking way, a great number of magnificent buildings are reminiscent of the unsurpassed flowering during the middle ages. The place is older though, Vikings established a fortified place or "brygghia" here. During the time, foreign merchants offered goods for sale, local artisans prospered, and so they formed guilds. Battles came up, but in the 14th century was Brugge's Golden Age, many independent tradesmen were responsible for the flowering of the cloth industry, foreigners and artists alike established here, and the town became the foremost center of commerce, and the most important money market of Northern Europe.

May 4, 2009

Having a flight in the afternoon with a "Tangerine Dream" soundtrack could be a very pleasant experience :D Indeed, those two are really really fitting up...

Frankfurt sky... "Tangerine Dream" still on... Dream on, as they used to say... You're just enjoying the sounds, the light, the view and the present itself. Nothing else to fantasize on, you have more than you need :P

Climbing down through the Brussels sky... And believe it or not, it was sunny that day!