Nov

The Hidden Hearts of Bruges

by Joyce McGreevy on November 28, 2017

Bruges by night is safe and serene.
© Joyce McGreevy

Where Being Bilingual
Is Just the Beginning

So, you’ve practiced your French to visit Belgium. Well, not so fast! Here, being bilingual is just the beginning. In this country the size of Maryland, only 40% of the population speaks French.

The Other 60 Percent

Now how’s your Flemish? Because we’re bound for Bruges. Known locally as Brugge, it’s arguably Europe’s most picturesque small city.

ruges is a World Heritage city in Belgium, where being bilingual is just the beginning. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

This World Heritage city welcomes 7.5 million visitors a year.
© Joyce McGreevy

Wait, did I say Flemish? Silly me. I meant West Flemish. Although to get truly local, you really should learn Brugs . . . In Brugge (where everyone’s also fluent in English), being bilingual is just the beginning.

Now I know what you’re thinking. “Aren’t Flemish, West Flemish, and Brugs all just slight variants of Dutch?”

Variants, yes. But slight, not always. It’s said that while a Bruggeling can easily understand a Dutch speaker . . .

A carved stone head inspires thoughts about language in Belgium, where being bilingual is just the beginning. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

. . . the Dutch speaker might not understand the Bruggeling’s reply.

A carved stone head inspires thoughts about Flemish in Belgium, where being bilingual is just the beginning. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Dutch vs Flemish

If the sound of Dutch is the tap of new shoes on an office floor, Flemish is your favorite old boots padding across moss. The hard Dutch g becomes an aspirated h. Words that look identical can have wildly divergent meanings, and some vocabulary varies by neighborhood.

Oh, I see: In Flanders, language is highly localized. Your address shapes how you speak.

Sint-Clarastraat, Bruges inspires a writer in Belgium, where being bilingual is just the beginning.

Like many streets in Brugge, Sint-Clarastraat is named for a saint.
© Joyce McGreevy

My address this month is Sint-Clarastraat. It’s part of a network of cobbled streets and canals that form a circular, lace-like pattern around this medieval city.

A colorful canal view in Bruges inspires a traveler in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

What’s Flemish for “I could stay here forever”?
© Joyce McGreevy

Storm Before the Calm

While those canals present a placid beauty, they sprang from cataclysmic change. In 1134, Brugge was already three centuries old when a mighty storm ripped open the River Zwin, gouging a deep passage all the way to the North Sea. The “Golden Inlet” was born.

With connection came wealth, as Brugge grew into an international capital of trade. Goods, people, ideas—they all flowed to and from Brugge like the lifeblood of a beating heart. Brugge became a cradle of art and architecture.

The medieval Adornes Domain in Bruges inspires a traveler in Belgium, where past is present. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Bruges’ Jerusalem Chapel and its almshouses were built by a 15th-century merchant.
© Joyce McGreevy

The reach of medieval entrepreneurs extended from Scotland to Jerusalem. Nature’s fortunate flood was followed by a flood of capital, and in 1309, Bruges launched the world’s first stock exchange.

Over time, the flat plains of Flanders and the slow-moving River Zwin proved a doomed combination. The Golden Inlet became clogged with silt, choking the port and sending Brugge into economic decline.

Yet the neglect that settled over Brugge preserved it. Stand in the center of the old Burg, scanning the surrounding buildings, and you will time-travel through the Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical ages.

Old Burg architecture in Bruges, Belgium spans several centuries. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Buildings in the Old Burg span 10 centuries.
© Joyce McGreevy

The Heart of a City

Because it’s central, guidebooks call Market Square the “heart” of the town. But Brugge has many hearts. Like learning the local language, discovering these hidden hearts takes time.

Smedenpoort Gate in Bruges, inspires a traveler in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Don’t miss outer Bruges, where you’ll find its four medieval gates.
© Joyce McGreevy

Did you ever hear the saying, “Nobody goes there because it’s too crowded”? The stereotype about Brugge is that it’s a hive of time-pressured, selfie-taking, beer-tasting tourists pursuing a quick fix of the picturesque before the tour buses leave town.

But if high-season weekends fuel the stereotype, evenings and weekdays dispel it. The most iconic sights become places of solitude then.

A tranquil canal view in Bruges inspires a bilingual writer in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Rarely has a Monday looked so tranquil.
© Joyce McGreevy

Beyond the Center

Whenever you visit, do venture beyond the center. Zigzag along streets unmentioned in the guidebook. Follow laneways to see where they lead—a hidden pond, a sheep meadow, a cloistered garden. Take longer and longer walks.

A sheep meadow in the heart of Bruges inspires a bilingual writer in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Peaceful green spaces are hidden all around Bruges.
© Joyce McGreevy

Look closely at buildings for details that signal the history of this city. Adopt local expressions as you do errands. Ask everyone who can spare a moment to teach you a new word or expression.

A bicycle overgrown with flowers inspires a walk around Brugge, Belgium, where being bilingual is just the beginning. (Image @ Joyce McGreevy)

Ready for a ramble around Brugge?
© Joyce McGreevy

Meet Your Neighbors

By this point you will be so in love with Brugge that you will have a thousand questions about its million mysteries. Filip Bil and Annemieke Demuynck have the answers.

Bilingual travel guides and food bloggers Annemieke Demuynck and Filip Bil live in Bruges, Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Roast venison with chicory and other Flemish favorites grace Annemieke and Filip’s table.
© Joyce McGreevy

He’s a firefighter, she’s a marketing manager. To explore the city’s history with them on foot, to have supper in their home, to visit their recommended bakeries, cheese shops, chocolatiers, and restaurants—each experience reveals another reason to marvel.

Fortunately, you can do all these things, because Filip and Annemieke are licensed guides, two of the friendliest experts you’ll ever meet. They also write a bilingual food blog called Vertelle Mentjes, “Little Stories.”

A candlelit restaurant in Bruges, Belgium inspires a reader of the bilingual food blog, Vertelle Mentjes. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

There’s much more to Bruges’ food scene than “steak-frites.” Just ask Filip and Annamieke.
© Joyce McGreevy

We almost didn’t meet. The price of a private tour was so reasonable that I hesitated. How good could it be, I wondered, if even I could afford it?

Thank goodness, we did meet. Without Filip and Annemieke, I would surely have missed many hidden hearts of Brugge.

A windmill in Bruges inspires a bilingual writer in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Hike to the old city boundaries, where the scenery’s anything but run-of-the-mill.
© Joyce McGreevy

Hidden in Brugge

Today in Brugge, where being bilingual is only the beginning, another heart is hidden—mine. Somewhere between the place where the wind ruffles the down of a swan and the moon illuminates the bridges, that’s where I left it.

I’ll just have to return for it one day.

Brugsch Swaentje, or swans of Bruges, inspire a bilingual traveler in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Legends surround the Brugsch Swaentje, or swans of Bruges.
© Joyce McGreevy

Meet Filip and Annemieke here and here.

Explore differences between Dutch and Flemish here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Joyce McGreevy 7 Comments

Belgium/Language & Culture/On Foot

Nov

“Blistering Blue Brussels, Tintin!”

by Joyce McGreevy on November 6, 2017

The Tintin mural in Brussels, Belgium showcases comic book art as a cultural tradition. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Hugely popular in Belgium, Tintin and friends race down a wall in Brussels’ Rue de l’Etuve.
© Joyce McGreevy

Where Comic Books Are
a Cultural Tradition

Remember watching Saturday morning cartoons and reading Sunday’s comic strips? Settling in to reread stockpiled comic books? And how your parents—those draconian disciplinarians—made you go outside to play?

In Brussels, you can have your comics and play outside, too. Just follow the Comic Book Route.

The Léonard mural by Turk in Brussels shows why comic books are a cultural tradition in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Léonard, a zany caricature of da Vinci by cartoonist “Turk,”
paints Brussels’ Palais de Justice.
© Joyce McGreevy

Launched in 1991, this citywide project turns buildings into comic-book panels to celebrate one of Belgium’s most popular cultural traditions—l’art de la bande dessinée, the art of the comic strip.

A mural of Francis Carin's "Victor Sackville" in Brussels shows why comic books are a cultural tradition in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Meticulous cartoonist Francis Carin, creator of spy hero Victor Sackville,
is known as Belgium’s “tour guide to history.”
© Joyce McGreevy

Picturing Brussels

Brussels features 55 murals and counting. Centering your sightseeing around comics is a wonderful way to explore the city.

A mural of Frank Pé's "Broussaille" in Brussels shows why comic books are a cultural tradition in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

In Frank Pé’s “Broussaille,” even background details (inset) get star treatment.
© Joyce McGreevy

The Ninth Art

Belgium boasts more comic strip artists per square kilometer than anywhere else in Europe. It’s here that the comic strip grew from a popular medium into le neuvème art, “the ninth art.”

“In most Belgian homes, you will find a collection of comics or even an entire library dedicated to comic strips. More than half of the books published or produced in Belgium are comics.” So says Jean Auquier, director of the Belgian Comic Strip Center, Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée.

There’s a comic book museum? Actually, there are several. “Nowhere else are comics so strongly rooted in reality and in people’s imagination.”

The Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels showcases comic books as a cultural tradition. (Image © www.visitbrussels.be and Daniel Fouss)

The Belgian Comic Strip Center is housed in Art Nouveau architecture.
© www.visitbrussels.be and Daniel Fouss

Belgium’s Comic-Book Legacy

Some Belgian comic-book characters are famous worldwide. As a kid, you likely spent Saturdays with Les Schtroumpfs, as Franco-Belgians call them, De Smurfen in Flemish. That’s “Smurfs” to you and me. Cartoonist Peyo (Pierre Culliford) invented the little blue characters after coining the word schtroumpf as a joke and sprinkling variations of it into conversations.

A group of children intently reading comic books at the Belgian Comic Strip Center show why comic books are a popular cultural tradition in Belgium. (Image © www.visitbrussels.be and Daniel Fouss)

What, no comic book for the Smurf?
© www.visitbrussels.be and Daniel Fouss

Belgium’s Boy Wonder

First, however, came Tintin, globe-trotting reporter, faithful dog Milou (“Snowy”) and brash Captain Haddock—he of tongue-twisting epithets like “Blistering blue barnacles!” and “Ten thousand thundering typhoons!”

Created by Hergé (Georges Remi), whose tumultuous life merits its own graphic novel, Tintin comics (1920s–1980s) influenced generations of cartoonists with their lignes claires (“clear lines”) and innovative use of speech balloons—previously, cartoonists kept text beneath the drawings.

A window at the Belgian Comic Strip Center showcases the comic-book art as a cultural tradition. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The Adventures of Tintin (Kuifje in Flemish) have been
translated into 80 languages.
© Joyce McGreevy

Beyond Europe, Hergé influenced artists like Andy Warhol and Roy Liechtenstein and filmmaker Steven Spielberg. He was also honored by the Dalai Lama for his 1960 work, Tintin in Tibet.

Paper Heroes

Brussels Comic Book Route will inspire you to get to know other Belgian héros de papier, too.

A mural of Hergé's Quick and Flupke in Brussels shows why comic books are a popular cultural tradition in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The adventures of Hergé’s “other sons,” characters Quick and Flupke,
take place in the Marolles, where Hergé grew up.
© Joyce McGreevy

Where to Begin?

Because you’re never far from public transportation, I recommend starting wherever you are. Use the museum’s interactive online map to locate clusters of nearby murals.

A mural of Yves Chaland’s comic-book character, Le Jeune Albert, in Brussels shows why comic books are a popular cultural tradition in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Yves Chaland’s comic-book character, Le Jeune Albert,
is himself deeply engrossed in a comic book.
© Joyce McGreevy

My base is L’Art de la Fugue, in the St. Gilles neighborhood, an inexpensive B&B with—aptly—visually dazzling rooms, each unique. Like a cartoon detective, I begin my mystery tour by seeking out the proverbial Fat Cat:

A mural of Philippe Geluck's "Le Chat" in Brussels shows why comic-book art is a popular cultural tradition in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

The trail winds through the heart of the Marolles, one of the city’s oldest neighborhoods, where streets are lined with vintage shops. Like comic-book panels, the neighborhood reveals itself one fascinating window at a time.

A vintage figurine in a Brussels inspires comparisons with Belgian comic-book art as a cultural tradition. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Likewise, everyday sights seem to imitate comic art, evoking the seductions of a great story.

A street scene in Brussels, with yellow motorbike and "L'Etoile Verte" sign, inspires ideas for comic-book art, a cultural tradition in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Walking Through Pictures

By moseying from one mural to another, I cover a wide swath of Brussels on foot. The search for comic-book murals reveals other urban pleasures, too. Like comic-book motion lines, the aromas of coffee and fresh-baked bread lead to wonderful cafés, places filled with locals, where visitors find a warm welcome.

A street scene in Brussels, featuring Café L'Aubette, inspires ideas for comic-book art, a cultural tradition in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Turning a corner becomes like turning a page. Mural by mural, I’m guided from one facet of the city to another—peaceful gardens, bustling market squares, centers of cutting-edge design, and places of gilded baroque magnificence.

At one point, I encounter a glass elevator that lifts me high above red-tiled rooftops to panoramic views from the Palais de Justice.

A mural in Brussels of François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters' "The Passage" shows why comic books are a cultural tradition in Belgium,. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

A couple stands beside François Schuiten and Benoît Peeters’ “The Passage,”
unaware of their cartoon shadows (inset).
© Joyce McGreevy

All day I follow the visual narrative. The passing hours play with the autumn sunlight like a cartoonist experimenting with background colors: slate grey dawn becomes morning’s pale gold, then afternoon’s bonus blue. With so many comic-book heroes watching over Brussels, can sunset be anything but rosy?

Finally, as darkness inks in the sky, the city’s windows begin to glow, like panels in a graphic novel.

A café window in Brussels inspires ideas for comic-book art, a cultural tradition in Belgium. (Image © Joyce McGreevy)

Oh, I see: In the comic-book city, where the cartoonist’s art is a cultural tradition, Brussels has ever more stories to tell.

View a map of Brussels’ Comic Book Route here and see a mural being created here. See more street art in London here, on top of gum globs here, and at the Tour 13 project in Paris here.

Comment on this post below.

Joyce McGreevy 2 Comments

Belgium/Cultural Heritage & Traditions/On Foot/The World's Art & Design

Jan

Creative Ideas: Dishes Feed a Community Art Project

by Janine Boylan on January 6, 2013

Belgium tree, showing creative ideas for a community art project

Belgium’s Porcelain Tree of Taste

In the back of my cupboard, I have a few dishes that don’t match the rest of my set. One plate was a gift from a relative, another was from a garage sale, and a third came from my travels. I never use them, but since I can’t seem to part with them, they continue to occupy space in the cupboard.

From Unused Dishes to a Creative Idea

Like me, Inge Vanluyd and Stefan Vanbergen of the creative agency mooz noticed that they had a small collection of unused dishes in their cupboards. But, unlike me, they had an inspiring OIC moment.

For the holiday season, they decided to create a stunning porcelain tree in their city of Hasselt, Belgium. A tree decorates the town square every year, but instead of cutting a live tree this year, Vanluyd and Vanbergen created the tree as a community art project.

They asked local residents to donate old white plates and cups (blue or gold trim was acceptable, too). Collaborating on the creative idea, three thousand people contributed about five thousand cups and plates.

close up of Belgium tree, showing creative ideas for a community art project

The resulting tree took about a week to construct. It stands almost thirty feet (9 meters) high and almost twenty feet (6 meters) around.

Showing yet another creative idea, the designers decided to call the creation a “Tree of Taste,” a nod to the city’s culinary title, “The Capital of Taste.”

A Little Gift Goes a Long Way

Hasselt’s tree was on display until January 6, the end of the holiday season. While some residents missed a traditional holiday decoration, others noted that the sculpture was more environmentally-friendly than killing a live tree.

Continuing with more creative ideas in an environmental theme, the plates will be reused as part of a permanent mosaic in a community parking area in the city.

Oh, I see, a little gift goes a long way! Alone, the plates would have continued to gather dust in the cupboards, but together, they became a tree of solidarity. Many members of the community gave a little of themselves, and the result was a large gift for the city.

If anyone is inspired for a community art project for next year, let me know. I may have some plates I can contribute!

VIA Designboom

Janine Boylan 3 Comments

Belgium/Clever Ideas/The World's Art & Design

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The Hidden Hearts of Bruges