In Bruges and Elsewhere

Yesterday we went to Bruges since it's the #1 thing to do on all the travel books' lists. Before I went there, everyone kept giving me their opinion on the movie called "In Bruges," which was filmed, believe it or not, in Bruges. I heard both sides of the argument about if the movie was a good or bad representation of Bruges. I decided not to watch it until I saw the dead city for myself.  

It was definitely a beautiful city, and the church we went into, Sint-Salvator Cathedral (above), was exceptionally awe-inspiring. But the city is considered "dead" for good reason---besides a main road of shops that connects to the central square, there is next to nothing to do. The side roads were eerily quiet, yet were lined entirely with cars. This made me wonder: Are these tourists' cars, or do people actually live here? I can't even imagine what that must be like.

Nonetheless I enjoyed my time there. I found a frites stand next to the central square, bought some and enjoyed it while taking in the the sites and sounds around me. I don't think I could've felt more assimilated, or more at peace.

I have also been to a number of museums and other places, which I will list briefly:

• Central African Museum: A gorgeous museum located several miles outside Brussels. At first I thought it was built out there as a way to hide Belgium's shame, but then I learned that King Leopold II, who colonized the Congo to begin with, wanted it built outside the city. More info below.
• NATO: Talk about a depressing place. With it's barbed-wire fences and barracks-like buildings, it could be mistaken for Guantanamo. They were not expecting us until the afternoon, so security came very close to DEFCON-1. Nevertheless, we got inside and were given two very well-done presentations on NATO and its purposes. I made sure to use their free calling to anywhere in the world at their expense. Very cool.
• BelVue Museum and the Royal Palace: The royal family no longer lives there, but it's everything you would expect from a palace, at least on the outside. Part of the museum actually went under the Royal Palace after construction workers found the remains of the previous palace that was burned down in the 1700's. It's an archaeologist's dream, and having just taken an archaeology class the previous semester, I had an extra-sensitive appreciation for all that I saw. No pictures, sadly. The rest of the museum took us on a tour of Belgium through time, from its bloody revolution in 1830 to the present. The museum's restaurant has an outdoor area right next to the palace's side gate and is one of Brussels' hidden treasures in my book.
• Parks: That's right. The parks just outside of the Royal Palace are open to the public and are the perfect place to just stop everything and relax, which is exactly what we did.

What a country!!!

Twich's Drink of the Day: Chapeau Banana

Really, a beer with banana flavoring? I found it hard to believe. But it delivers. Probably not the best thing to drink on a hot day, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Twich's Place of the Day: Central Africa Museum

I've wanted to see this museum since I first read about it. Everyone told me that it contained all the spoils and plunder the Belgians took from their colony, but that's far from the truth. It is definitely a history museum with zoology mixed in. there is no gold or diamonds, but there is plenty of African artifacts, masks, and a whole section of African wildlife in dioramas (which was sadly not in the best shape---I could see the rhino skin peeling, and all of the birds were in rather poor condition). Since only the colonial history section was in English, I zipped through the museum pretty fast. The surrounding grounds are a must-see.