There were some of the usual activities such as cycling and work during the second week of February, but the main event was a trip to Brussels towards the end of the week. While I go to Brussels for work at regular intervals, this was a rare private trip, with the main motive being to take down a photo exhibition in which I participated, organised by the international photography club Viewfinders. Once that was done, I spent the weekend walking mainly around the Ixelles neighbourhood and visiting art exhibitions, which will be subject of a separate gallery.
6_1
I start with two nice sunrise images from our beach, but with a twist–these were taken on Fuji Provia 100F slide film, in my Rolleiflex T, thus the square 6×6 cm format. It is quite magical to hold the processed film in my hand:
6_2
6_3
Inspired by my friend Lars who visited me in January and made a number of excellent pinhole photos, I decided to try my hand at it as well. So I bought a pinhole “lens” for my Fuji camera from a company called Thingyfy and started playing with it, first while having a beer on the beach:
6_4
6_5
The next day, at the office, I photographed the passage between two of our buildings:
6_6
But I decided that the passage by itself was a bit boring, so I enlisted lovely Eri for help:
6_7
6_8
Eri also recently assisted me in testing Ilford XP2 Super, a film which is not that great in 35mm, in medium format in my Rolleiflex. The results were quite pleasing in the larger format:
6_9
6_10
As usual, I spent several hours during the weekend riding my bicycle. On Sunday it was my 82 km route through the towns of Alcoraya, Aspe, Novelda and Agost. Other cyclists were out there too:
6_11
Just outside Novelda there is this interesting building, which I often thought about photographing. I think it once housed a brewery; sadly, now it is just a furniture factory:
6_12
Between Novelda and Agost the road passes under the high-speed train between Alicante and Madrid:
6_13
Near Agost, one of the many roadside memorials. It is unusually colourful:
6_14
My wife has been nagging me to take up golf again (I took some lessons 4-5 years ago but then got bored with it). She says that one day I will be too old to cycle in the mountains, and then golf will provide me with an alternative outdoor exercise. While I hope that day is many years away, she does have a point, so I have started taking some classes and going to the driving range from time to time, as I did on Sunday afternoon:
6_15
The 18th hole:
6_16
A proper golf course must have one or more cats:
6_17
On Thursday morning, during my pre-work bike ride, I stopped to photograph this man meditating on the beach while watching the sunrise:
6_18
On my way home from work Thursday afternoon, I stopped for a beer at Malatesta:
6_19
Friday morning I drove to the airport for my flight to Brussels. A few hours later, I was in the familiar surroundings of Brussels airport with its Tintin moon rocket in the main hall:
6_20
I made my way from the airport to my hotel near Place Stéphanie, where I stopped to look at this enhanced utility box:
6_21
After leaving my stuff at the hotel, I looked around for a place to have lunch; it was 3 p.m. and I was getting seriously hungry. Fortunately, I found a Lebanese restaurant called Al Bacha on a side street, Rue Jourdan. It turned out to have delicious food at reasonable prices and very friendly service. I enjoyed a generous serving of falafel:
6_22
The falafel was followed by a wrap with salad and, this being Belgium, fries:
6_23
After lunch, I took the tram to Woluve St-Pierre where Brussels International Womens Club is located, site of the photo exhibition. The neighbourhood is quite posh, and during the 10-minute walk from the tram stop to the club I passed houses like this:
6_24
I spent a couple of hours at the club, taking down the exhibition and chatting with the other other members of Viewfinders:
6_25
On my way back to the hotel, I came across Tintin in the metro. Belgians are very proud of their comics book culture, and especially Tintin and the various characters from those stories are everywhere:
6_26
Place Stéphanie in the evening:
6_27
I walked a few hundred meters to the Matongé neighbourhood in Ixelles (Ixelles is a municipality covering parts of central Brussels). Matongé, also known as Little Zaire, is one of my favourite parts of Brussels, with African shops and restaurants, but also all kind of other places, and people of all nationalities enjoying the place. I had a beer at L’Ultime Atome, one of my favourite watering holes:
6_28
I lived in Matongé for 3 months in the summer of 1995, my first home in Brussels during my 5 years there. On a small street called Rue Longe Vie (“Long Life Street”) there is a south Asian shop which also has a few tables and serves delicious curries, samosas and the like. Tandoori Land was there back in 1995, and I used to take my son there for a snack, and it is still there today:
6_29
I continued my walk on the large inner ring road that runs around the centre. It changes its name several times. On this particular stretch, between Porte de Namur and Louise, it is called Avenue de la Toison d’Or:
6_30
Avenue de la Toison d’Or is lined by various high-end shops, including this home decor place with an eye-catching armchair in the window. It will set you back a cool 9,999 Euro:
6_31
The avenue ends on Place Poelaert from where one can take an elevator to descend to a neighbourhood called Marolles down below:
6_32
I took the elevator down to have a look at Rue de l’Epée. It was quite empty, besides a couple kissing on a bench:
6_33
On Saturday morning I went back to Matongé to take a look during daylight. As always, I was on the lookout for little details, like this sad-looking rose left to wither on a window sill. I wondered if there was some love story behind it:
6_34
The main thoroughfare of Matongé is Chaussée d’Ixelles, but at this early hour, with the shops not yet open, it was almost deserted:
6_35
A large painting depicts life in Matongé with the title “Porte de Namur – Porte de l’Amour”. Porte de Namur is the name of the square on the inner ring road where Chaussée d’Ixelles ends:
6_36
6_37
Small shopping arcade on Chaussée d’Ixelles:
6_38
Typical Matongé fruit and veg shop:
6_39
Sculpture in Matongé made of artillery shells, titled “Au delà de l’Espoir”, created by Freddy Tsimba (Congo) in 2007. It is a symbol of friendship between Ixelles and the Kalamu district of Kinshasa, as well as reminder of the terrible wars that continue to menace Congo:
6_40
Matongé street corner:
6_41
Shop window:
6_42
Door bell:
6_43
Mural promoting peaceful co-existence, Rue de la Paix:
6_44
Morning light, Rue Dublin:
6_45
I left Matongé and crossed Rue du Trône to Square de Meeus, a large square lined by office buildings:
6_46
The park in the centre of the square where I would play catch with my son (then 6 years old) during our first summer in Brussels in 1995:
6_47
I walked back to Matongé, to the main church of the area, Église St-Boniface. I had walked past here many times, but this time I went inside the church for the first time:
6_48
Near the entrance to the church there is a display of photographs of members of the congregation, with brief statements about each person’s reasons for attending the church:
6_49
6_50
Young mother with child and dog, Rue de Stassart near my hotel:
6_51
Avenue Louise is another wide boulevard, built in the 19th century to provide easier access to the countryside. Today it is the home of many nice shops, including this small arcade with bear sculptures:
6_52
I went inside the arcade to buy chocolate at the Pierre Marcolini shop, in my opinion the best chocolate in the world:
6_53
A bit further down Avenue Louise, a hair salon with its guardian:
6_54
On Saturday afternoon, I ended up at Brussels Beer Project where I watched the Scotland-France Six Nations rugby match:
6_55
I finished Saturday on Grand’ Place and dinner at this most traditional of Brussels restaurants, where I have been coming since 1995:
6_56
The people working in the restaurant are of course not the same as in 1995, but the place itself (and the food) have remained the same:
6_57
The dining room with the kitchen in the background:
More of my photos from Brussels are here. I have also set up a gallery dedicated to my visits to various art museums and exhibitions during my visits to Brussels.