Metamorphosis Naturalis (Antwerp, 22-7-2007)

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Other

More animals in books. Very nice old (16th-19th century) books in extremely good condition. The colours of the images look so fresh! The works are combined with works from modern artists.

And another great chance to see this library.

Another special exhibit for http://www.odierbaarantwerpen.be/

MOMU / Bernhard Willhelm (Antwerp, 22-7-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Oh My God! Another exciting surprise in the fashion museum of Antwerp!
Every-one should totally experience this exhibit because it's so much fun!

I'm not going to tell too much about what you can see because it'll ruin your experience. Just expect a post-modern eclectic extreme kitsch fashion chaotic haunted house ;-)

A little bit about the designer: Bernhard Willhelm was born in 1972 in Germany, he studied in Antwerp, he likes the fantastic and the unexpected, he designed the clothes for Björks latest tour (including the costume for the cover for the cd "Volta").

Have fun at the exhibit!

Museum-site
free visit! Amuseevous

Museum Plantin-Moretus / Wondrous Animals on Paper (Antwerp, 22-7-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

The review from our first visit in 2006: http://batz.multiply.com/reviews/item/51
* the museum is still great and you need to visit it at least once!

The museum site:
http://museum.antwerpen.be/plantin_moretus/index_eng.html

The site about the special exhibit: http://www.odierbaarantwerpen.be/programma.php?cat=expo
* many nice old books with animals and as a bonus some great natural wonders like shells and stuffed animals.

And it was a free visit! http://www.amuseevous.be/site/content/avmusea_detail.asp?mID=28&sub=deeln
Yay for amuseevous!

Asian Arts (Museum)

Brussels, Chinese Pavilion-Japanese Tower-Japanese Museum

Fire in the Sky

11-7-2007, Mechelen

Museums of the Far East (Brussels, 14-7-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

If you are in Brussels visiting the Atomium, like many tourists do, you are quite likely to see a Japanese tower sticking out from the trees quite near to it. This is one of the buildings of the "Museums of the Far East" and it's definitely worth a visit (or two!).

This museum is part of the museums for art and history (KMKG-MRAH) in Brussels. The other museums are great already but this one is really really special!
There is the Japanese tower which holds many Asian treasures and looks amazing on the inside. Sadly you cannot climb the whole tower but the outside is beautiful enough. There's a nice Bhuddistic garden around the tower too.

And then there is the Chinese pavilion which has so many sculptures and carvings on the outside you'll probably walk around it a few times before entering. The inside holds Chinese treasures and a very Baroque-Exotic-Art Nouveau inside. Even the bathrooms are worth a look!

And then there's another building holding a museum for Japanese art. The ceiling of this building is very nice, especially if you think this building was supposed to be a stable for carriages!
All the objects inside are perfect. There's not room for many but they are all beautiful. And anyway: there's so much to see outside and inside the buildings itself already!

And now you wonder what are these Asian structures doing here in Brussels anyway?? Well, king Leopold II saw buildings like these at a World Fair in Paris and liked them so much he wanted some himself . So he had them built (around 1900-10) on part of his domain in Brussels. Parts of the building even came from Japan and China to make them look as original as possible!
Now the buildings are owned by the Belgian state and since a few years we can visit them again.

If you want to know more about the history of the buildings you should definitely visit them because there's a lot more interesting information to find in the museum itself ;-)

Museum-site (Dutch and French only) here
Another free visit with werchter-amuseevous!
http://www.amuseevous.be/site/content/avmusea_detail.asp?mID=23&sub=deeln
Pictures: Asian Arts

Castle Gaasbeek (near Brussels, 8-7-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

If you're ever in Belgium and you want to see a castle I'd recommend checking out this particular castle. Not only the surroundings are great but the castle itself is quite amazing!

Originally this was a medieval castle but the last owner, the marquise Arconati Visconti, had it renovated in the late nineteenth century. Now it's a very nice mix of neo-gothic and neo-renaissance styles. But the greatest thing is that the inside of he castle is totally furnished. Every room has great paintings, furniture, oak doors with marvellous carvings, beautiful tiles and many many other treasures. You can walk around in all the rooms for many hours and not get bored!

And that's just the castle! There's also a very large garden with many old trees, a big pond, other old buildings, an orchard and of course a restaurant where you can taste some great Belgian food (try the Belgian cherry beer called "Kriek" which is a specialty of the region!).

So if you want to have a great day outside, filled with nature, culture, architecture and other delicacies check out these sites:

- http://www.kasteelvangaasbeek.be/
- http://www.amuseevous.be/site/content/avmusea_detail.asp?mID=3&sub=deeln
(free visit with werchter-amuseevous!!)