Mons - BAM:Surrealism in Belgium (16-8-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Something funny is going on with this city's name:
In Dutch it's called "mountains" (Bergen). In regular French it's called Mons but mountains in French would be "monts". So where did the t go?
To make matters even more confusing the locals call the city Mont (= mountain in French).
So are we dealing with one mountain, several mountains or something else all together?
After our visit I can tell you one thing: there is definitely at least 1 mountain in Mons!

We had never been to Mons yet because we never had a reason to go there. But this year there was a great exhibit about Belgian Surrealism (it ended 19-8) in the local fine arts museum and we both love Surrealism!

And we must say: Mons is a great city! There are many many beautiful old buildings, the grand place really looks grand and the new modern arts museum of the city (BAM = Beaux-Arts Mons) is a real must see!
The exhibit in the BAM was great too so we'll certainly visit this museum again if they have a nice new exhibit.

About the city: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mons + http://www.mons.be/home.aspx

About the museum: http://www.mons.be/default.aspx?GUID=%7B1AE2682E-86F9-11DA-9731-0002A58CB319%7D&LNG=FRA

another reason to visit Mons soon: http://www.cityparade.be/ (but you'll probably not see much of the inner city sights so visit again or stay longer ;-))

Musical Instruments & Coins (Brussels, 12-8-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

A visit to the MIM (musical instruments museum) and the National Bank (coins and other money), two great locations to visit in Brussels.

If you want to know and see more read the reviews from last year (and the year before for the MIM).
- MIM: http://batz.multiply.com/reviews/item/74
- National Bank: http://batz.multiply.com/reviews/item/75

The MIM still has a great restaurant on the roof and some terrific bat shaped instruments (see pic)!

Amuseevous:
- MIM
- National Bank

Ingenium-photography and engineering 1846-2006 (Bozar, Brussels, 12-8-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

There's always a good reason to visit the Bozar but if you can see an exhibit for free there's a very good reason to go there ;-)

The Ingenium exhibit shows in 345 historical and recent pictures how we humans have shaped the earth and her natural powers.
The first rooms show photo's of nature at work: fire, water, earth, wind. The quality of the pictures is terrific!
The rest of the rooms show us all kinds of buildings and other things we have invented using these forces of nature or to use them (mining for example).
All great pictures too!

There are also several free exhibits in the Bozar right now, two of which we had not yet seen:
- Candida Höfer (beautiful pictures of empty theatres)
- Young Belgian Painters Award 2007 (not much painting but some great art!)
See the agenda for the other and upcoming exhibits: http://www.bozar.be/agenda.php?category=section-2&

The site: http://www.bozar.be/activity.php?id=7388&lng=en
Amuseevous: http://www.amuseevous.be/site/content/avmusea_detail.asp?mID=15&sub=deeln

My Flowers

The colours on my balcony

Fire in the Sky II

21-7-2007, look at larger size forfull effect (National Holiday)

Garden of Delights (Antwerp, 22-7-2007)

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

This is a small exhibit about the design of L'Anverre. They mostly make glass and lighting objects. And they are, as they themselves have put it on their cards, objects created for the delight of the eyes and senses.

We think that's quite true because all the objects were delightful and fun too!

Site of the design collective: L'Anverre

The exhibit is in the Koningin Fabiolazaal (site is Dutch!).

Exhibit can be visited un till 9-9-2007. The exhibit includes free water (with tastes like mint and lemon if you like) and many places to sit and relax

Rockoxhouse - Animal Fun (Antwerp, 22-7-2007)

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Other

Another great 17th century house which has become a museum. It's a lovely house with some beautiful pieces in it. The little walled garden is quite nice too (see picture).

The animal exhibit was good fun (I got to pet the tail of an invisible dead squirrel ;-p) and it isn't expensive. Pity you cannot see the upper parts of the house.

Museum site: http://www.rockoxhuis.be/html/rockox_e1.html
Antwerp Animalized / O Dierbaar Antwerpen site: http://www.odierbaarantwerpen.be/programma.php?cat=expo