Proper Brussels update
Feeling a bit brighter today, but still a bit odd. Very tired still. Anyway, a sort of summary of the Brussels trip, art update will be on my other journal:
FRIDAY
Started with a lot of traveling. Dragged self from bed around 6.00am and headed for Abingdon, where we all piled onto coach to London. Grabbed proper breakfast at Waterloo and a sandwich for the Eurostar, which we boarded after hours and hours of waiting around. Spent eurostar trip in a doze, can't recall much, but we eventually arrived at the Brussels station. Which was clean. And smelt of SOAP. And was made of marble and steel. It gleamed, seriously makes British stations look like right shitholes.
Anyway, piled onto the metro with our luggage. I think most big underground train systems are the same tbh, right down to the smell. Casey's phone was nicked by a friendly Beligian pickpocket, but otherwise things went okay. Finding the hostel took some work as we got out on the wrong side of the road and trekked several miles with luggage before realising we'd gone the wrong way- and then trekked back too far the other way. Nice when we found it though, fancy modern bar with black marble and steel again- and pretty spartan but clean rooms. It had that youth hostel smell. Sort of like cabbages and hot laundry with a hint of unwashed hippy.
Had a quick walk into the centre of town to get our bearings. Saw something like Beligian morris dancers on the way. Traumatised. Then drifted off to supper, wound up at a pizzeria with a group of other girls. Had a bit of trouble on the way back:
NOTE- all Beligian men of Asian descent between 17-30 ARE filthy greasy perverts WITHOUT exceeption. Case in point, walking back to the hostel a line of about 15 of them approach, one of whom grabs me by the arm and attempts to drag me off down a sidestreet with his charming friends.
NOTE 2- Do not try to drag off a pissed of woman backed up by 7 other piseed off women ALL of whom are armed extemely sharp cornered hardbound sketchbooks. What happened next was a massive flurry of violence that would have made Tarantino proud. The greasy bastards made a hasty and bloodynosed retreat, followed by us lot swearing like sailors. Fun.
Then there was a lecture by Paul about his work. At this point I was in a n alcoholic haze, so unfortunately I don't remember too much. I'm sure it was very nice.
We then went to a gay bar for some reason (unintentionally). Very nice people threw confetti at us. and then we went to bed around 3am.
SATURDAY
Was mostly spent in art galleries drawing people looking at art (see art journal soonish). Saw some fantastic art, too. Magrite and Dali in the modern section, Van Eyck and Rembrant in the old section. Very nice. Grabbed lunch at cafe, ate waffles, did more peoplewatching and then had supper, surprisingly knackering. Went back to hostel and was forced to do humiliating observational drawing excercises. Drawing with left hand/drawing using someone elses hand/drawing whilst not looking at page=interesting but horrific lol.
That night is a big blur, but something like this happened: we went out to the town looking for a decent pub in a big group and ended up at a tiny Irish rock pub which was pretty cool. Once more, Belgian men are greasy pervy bastards, however. Euugh.
At around midnight we moved on to a massive underground (Rr, literally. In a huge basement.) rave, which was cool. Got very drunk around this point. Someone gave me the fruit punch, NEVER DRINK THE FRUIT PUNCH at raves. EVER. However, things were cut short as at some point flipflops, and shards of glass on the floor came into unpleasant contact with each other and me and Jessie both retreated to hostel via an insane taxi driver to have fun with tweezers and warm water. Ouch. Always wear proper shoes for raves. Slept.
SUNDAY
Awoke in zombified state, ate brains and drank coffee. Felt better. Staggered across the road to the botancial gardens to do a shoe show with our wonderful shoe project shoes and then wandered about drawing people and taking surreal photos including public statuary and painted cardboard fish. It was a project. Honestly it was.
Later wandered down to this park full of statues of horses painted with patterns and all sorts, very bizarre but very pretty. Had lunch at a diner nearby and ate waffles.
At this point I note that we were staying during some national heritage weekend, which meant free admission to lots of places and lots of events on the streets. On Sunday, all cars were banned. There were bicycles- LOAD of bicycles, horses, trams and busses, but no cars. Imagine a city bigger than London with no cars. Rather creepy.
In the afternoon we went to a museum of comics and animation which was cool. It looked like it was mostly for kids until...you found the erotic section...which hurt my brain 0_0. Tentacles all over the place. Name that orifice. And so on. Serious mental scarring.
Did a few more drawing excercises in the botanical gardens, gathering a big crowd. Embarresment.
That evening, after a lecture by Peter (I dozed off again, feel so guilty. Oh well) the group all went to one fairly posh resteraunt. I had waterzooi on the the basis that I HAD to eat one thing I had no clue about. Turned out to be a sort of creamy stew, quite nice.
NOTE 3- Belgian waiters are the most horrific snobs ever. At this point a lot of people were running low on cash, on table in particular could only afford soup, chips and garlic bread. At about the fourth cheap order, the waiter, who'd been becoming more and more agitated, seized the menu from the hands of the unfortunate student ordering chips. Throwing it onto the floor, he then stamped on it several times, yelled something in Flemish, and stormed off in a fit of tears. He didn't come back.
Had an early night after that. The hostel showers had hot water for the first time during the weekend. Bliss.
MONDAY
More mellow day, mostly spent shopping and drinking coffee in the Grand Place. I have too much chocolate now, never mind. The chocolatiers there are beautiful and extremely posh- with huge window displays, fountains and statues of chocolate, big gilded mirrors and fancy chairs to sit in whilst your selection is prepared. And free samples, which myself Casey and Jessie abused terribly. Travelling back was about the same, slept a lot of the way.
Still very tired.
That's about it.
FRIDAY
Started with a lot of traveling. Dragged self from bed around 6.00am and headed for Abingdon, where we all piled onto coach to London. Grabbed proper breakfast at Waterloo and a sandwich for the Eurostar, which we boarded after hours and hours of waiting around. Spent eurostar trip in a doze, can't recall much, but we eventually arrived at the Brussels station. Which was clean. And smelt of SOAP. And was made of marble and steel. It gleamed, seriously makes British stations look like right shitholes.
Anyway, piled onto the metro with our luggage. I think most big underground train systems are the same tbh, right down to the smell. Casey's phone was nicked by a friendly Beligian pickpocket, but otherwise things went okay. Finding the hostel took some work as we got out on the wrong side of the road and trekked several miles with luggage before realising we'd gone the wrong way- and then trekked back too far the other way. Nice when we found it though, fancy modern bar with black marble and steel again- and pretty spartan but clean rooms. It had that youth hostel smell. Sort of like cabbages and hot laundry with a hint of unwashed hippy.
Had a quick walk into the centre of town to get our bearings. Saw something like Beligian morris dancers on the way. Traumatised. Then drifted off to supper, wound up at a pizzeria with a group of other girls. Had a bit of trouble on the way back:
NOTE- all Beligian men of Asian descent between 17-30 ARE filthy greasy perverts WITHOUT exceeption. Case in point, walking back to the hostel a line of about 15 of them approach, one of whom grabs me by the arm and attempts to drag me off down a sidestreet with his charming friends.
NOTE 2- Do not try to drag off a pissed of woman backed up by 7 other piseed off women ALL of whom are armed extemely sharp cornered hardbound sketchbooks. What happened next was a massive flurry of violence that would have made Tarantino proud. The greasy bastards made a hasty and bloodynosed retreat, followed by us lot swearing like sailors. Fun.
Then there was a lecture by Paul about his work. At this point I was in a n alcoholic haze, so unfortunately I don't remember too much. I'm sure it was very nice.
We then went to a gay bar for some reason (unintentionally). Very nice people threw confetti at us. and then we went to bed around 3am.
SATURDAY
Was mostly spent in art galleries drawing people looking at art (see art journal soonish). Saw some fantastic art, too. Magrite and Dali in the modern section, Van Eyck and Rembrant in the old section. Very nice. Grabbed lunch at cafe, ate waffles, did more peoplewatching and then had supper, surprisingly knackering. Went back to hostel and was forced to do humiliating observational drawing excercises. Drawing with left hand/drawing using someone elses hand/drawing whilst not looking at page=interesting but horrific lol.
That night is a big blur, but something like this happened: we went out to the town looking for a decent pub in a big group and ended up at a tiny Irish rock pub which was pretty cool. Once more, Belgian men are greasy pervy bastards, however. Euugh.
At around midnight we moved on to a massive underground (Rr, literally. In a huge basement.) rave, which was cool. Got very drunk around this point. Someone gave me the fruit punch, NEVER DRINK THE FRUIT PUNCH at raves. EVER. However, things were cut short as at some point flipflops, and shards of glass on the floor came into unpleasant contact with each other and me and Jessie both retreated to hostel via an insane taxi driver to have fun with tweezers and warm water. Ouch. Always wear proper shoes for raves. Slept.
SUNDAY
Awoke in zombified state, ate brains and drank coffee. Felt better. Staggered across the road to the botancial gardens to do a shoe show with our wonderful shoe project shoes and then wandered about drawing people and taking surreal photos including public statuary and painted cardboard fish. It was a project. Honestly it was.
Later wandered down to this park full of statues of horses painted with patterns and all sorts, very bizarre but very pretty. Had lunch at a diner nearby and ate waffles.
At this point I note that we were staying during some national heritage weekend, which meant free admission to lots of places and lots of events on the streets. On Sunday, all cars were banned. There were bicycles- LOAD of bicycles, horses, trams and busses, but no cars. Imagine a city bigger than London with no cars. Rather creepy.
In the afternoon we went to a museum of comics and animation which was cool. It looked like it was mostly for kids until...you found the erotic section...which hurt my brain 0_0. Tentacles all over the place. Name that orifice. And so on. Serious mental scarring.
Did a few more drawing excercises in the botanical gardens, gathering a big crowd. Embarresment.
That evening, after a lecture by Peter (I dozed off again, feel so guilty. Oh well) the group all went to one fairly posh resteraunt. I had waterzooi on the the basis that I HAD to eat one thing I had no clue about. Turned out to be a sort of creamy stew, quite nice.
NOTE 3- Belgian waiters are the most horrific snobs ever. At this point a lot of people were running low on cash, on table in particular could only afford soup, chips and garlic bread. At about the fourth cheap order, the waiter, who'd been becoming more and more agitated, seized the menu from the hands of the unfortunate student ordering chips. Throwing it onto the floor, he then stamped on it several times, yelled something in Flemish, and stormed off in a fit of tears. He didn't come back.
Had an early night after that. The hostel showers had hot water for the first time during the weekend. Bliss.
MONDAY
More mellow day, mostly spent shopping and drinking coffee in the Grand Place. I have too much chocolate now, never mind. The chocolatiers there are beautiful and extremely posh- with huge window displays, fountains and statues of chocolate, big gilded mirrors and fancy chairs to sit in whilst your selection is prepared. And free samples, which myself Casey and Jessie abused terribly. Travelling back was about the same, slept a lot of the way.
Still very tired.
That's about it.