Bruxelles & Amsterdam

October 09_17, 2009: Brussels, Waterloo, De Panne, Brugge, Amsterdam See also: www.youtube.com www.youtube.com Brussels: the best beer, hot gauffres, very good chocolate, nice people, many Art Nouveau buildings, urban gentrification model, very good museums, high quality street art, Jacques Brel, European Commission, Manneken piss. If you go for the first time, try to find the “Secret Brussels” guide, by Nicolas van Beek and Nathalie Capart. It’s the best that we found. It takes minimum 5 days to visit and to understand the complexity of the city. Waterloo: very close to Brussels, nice houses. The Lion’s Mound, The Panorama, small Napoleon’s statue and Waxwork Museum were not so interesting to visit, according to the entrance price. De Panne: very good light Brugge: a very nice city. Unfortunately, we stopped only for two hours. It takes two-three days to visit. Seems a very romantic place (in October). Amsterdam: [too] many bikes, a lot of water, slanted old houses, very nice people, very good marketing (for everything), Museumplein, Elephant Parade, Museum of Bags and Purses, ARCAM, Artis Royal Zoo, Huis Marseille – Museum of Photography, Nemo – science center, Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum. The red light district it’s not a very friendly place, not even in the morning. About paintings: we saw a 165000 euro painting in a common gallery, from a common street. Artists are very well promoted at any level. About the light: After you see Amsterdam, you understand from where …