Welcome to Belgium!

 When the name Belgium comes up, what are the first thoughts that cross your mind?

Go on. Think about it. Write them down on a scrap of paper next to your computer. I'll wait...

...

...

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Then write them in the comments section on this post, I'm quite curious about them!

When I first came to Belgium in September 1999 all I knew about the place was that they made my favourite chocolate (at the time): Côte d'Or Double Lait.

That French Fries should be called Belgian Fries. 

That Tintin was Belgian. 

And that Cesar thought the Belgians the bravest of the Gauls -much to Asterix and Obelix's chagrin! 

Basel-Bâle-Basilea: where Switzerland meets France and Germany!

Map adapted from WorldAtlas.com

Well, that went by in a flash! They say time flies when you're having fun - which is true - but when you're only in a city for 40h and have a packed program (centred around a housewarming party, yay!), then it's like time is even more condensed and everything feels more intense!

So, instead of starting this blog off with Mallorca (back when I started fidgeting with the layout and name in August), or Belgium (where I'm spending the Fall), I'm inaugurating it with a little corner of Switzerland, nudged in a tiny corner (or should I say triangle?) between the French and German borders!

Basel, Basle, Bâle (French), Basilea (Italian, Spanish) might be small (only ~166'000 inhabitants) by most countries' standards, but it is Switzerland's third largest city! In fact, when you consider the "transborder" population, the numbers rise to 830'000 inhabitants and it becomes Switzerland's second largest city! "Transborder" you say? Sorry, my brain is making up its own words again! Most of the people who work in Basel (major pharmaceutical industries and research centres) actually live just across the borders in France and Germany where the cost of living is much lower. Talk about commuting to another country to work! But one of the towns on the French side, St Louis, is basically just a suburb of Basel, and when we drove through there to get to our friends' house, you couldn't tell where one finished and the other started except for the Border control booth... which was empty! (and which is why we went that way instead of via the highway, better for smuggling Belgian chocolate into the country, you don't want the Swiss knowing you're bringing in the higher-quality competition! lol!)

HERE WE GO!!!

Off to Neverland! Second star on the right and straight on 'till morning! 

;o)

Sorry 'bout that... for some reason it just popped into my head right after I wrote the title for this post... must have Peter Pan on my brain or something! :p

I'm afraid Never-Neverland isn't on my current travel itinerary, but if do manage to get hold of some pixie dust, rest assured I promise to take you all along with me! :D Until then we'll just have to make do with this little blue marble we live on called planet Earth (I still don't get why it's not called planet Ocean, but that's the oceanographer in me raising her scientific head).

I started setting this blog up back in August and had intended to launch it with a visit to Mallorca, but my cousins kept me so busy there it was all I could do to find a bit of time to check y e-mails and download my photos! Then I wanted to wait until I could set up all the fancy trappings (tabs, widgets, background pics etc.), but was so busy with other things couldn't do that either and the 2 months later this blog has yet to be inaugurated! So I figured hell with the layout, I'll fiddle with it over the next couple of months whenever I have time, and was planning on beginning with a "Welcome to Belgium" post since I'm going to be spending the Fall here... but it looks like I might start with a short trip to Switzerland instead since I'm heading out to Basel this weekend!

The tabs will be set up with general info (the who and why of this blog) as well as some dedicated to continents or countries I'm living in (i.e. Spain and Belgium) with links to related posts. Occasionally you'll see a blog post appear with nothing in it but a country name because I'll be updating it with links to posts about that country as I write about it. The labels will be continent, country and city related to help you find your way around my globe.

I had thought of importing posts already written on my other blog that would fit in here... but I think when the subjects come up I'll just summarize and link to them over there, unless they're 100% travel related in which case I'll just transfer them here and have them "published" on the date they were originally published on the other blog.

What to expect from this new experiment of mine? Well honestly I'm not sure! I'll try to keep it lively and original, and still provide you with some practical or basic information on wherever it is I'm talking about. There will be plenty of pictures since one of the things I like about blogging is it gives me an excuse to do something with all the photos I love shooting. Oh, and keep an eye out for Pol the travelling octopod... he might show up in some of the most random places! ;o)

Hope you enjoy the ride!

CrazyCris, globetrotter extraordinaire.

Semana Santa: Domingo de Ramos en Elche

Palm Sunday. Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey while a festive populace laid palms down at his feet. In many Spanish cities a "procesión" is held commemorating this joyous day, with a figure of Jesus on a donkey being carried through the city on the shoulders of the faithful, to the sound of marching bands and the murmur (for Spaniards can rarely ever be quiet!) of the people walking either ahead, behind or watching from the sides. Most carry white palms as a symbol of participation in the ritual, some simple tall leaves from palm trees, others more elaborately twisted or woven together into a lovely design or even a "sculpture" of sorts.

Pope Benedict with palm from Elche

With the excuse of a friend visiting from Mexico, my family and I went to witness this year's procession in Elche, a millenial city just 20km from Alicante, and famous for the "Huerto del Cura" also called the "Palmeral", a.k.a. Europe's biggest palm tree forest and a Unesco World Heritage Site. According to my mom (I don't have any other sources for this, but she's a walking encyclopedia!), Elche's is one of the most famous Palm Sunday processions in Spain, mainly due to this reverence for the city's palms and the fact that they are the only place that still prepares elaborate handmade white palms for the procession (one is even sent to the Pope every year! sample photo which was in last week's newspaper, is from Getty images, the "good" versions aren't available unless you buy them). It has been declared a "Fiesta de interés turístico internacional" (an honorific title given to certain Spanish festivities whose cultural value and popular tradition are recognised due to their ethnologic characteristics and are deemed to be important for tourism, more -in Spanish- on Wikipedia).

So off we went on a gorgeous sunny Sunday to admire the Palms and enjoy the festive ambiance. We arrived a bit late to see the throne be carried out of the Basilica de Santa Maria (main church in Elche) to the site where the procession was going to begin. But we did make it just in time to catch the marching band heading off and were able to hang around admiring the throne (the platforms on which the figures are carried during the processions) and watch the people begin to gather with their palms.

Here's the band leaving and a glimpse of the "costaleros" (people who carry the thrones, this year women from the cofradía de Santa Veronica) catching their breath and gathering their energy before the procession really begins:

Little by little people kept arriving to the meeting point, some carrying plain white palms, others more elaborate works of art:

The lady who made this one didn't say exactly how long it took her, just "several mornings":

She also made this one for her friend in 3 days:

And how about this?

She made sure to ask me if I'd noticed the details at the top: musicians and a flag-bearer from a procession, with a "throne" carrying Christ on the Cross:

So, everyone here? Everyone ready?

The priest steps up to his microphone to read from the Bible,  then blesses the Palms and thanks the "costaleras" for shouldering their/our burden and then invites the people to take their places and let the procession begin.

The costaleras get into position, hoist the throne, turn it around so it is facing down the avenue in the direction the procession will be following and then stand at the ready.

(you'll get an explanation for that bell later)

Everyone lines up, starting with a marching band, then dignitaries and representatives of the other "cofradías" -who will be participating in other processions later in the week- who take the lead, followed by part of the crowd with their palms, then the throne, then the priests and more dignitaries.

The ladies of the Cofradía de Santa Veronica are all in position. A clang on the bell is the signal to lift, another to start walking, and later will give them a few moments to rest. And so on and so forth as they make their way through the streets of the city until they reach the Basilica de Santa María.

Hey! Want to play a game of "Where's Cris"? ;o)

Before leaving town we thought we'd visit the Basilica to see how everything looked... and found ourselves face to face with the procession again!

Over an hour later and the front of the line was just reaching the church! So tourism will just have to wait for another visit...

Recognise the two ladies at the top right-hand side of this next photo?

It's the lady I talked to at the beginning and her beautiful palm! :o) Heading with the others towards the Basilica:

More people bearing palms:

check out the top of that one on the left:

I thought this little girl was really cute...

A few more palms (because I have trouble restraining myself when it comes to choosing photos,  lol!)...

 and as we say here in Spain: "Colorín, colorado. Este cuento se ha terminado!" (a.k.a. THE END!)

(Hope that wasn't too long... I tend to get carried away when telling a tale with images, I have ever so much trouble limiting the number of pictures used!)

I'll try to put out two more posts on other processions another day. Selecting and editing photos and video clips takes a lot of time!

Wandering in Westminster

So for my final day in London I had decided on heading back to Westminster, hoping to get a clearer shot of the Houses of Parliament (i.e. in the morning so with the sun behind me and not behind the building!) and then go visit Westminster Abbey and finally head over to St Paul's Cathedral. Well I ended up heading late into town (had to be telephone support for a couple of hours for my sister's friend who was flying out of Heathrow to teach Spanish in Indiana for a year, and was having some ticket troubles, as in "we're sorry you aren't anywhere in our list of passengers"), fortunately for me the sun was still at an o.k. angle for the photo I wanted to take:


After which I crossed the river yet again (is it me or does that water look murkier than before?) and just wandered around the building taking in all the details. Or at least as much as guys like these would let me:


grrrr... I wanted to go wandering inside! :p

Anyhow, so I continued walking around the outside and came across mister Oliver Cromwell looking down on the local traffic:


and yet another entrance they wouldn't let me through:


Perhaps I'll have better luck with this one? (is the the other "tall" tower at the opposite end of Big Ben's tower)


Oops! I guess this one is for the use of a single individual:


and since I'm not QE2 I guess I'll have to satisfy my curiousity with admiring all the carved little details.

Here's a peek around the tower's corner:


with I'm guessing previous Kings looking out across the land


lol I looooove the details!


and my zoom lens:


I must say though these two fellahs watching over the gate were my favourites!


Can you make out the royal motto on the second? "Dieu et mon Droit"

What luck I had (as usual) with the weather! When I caught the train into town it was raining... when I reached Westminster I was greeted by skies like these:


So after wandering around the Houses of Parliament as much as allowed, and after having satisfied the rumblings of my stomach, I figured it was time to peek into one place I knew I could go into: Westminster Abbey! Here's a glimpse of the back as seen from the Sovereign's Entrance of Parliament:


Impressive! Although the façade is even lovlier:


reaching up towards the heavens!


But as that turned out to be the exit, I had to make my way around the side tourist entrance.


Admiring the rose? It was even lovelier from the inside with the sunlight shining through! If only I had a picture...


Once again admiring all the details... I am so in love with Gothic Churches! I could spend hours upon hours gazing upon this bit and that bit and...


So, big tourist attraction, right? So you have to pay to get in... well if you do then add on a couple of quid for the Verger's Tour! 90' with someone narrating the history of the Abbey to you and taking you through roped off places normally off-limits (like Edward the Confessor's Chapel). I particularly enjoyed seeing that Queens and sisters Elizabeth and Mary Tudor were buried together (separated by war, united in death), although Elizabeth is the one who got her effigy on the tombstone (courtesy of King James 1st, whose mother Mary Queen of Scots is buried in a neighbouring chapel). I was also moved by the tomb of the unkown soldier (the first of its kind)

Now, here's my big bone of contention with this place: NO PHOTOS ALLOWED! whaaaaat?! Even if without flash?! snif!!! That's torture!!! On the other hand the inside is so cluttered with tombstones, sculptures, windows, monuments... I could probably fill up my computer with images of it all! :p

I guess I'll just have to send you along to a virtual tour here, or the Abbey's highlights from their official website.

I can share a few snapshots of the Cloisters with you, no problems (other than the hour and diminishing light) there!

Here's the entrance/exit from the Church:


Beautiful work in those arches that look out in the garden:



Zut! Once upon a time (in high school) I used to know the architectural terms (in French) for a Gothic Church... are those reinforcement structures the "arc-boutants"?


Entrance to a Chapel:


There weren't as many commemorative monuments as inside the Church, but here are a couple that particularly caught my attention:


As an oceanographer and marine biologist how could I not appreciate that second one?! ;o)

And voilà! As we say in Spain "Colorín colorado, este cuento se ha terminado!" In other words, time's up, the story's over, time to go home! After spending 3h in the Abbey there was no time left to head over to St Paul's, will have to see that on my next visit!

Might as well say one last good-bye to this guy before I hop on the Tube (and head over to my favourite bookstores to load up on reading material):



One last thing, my sister and I celebrated the end of the trip (courtesy of a parental gift) by catching a show:


As my sister was fond of saying (repeatedly), "now that was a wicked show!", go see it! :o)

Hope you enjoyed the weekend in London!