Back Home Again

I just returned from an interesting (work) trip. Itinerary: JFK - Brussels - Atlanta - Madrid - JFK.

I've been to Brussels several times, and we now stay at a hotel that is a 15-minute walk from the Grand Place. This is one of the buildings in the square:


The Hotel de Ville (City Hall) was built in the 15th century. It has sculptures between the windows (see next picture). The tower is 96 meters high, topped with a gilded statue of St Michael. It was one of the only buildings in the square to survive the French bombardment in 1695.

"Legend has it that the architect committed suicide by throwing himself of the tower when he noticed that the tower was not in the middle. Like most other legends surrounding the monuments of Brussels, this one also is not true. The tower not being in the middle is simply the result of the fact that the right wing of the town hall could not be made as large as the left wing because the town authorities wanted to preserve the street next to the right wing. "

Okay, so the building isn't symmetrical because they added onto it. But it still bothers me that the door is not in the center of the tower! *



The next picture is of a bronze sculpture that people touch for fertility. You can see the shiny surfaces where it has been touched. I'm not sure of the name of this. There are always a lot of tourists by it and I had to take a VERY quick picture just to keep them out of it!



Brussels is a bilingual city. You can see in this sign both the French and Flemish words. I took this picture on the way to the Manneken-Pis, which is the only location not written in French. Maybe it doesn't translate well...


Here is the famous Manneken-Pis, Belgium's national symbol. Sculpted in bronze in 1619 it replaced the stone version which stood in the same site since the 14th century. The statue is now so well known someone is paid to polish him daily and dress him in costumes sent from around the world. I haven't seen him dressed up yet, but the schedule is posted for those interested.



Here he is closer up. It is a fountain, so he is whizzing.



From Brussels, we flew to Atlanta. It was MUCH hotter! I had Belgian chocolates and I was concerned about them, but they survived.** After checking into the hotel, my good friend and former neighbor, Sybil, picked me up. I stayed at their house and had a wonderful visit. I even went for a run in our old neighborhood and was surprised to see a small subdivision had been built in our veterinarian's field! (There used to be an old horse and a big 'ole bull in that field.) We only moved away 2 years ago!

The day, before dropping me off at the hotel, we ate lunch at the Varsity.*** Six years in Atlanta and I had never eaten there.

Here I am getting our order of greasy food. Quite the experience! The best part was the frozen Varsity orange drink. It was like a creamcicle!

As we left Atlanta, we had the usual evening thunderstorms to avoid. Intimidating, yet beautiful!



Here we are flying into Madrid. It doesn't rain much here and it was obvious before we even landed. (It made for pleasant weather however...)


I went out to eat with the crew. Most of us did not know our way around very well, and a flight attendant from Peru who had never been there before, did a good job asking directions in Spanish. We took the #5 bus to Puerta del Sol to eat.

I took this picture from the bus and I now know that it is the Palacio de Comunicaciones in the Plaza de Cibeles. It was built between 1905 and 1917 by Antonio Palacios as the headquarters of the post office. Inside is the Postal and Telegraphic Museum, which displays the history of the postal system.


The Cibeles Fountain is in front of the Communication Palace. This fountain, named after Cibele (or Ceres), roman goddess of nature, is seen as one of Madrid's most important symbols. It was built between 1777 and 1782.



We stopped for tapas (like heavy horse d'oeuvres) before eating at the restaurant that was recommended to us. I sat facing this incredibly creepy painting. **** My first thought was "Naked Santa?" WTF?! I had to take a picture...




As we left we flew near (but not near enough for me to take this picture without zooming in as much as I could) the Valley of the Fallen. Unfortunately this picture is not a straight-on view of the 490-foot granite cross, but you get the idea, right?


General Francisco Franco built it and is buried there. Last month was the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the civil war. The Spanish government is considering redesignating the monument as a place of healing, rather than a tribute to Franco. Recently, streets bearing Franco's name have been renamed and virtually all his statues taken down. We'll see what happens!


Well, that was my trip. I'm glad to be home!


*Cranky would hate the building's asymmetry. The more I looked at it, the more it bothered me.

**Until Sybil's kids tasted them.

***An Atlanta landmark.

****Do not look at this picture very long if you are prone to nightmares!