Chiesa e Stato

From top down: church (inside and out); outside the EU, artistically expressing the strength of the euro; me being kingly outside the palace

The Duomo in Florence has nothing on the churches in Brussels. These babies are gorgeous inside and out. Sure, the Duomo has a nice marble exterior and sets the skyline for the city. But inside? The thing is practically barren. It feels empty, even during Sunday Mass. The churches we went to in Brussels were gorgeous. Granted I'm a sucker for Gothic architecture, but still. Inside every church we visited, there were floor to ceiling stained-glass windows, marble statues, side altars, even a few icons. We also managed to catch a recital in the one we visited on Sunday afternoon. Coincidentally, that church has a pretty awesome market outside of it. I was tempted to buy lots of cool antique jewelry to bring back for people, but at that point I was out of cash. Mi dispiace. Maybe there will be a better market in Paris?

We also managed to see the EU, which lucky for us is based in Brussels so we didn't have to go far. In the square just outside the EU headquarters, there was a guy who was protesting something in the Middle East: oppression, genocide, sand. Though I'm fairly sure it had something to do with Iran killing politicians in Iraq. But maybe it was over sand. You never know. If I lived in a place that was that hot all the time and didn't have running water, I'd be pretty pissed at the sand too. Regardless, we signed his petition, proving that we are tourists for a cause. We should make it our goal to sign a petition in every country we visit. That should be easy enough in Europe as no one actually wants to work, so protesting/petitioning/going on strike are easy ways to do that. We should have no problem finding angsty workers or civil rights proponents.

The last place of political or religious significance that we saw was the Royal Palace. It has a name, but I don't know it. Nor do I particularly care what it is, because they don't allow tours. Not to mention that it was the palace where King Leopold lived. You know Leo, the Congo-conquering madman that caused Joseph Conrad to write Heart of Darkness. Real sweetheart.

As a last tidbit, I'm trying to upload pictures to Facebook so you can see even more of Belgium as I continue to blog about it this week. For some reason Facebook doesn't want to cooperate, but no surprise there. Facebook never works when you want it to. Least of all when you're in Italy. But keep your eyes open, and I'll let you know when they're up!


Ciao Bella!

Matteo "Peace in the Middle East (and the Congo)" Yazge