If you’re taking a P&O Ferry to the continent this summer, you may be tempted to explore the fascinating cultural cocktail that is Belgium. John Hillman explains all…

Before you set off in search of Trappist beers and some the best sea food in the world it’s worth taking a moment to get acquainted with Belgium’s unique and complicated character.

This is the home of Tintin, Surrealism and a seemingly disproportionate number of world class female tennis players. It is also a country of great internal complexity.

The dual language and culture that exist is Belgium has long been a source of tension between sections of the two communities. In the north of the country we have Flanders, a Flemish speaking region boasting the historic cities of Bruges and Ghent. In the south French speaking Wallonia is interspersed with smatterings of German speaking communities in the east.

In the middle of all this sits Brussels, the great capital of the EU and home to NATO. Bilingual and cosmopolitan, it is one the grand European cities, a place of majestic architecture, incredible art galleries and some of the best restaurants you’ll ever visit.

But the cultural divide is one that has put Belgium under a great deal of pressure recently. With the country’s Prime Minister having tended his resignation five times in the last three years, it seems possible that the divisions between these two regions may yet reach a point where a continued marriage becomes impossible. If that’s the case, it may be worth making sure that you visit before Belgium as we know it changes forever.

Image credit: Wolfgang Staudt

Tags: Belgium, P&O Ferries by John Hillman
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When they say that good things come in small packages, they must have been talking about these little museums in Antwerp. Rosie Khdirexplores…

With all the amazing museums in Antwerp it is sometimes easy to forget the little hidden gems that don’t get as much publicity. This blog looks as the smaller places that are definitely worth a look.

Newspaper museum

This is a museum that hosts a collection of contemporary and older newspapers from 126 countries. It is divided into four sections: the history of writing, the origin of printing, the history of newspapers and the life and work of Abraham Verhoeven.

Mineral museum

This museum holds a fascinating collection of fossils and minerals from over a million years gone by. It is privately owned and has been operated by volunteers for more than 30 years. If you have a real interest in history or geology this place is the perfect little afternoon visit.

Stampe and Vertongen aviation museum

The Stampe and Vertongen aviation museum shows a collection of Jean Stampe’s military airplanes are on display alongside Hitler’s infamous V1, or Vergeltungswaffe Einz, which serves as a chilling reminder of how Antwerp was hit during the Second World War. This museum is ironically situated overlooking the runway of Antwerp – Deurne airport, in a beautiful peaceful garden.

Eugeen Van Mieghem Museum

This museum is a little gem. Its displays the works of Eugeen Van Mieghem (1875-1930) a Belgian artist who was famous for his depictions of life at the waterfront, an example of which you can see above. The museum holds 150 of his works, as well as pieces by other by Antwerp artists and is a delight for art lovers.

You can get there easily with P&O Ferries using the Hull – Zeebrugge route, or alternatively via Dover to Calais from where it is just a short drive along the E40 to the Belgian border. Prices start at just £30 for a car and up to nine people.

Image via Wikimedia

Tags: Belgium, History, Lifestyle, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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We Brits are renowned for our fondness for a good pint and where better to experience said pint than in Southern Belgium, a region famous for its exquisite array of beers. Rosie Khdir explores one of the most popular Walloon beers.

Drinking beer in the Walloon region isn’t just about relaxing after a hard day or getting sloshed with your mates, its brewing customs are steeped in history and are still greatly valued today.

In the southern Walloon region of Belgian where you can still see the hop crop growing wild, is where you find some of the finest beers in the country. There are many breweries scattered around the region but perhaps one of the most famous, internationally, is the Abbey of Leffe near the town of Dinant.

The Notre-Dame Abbey as it was known when it was founded back in 1152, like many in the region, has brewed its own ale; later in 1200 it was renamed Leffe Abbey. Back then, brewing beer wasn’t a matter of plying the masses with a boozy delight it was actually brewed by monasteries for sanitary reasons.

Deadly diseases like Typhoid were spread through contaminated water, and as people didn’t have the tools to test the water, the sterilisation process used in brewing beers was the best way to prevent contamination.

This Abbey has experienced a fair few knocks in its time including a bout of the plague, which killed the Abbot and seven monks back in 1460 and a flood which virtually destroyed the building.

In 1466 Charles the Bold took hold of the city of Dinant after a rumour was spread there about his mother. His forces ransacked the Leffe Abbey and burnt it to the ground. It has been ravaged by Hungarians and in 1796 was ordered to become state property during the French revolution.

After many years of troubles, the Leffe Abbey still stands in Dinant. In 1937 it became a listed historical building. To this day it still makes those famous and delicious Blonde, Brown and Triple beers.

Visitors can take guided tours of the Abbey and uncover more about its past, discover the tradition of brewing and the pouring ritual of Leffe. For more details visit Abbaye-de-leffe.be.

If you want to experience the taste of a finely brewed Leffe in its home environment, you can get there easily with P&O Ferries using the Hull – Zeebrugge route, or alternatively via Dover to Calais from where it is just a short drive along the E40 to the Belgian border. Prices start at just £30 for a car and up to nine people.

Image credit: [puamelia]

Tags: Belgium, France, History, Lifestyle, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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Just across the Channel in the Belgian capital of Brussels, lies an exhibition that looks at the Symbolism in Belgium, a poetic and sometimes darker form of visual art. Rosie Khdir explores the origins of the 19th century movement.

From the end of March until 27th June 2010, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts in Brussels is holding an exhibition called Symbolism in Belgium.

The exhibition includes over two hundred pieces and is based around original research done by its curator, Michel Draguet. The 2005 essay by Draguet, entitled ‘Le Symbolisme en Belgique’ explores the developments of the symbolist movement and how is contributed to the creation of the surrealist movement in Belgium.

Visitors can wander through the galleries of paintings and sketches by the likes of Rops, Spilliaert, Delville and Minne and discover the rich panorama of artistic creation at the turn of the century.

You can discover the relationships between the movement and its influences such as the art of the Pre-Raphaelites, decorative arts and Art Nouveau, which Brussels has since become the capital of.

Symbolic art work takes on many forms from portrait and landscape, to religion and dreams and emphasis in this particular exhibition is placed upon the movement’s relationship with literature.

Some particularly stunning artworks to look out for are Jean Delville’s The Angel of Splendours 1984 (pictured above), and The Tour of Hours or The Hours, 1890 by Xavier Mellery.

If you want to explore the symbolic art of Belgium, you can get there easily with P&O Ferries using the Hull – Zeebrugge route, or alternatively via Dover to Calais from where it is just a short drive along the E40 to the Belgian border. Prices start at just £30 for a car and up to nine people.

Image: The Angel of Splendours, Jean Delville

Tags: Belgium, History, Lifestyle, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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Most people who grew up in the 90s will remember the Moomins, a family of roundish white “trolls” who distinctly resemble hippos! Rosie Khdir ventures to the Belgian Comic Strip Centre to see their creators Dreamworld exhibition.

Tove Jansson played a major part in my childhood entertainment, as I sat endlessly watching the TV adaption of her comic books, The Moomins. These sweet looking creatures are probably held fondly in many peoples memories and are no the subject of an exhibition in Belgium.

The Belgian Comic Strip Centre is hosting a “voyage of discovery” through the Moomin stories, in the form of puppet films, illustrated novels, comic strips and picture books.

The story of the Moomin Dreamworld began when Tove Jansson, a Finnish cartoonist illustrated her first book The Little Troll and The Great Flood. In 1939 the Moomin family was born and they were later joined by characters such as the Snork Maiden, Sniff, Snufkin and Fillyjonk.

The books were first published in Swedish but the 13 books were later translated in 30 languages. By 1950 Jansson had inspired readers in 40 countries and published in 26 different languages.

Tove also created Moomin comic strips for the Finnish paper Ny Ti between the years 1947-48 and also for the London Evening Standard from 1954 to 1959. Since then it has been turned into a comic book, an animated TV series and even a movie.

The exhibition which began in March and ends on 29th August 2010 has been the result of collaboration with the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux and the Finnish Embassy in Belgium.

The display of Jansson’s fine works is charming and will, for many, provide you with a good dose of Moomin nostalgia. For more information visit the Belgian Comic Strip Centre website.

You can get to Belgium with P&O Ferries using the Hull – Zeebrugge route, or alternatively via Dover to Calais from where it is just a short drive along the E40 to the Belgian border. Prices start at just £30 for a car and up to nine people.

Image credit: koiart71

Tags: Belgium, History, Lifestyle, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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Brussels has a reputation as a rather staid city, steeped in history, fine cuisine and European politics, but not exactly exotic. Tomas Mowlam finds a substantial slice of tropical Africa in amongst the bustle of the Belgian capital.

The Royal Museum for Central Africa (Musee Royal de l’Afrique Centrale in French, or Koninklijk Museum voor Midden Africa in Dutch) is one of the best European museums dedicated to Africa, and probably the largest collection of Central African artefacts.

The vast area of Central Africa contains jungles, exotic wildlife, the remains of ancient civilisations and heartbreaking stories of war and exploitation. Verdant and vibrant, it’s a fascinating region.

Now is one of the best times to visit the museum; the end of April this year is the centenary anniversary of the museum and there’s a whole raft of new exhibitions to celebrate. The Congo River is a huge exhibition dedicated to the 4700km long, twisting river which gives the country its name and its life.

It’s also the last chance to see Ungayithenga inhlizyo mongo wami, loosely translated as you can buy my heart and soul; they are beautiful sculptures of elephants made from recycled timber, by the artist Andries Botha.

To say the museum has a collection doesn’t really do it justice; there are over 10 million (albeit preserved) animals, 180,000 different objects, like masks, tools and weapons, 20,000 maps and 8,000 musical instruments.

Under the direction of King Leopold I, from 1885 Belgium seized the largest of all European colonies in Africa – the Congo. Belgian rule was brutal and the Congo was exploited for ivory and then for rubber and minerals.

Virtually all the objects here were collected between 1885 and 1960, by soldiers, explorers, traders, missionaries and scientists.

The museum has great guided tours, music workshops and special activities for kids. At time of writing these included Insects of Africa – guaranteed to thrill kids fascinated by creepy crawlies, Elephants – dedicated to one of Africa’s iconic animals as well as storytelling tours, and percussion workshops.

Open Tuesday to Friday until 10am until 5pm and on the weekends until 6pm. Leuvensesteenweg 13, 3080 Tervuren.

You can get to Belgium with P&O Ferries using the Hull – Zeebrugge route, or alternatively via Dover to Calais from where it is just a short drive along the E40 to the Belgian border. Prices start at just £30 for a car and up to nine people.

Image Credit:l.deleze

Tags: Belgium, P&O Ferries by tmowlam
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Think of Belgium – jazz, moules e frites and chocolate. Well the stereotype isn’t that far off and Belgium is embracing its potato based heritage with a whole museum. Tomas Mowlam investigates Bruges’ Frietmuseum.

The Frietmuseum aims to show the entire world of the humble fry, broken down into three sections: the history of the potato, the history of the fry and then when you’ve had your fill of starchy information you can then taste some traditional Belgian fries.

Humans eating and enjoying the tuber dates back over 10,000 years, and wild potatoes have been found in tombs in Peru and Chile, the Frietmuseum itself even has Inca vases representing the potato (above).

The museum goes onto detail how the snack made it from the wilds of America to Europe, potato recipes, and how it goes from the ground to your plate.

The main attraction is the final section where you can sample fries with traditional Belgian food such as stews, moules and other delights.

If fries seems bit of an esoteric subject for a museum then check the lighting museum, Lumina Domestica, and chocolate museum, Choco Story, all created by Cédric and Eddy Van Belle.

The museum is also housed in a surprisingly grand building, the Saailhalle built in 1399, and a second building built a few years later as a centre for the Genoan consul and trade in medieval Bruges.

On the museum website Eddy explains why they chose the Saailhalle, calling it a “one of the masterpieces of Bruges.”

“This house certainly deserves to escape from the major building work which would very likely have been needed had it been converted into anything other than a museum.

“It is one of the great advantages of our project that we can show off this magnificent building to the many people who visit it, not only from the outside, but the inside as well.”

The museum is open daily from 10 am – 5 pm and for prices and more information check out the website, frietmuseum.be.

Image Credit: Friet Musuem

Tags: Belgium, P&O Ferries by Gabriel Grant
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For one enchanting evening in March some of the most famous museums in Brussels will be opening their doors to the public for some after hour’s, art filled entertainment. Rosie Khdir takes a look at what’s in store…

On the 6th March 2010, twenty museums in Brussels will open from 8pm to 1am for the Night of the Brussels Museums. This, the second edition of the event will include exhibitions of music, dance, workshops, DJs and of course the art.

Museums included in this artful extravaganza are the BELvue Museum, the Museum of Musical Instruments, the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art, the Museum of Costume and Lace and the Museum of the City of Brussels.

This rather unusual and delightful event has been organised in cooperation with youth organisations and students and can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

It will be a night of spontaneous performance, electro-architectural exhibitions, dancing and guided tours. The best part is that those of you who come alive at night can party on until 3am at Bozar, where the event’s after-party will be held.

This truly is an extraordinary event that should not be missed by any art lover. Advanced tickets can be bought on the official Museum Night Fever website up until the 5th March but be aware that children up the age of 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

For more a program of events, places, transport information and ticket prices visit the official event website.

Tags: Belgium, Lifestyle, P&O Ferries by Rosie Khdir
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