The start of my spring break trips, it was an utterly spontaneous one. Unsure about going with Anna and Olga to Brussels, I finally decided when a friend told me about a Frida Kahlo exhibition she saw there. I decided I had to go, having never seen a Frida in real life. So I went, and found out that the city was so much more than expected.
There has never been a city that has felt so gray. The buildings, the sky, the bikes to rent, everything with this sad gray. It didn't help that it was stormy and everything had a feeling of being on the cusp of bursting into tears. Despite the gray, the city itself is full of good things, good art, good fries, good chocolate, good beer, good people, the Belgians don't do anything half heartily. It is a small city, easily seen and devoured in a two day trip.
Day one: 2 bars of chocolate, 2 coffees, 1 tin tin store, 3 great friends chanting about mussels in Brussels, 1 man with a velour suit claiming to be Mr. Satisfaction, Zero toone bars, 5 deliriums.
Day two: more chocolate. . . I lost count, 1 small fries with curry sauce, 1 Magritte museum, 50 paintings that got the best of me, 4 sketches that I am glad not to have missed, a pipe that was not a pipe, a peak of sunshine, dolmas, a little fountain of a boy who pees, Frida!
The Magritte museum was perfect, working in chronological order with Olga to translate his french scrawling, it was fully of whimsy of little spots of beauty that I had missed, of videos and music. They did an incredible job of pairing everything. Some of my favorites were the head, torso and legs sketches done with friends, where you fold the paper as not to see what the person has drawn before you, the result and utterly surreal person of sorts. The plants that turn into owls and a pipe that is still not a pipe were some of the highlights.
The Frida exhibition was magical. Again, chronological she works on a much smaller scale that I would have thought. Her details perfection, and her need to expel her thoughts and feelings onto the canvas, utterly emotional. The exhibition was accompanied by a booklet that discussed each painting and gave background to each, something I wish every exhibit would have. It was a really beautiful show, and I was sad when it was over.
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