Walk Through The Gardens With Royalty In Brussels, starting April 24.

The Royal Greenhouses at Laeken:

A Regal Spring Tonic in Brussels

Frank Lloyd Wright had a clear concept of how visitors should enter the spaces he had designed. He liked to keep the entrance hall low and dark and confined so that when you stepped out into the main room, the high ceiling space would come as a powerful perceptual shock, an enlargement that would cause the observer to stop and truly absorb the new space.
This has only tangentially to do with the travel experience I am going to tell you about, but it illustrates the way I came to it, and how it came to me.
I entered Brussels through a Frank Lloyd Wright hallway.
Arriving on the Eurostar after midnight, I walked through dark streets in a chilly rain. My hotel was a mere four blocks from the station, and I have an aversion to taxis - something about sitting in the back of a car being driven by a stranger has always creeped me out. So I was one of the only people on the rain slicked narrow street that led to the small square and my hotel, The Dominican. The lobby was dimly lit, the staff spoke in hushed tones and just on the periphery of sound was the somnolent chanting of monks. I was too preoccupied to take note.
The next morning I fussed about catching the right bus, changing to the correct line, and getting off at the designated stop. I shouldn't have worried. The driver remembered my fractured French request to notify me when to get off and most of the passengers were going to the same place. I grabbed my  camera, hugged my notebook to my chest and hurried after the crowd, intensely aware that my time was limited.
I stopped at the gilded gates to the Royal Gardens and that was the FLW moment. The surrounding neighbourhood fell away, and the rest of the crowd continued on through the gates, but I was halted in my tracks.

In front of me perfectly groomed lawns unrolled downhill, bordered by flowering trees. Under an immense blue sky, the glass cupolas of the greenhouses winked in the sun. Smells of damp earth, cut grass and camellias saturated the air. The transition from cramped and tight and dark, to large and open and light forced me to be totally present.
"Look,smell, touch, take this all in," a voice told me, " Be fully present in this moment." Maybe it was FLW, the engineer of such experiences whispering in my ear, or maybe it was Alphonse Balat, the architect who designed the greenhouses.

So perhaps the connection to FLW isn't so far off after all. The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken, in the north section of Brussels, which I was about to experience, were designed by the architect Balat, the mentor of Victor Horta, the Belgian architect who is considered the father of European Art Nouveau design.
The greenhouses were commissioned by Leopold 11- evidence that even bad men can do good things- in 1873 and were to be "palaces of glass." The eleven structures that Balat created are to this day the finest example of glass and iron architecture in the world. And these are not your garden variety greenhouses- the cupola of the Winter Garden greenhouse soars high enough to allow a jungle of fully grown palm trees to exist comfortably beneath its glass curves.  There are colonnaded walkways, shaded arcades, graceful staircases, sculptural figures and miles of flower-filled glass rooms.

Picture a mass of jungle ferns, densely packed and toned in more shades of green than one can count, walls of camellias so perfect that only their scent reveals their reality, ceilings hung with fuchsia, glass-ceilinged rooms lined from floor to ceiling with geraniums, cyclamen and lilies.

One surprise is the perfectly preserved studio where the Belgian Queen Elisabeth painted , with her easel, painting supplies, and a carefully placed chair next to a window with views of the exterior gardens.

These garden houses are royal delights, usually reserved only for the pleasure of Belgian royalty, but for about three weeks a year, the public is permitted to tour the fabulous flower- filled rooms. It's a sensual experience that is well worth a special trip, all the more precious because the window for experiencing it is open for such a short time.

A walk through the Laeken greenhouses is a garden experience that feeds something in the soul, and is particularly welcome after the winter most Canadians have just endured. Do this if you possibly can.
It's the real Spring tonic.


If You Go:

The Royal Greenhouses of Laeken are open to the public this year from April 24 To May 14. Admission is $3.40 CAD (€2.50). I would advise visiting early. I began my tour just as the gates opened at 9:30 in the morning, and the crowds were still light. By midday the place was very busy. Also consider a night visit, when the greenhouses are lighted and there's a whole different feel to the gardens. Tours are self guided, although there are some French language guided tours. There's no restaurant, but some small food outlets and a very limited gift shop. This is not a commercialized attraction, but rather a valuable but short-lived chance to see these fabulous greenhouses and gardens at their best. Directions of how to get to the Royal Greenhouses can be found on the website: Closed Mondays.
http://www.belgiumtheplaceto.be/the_royal_greenhouses_of_laeken.php

Where To Stay

The Dominican
Rue Léopold / Leopoldstraat 9
1000 Brussels, Belgium

www.thedominican.be
This elegantly understated hotel, located in a former monastery, is a short walk from the main train station and within easy reach of buses that will take you anywhere you want to go in the city, including out to the Greenhouses. Rooms from $190 CAD ( €140)

River Cruising: A Room with a (Constantly Changing ) View

 A Room With a View:  River Cruising on Avalon’s Panorama

The world’s most expensive book, in the Gutenburg Museum in Mainz, an historic mustard factory in Cochem, an underground disco in an abandoned subway station in Frankfurt, and a mechanical monkey that plays the violin in the Mechanical Instrument Museum in Rüdesheim,  – all are intriguing discoveries to be made on a Rhine and Moselle River cruise.

But even more attractive than that is the discovery that you can open the curtains in your new stateroom on board the Panorama and watch the castles drift by at 6:30 in the morning, still in your PJ’s if you like.  That’s the kind of sybaritic extension to the day that I can’t resist. 

It’s not that I’m lazy – the rest of my day will be active and full, but the possibility of starting the day like this, with the window open to the fresh river air, and a cup of coffee from the cappuccino machine in the club lounge is so appealing.

I’m not alone.  River cruising on ships like the Panorama is part of a growing demand from seasoned, and beginner, cruisers.

When Lisa Wilkinson, popular Australian media and television star, christened the Panorama, she was naming a boat that was already a success story.  Even before the ship’s official touring season began with its first passengers coming on board in the spring of 2011, the first season of the Panorama was 98% booked 

According to CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association) the cruise industry is the fastest growing travel segment in the world, and river cruising has had a compounded increase of 10% a year since 2004. 

  So popular are the river cruises that Avalon's sister ships the Vista and the Visionary, have been added to the fleet.

The growth in river cruising is partly the result of a general increase in the number of people cruising, but is also due to the advances in design and upgraded amenities on the newer ships.  Instead of the dark and small cabins of early river boats, as on the first river cruise I took in the early 90’s, new river boats have adopted many of the features of their larger ocean-going sisters. 

The new Panorama boasts some of the largest cabins in the industry, at 200 square feet, with full length floor to ceiling windows that open to French balconies, marble clad bathrooms, L’Ocittaine amenities, wifi throughout the ship, a full fitness centre, larger viewing deck and elegant gourmet dining.  Wine and beer are included, as are excursions, guided walking tours and state-of-the-art digital earphones.  The Avalon fleet has some of the youngest ships in the industry.  Although the company only started in 2004, it has already retired two ships, and  expanded to eleven ships in 2012.

The charm of the river cruise, though, remains in its ability to give its passengers close and intimate connection with the countries they visit.  Shore excursions offer more time ashore, with a variety of excursions and an emphasis on the local culture. This all comes with the convenience of a cruise, one time unpacking, your own comfortable room, all inclusive meals and access to the ship-board amenities.

Avalon’s 2014 itineraries range from European river cruises to Yangtze and Nile sailings to Galapagos expeditions, and new itineraries on the Mekong River in Vietnam.

All good reasons to take to the river this cruising season.

For more information on Avalon Waterways Cruises, visit www.avalonecruiseline,com

© Barbara Ramsay Orr

    

Cruising The Canals of Europe

Sail The Canals of Europe 

European Waterway's elegant barges, and the independently owned Nooit Volmaakt, sail through the authentic villages of Europe.

 

 

BARBARA RAMSAY ORR

Published Saturday, Feb. 25, 2012 06:00AM EST
Last updated Thursday, Sep. 06, 2012 11:48AM EDT
I spent the night in a room that was once full of sugar beets.
Drifting in through the small open window above my bed is the sound of ducks circling in search of breakfast. Soon, little white furry legs will scuttle past the window – Teddy, the barge dog, out for his constitutional – and the smell of fresh coffee will seep under the door from the galley. I know I can scramble up on deck with my camera and notebook, take some shots and a quick sketch of the mist on the river before the sun burns it off, but the bed is warm, and we were up late last night, lingering over a bottle of premier cu wine from nearby Chablis, lovely stinky local cheese and old stories from school days.
This is morning on the Nooit Volmaakt, a restored Dutch barge that once transported sugar beets along the waterways and is now owned by two Canadians from Victoria, Mary Koyl and Marc Pakenham, and their dog, Teddy. Over our first bottle of wine, we discovered that the skipper, my husband and I were undergrads at the same university at the same time long ago.
Together, we drifted along the canals and rivers southwest of Paris.
Touring on a barge is one of the most personal and intimate ways to explore Europe. The Nooit Voolmakt is only one of many barges that offer trips through the less populous areas of England, France, Germany, Italy and other countries. The small size allows passengers to indulge in their own personal interests while sailing through historic routes that are still navigable – canals that once served as the superhighways for commerce, opening trade routes that would become the foundation on which the Industrial Revolution would be built. Those canals and waterways still wind past villages, under stone bridges and straight through the bucolic farmlands of old Europe.

Barge cruises allow guests time to do what they love best. I am a food writer and an amateur artist, so the twin pleasures of time spent on deck with a mug of hot tea, continually replenished by Mary, and daily visits to markets, food shops and fine restaurants, were perfect for me.
In Moret, we moored just below the town bridge that French impressionist painter Alfred Sisley painted in the early 1890s, little changed today. I walked and cycled where Sisley and his friends did, ogled his house and sat in the main square in front of a pretty storefront that was signed, “Les Amis D'Alfred Sisley.” Perhaps he had no friends left as no one was ever there to open the shop. But no matter. This town, this itinerary, was ideally matched to my interests.
Other barge itineraries can inspire the photographer, the cyclist, the wine lover or the historian. Antiquarians can troll through a vide-grenier, French for empty attic, the Gallic version of a garage sale.
For the travelling gardener, this spring is perfect for a barge trip: to witness one of the more spectacular floral displays in the world. Holland will explode with tulips, hyacinths, irises, scillas, crocuses, muscari – it is visual fireworks that everyone must see at least once in a lifetime, and one of the best seats for this show is on a barge. The canals snake through fields that in spring are striated with bands of vivid colour created by thousands and thousands of flowers. The expanses of intense colour, in fields that unfold like well designed quilts, is a wonder unlike any other.
Many of the barge cruises include bike tours, as the terrain is flat and the scenery compact. If you bike along the paths through fields of flowers, expect to be ambushed by the perfumes of narcissus or hyacinth.
Some of the tulip barge tours stop at Aalsmeer for the flower auction and almost all of them, in April and May, include a visit to the Keukenhof, Holland's famous spring gardens in the town of Lisse, the centre of Holland's bollenstreek (bulb district). In this 32-hectare garden, bulb growers display their best and newest along pathways lined with acres of manicured gardens. There are more than seven million tulip bulbs planted here each year and the growers strive to outdo each other in the originality and impact of their displays. Blue muscari spill like rivers, daffodils grow in geometric designs, blue and white flowers mimic Delft pottery. I spent a happy afternoon drawing the antique tulips in one small historic garden, bulbs whose history stretched back to the early 1500s and whose story is the precursor to Europe's bourse (stock exchange) and North America's stock market.

 
While the Netherlands in spring is always a pleasure, last year was special: Floriade was on. It's the world's largest international floral show and gardening exposition, held once every 10 years. It's the Olympic Games of flowers for gardeners around the world and runs from April to October.
Ten years ago, I wandered Floriade for a whole day and didn't see it all. From landscaped display gardens to flower features to environmental innovations, there was something to beguile or inspire every few steps. You can even buy the latest hybrid bulbs for your garden. (I bought an amaryllis bulb the size of a large grapefruit, which produced eye-popping blooms that summer.)
For this sixth Floriade, held in Venlo, near the Belgian border, several barge cruisesscheduled shore excursions. Sure, visitors could do independent trips from several centres in Europe, but one of the best ways, leisurely and easily, is as a day trip from your barge. (Maybe you should be planning for your tulip barge trip in 2022!)

For, instead of design details, the emphasis on a barge cruise is on the quality of the experiences, the interaction between guests and crew, and the food, which is often larded with local specialties. It is, essentially, a slow meander down a lovely waterway with many seductive reasons to stop along the way.

There are still mornings when I wake up and imagine I can hear Teddy and the ducks. I can almost see the reflections in the water, and I wonder where Mary is with my tea.

IF YOU GO
Dutch flower cruises
European Waterways runs barge tours in several countries. Spring flower tours in Holland aboard the 12-passenger Panache, above, will include trips to Floriade. Prices start at $4,690 a person and include all meals, wines, excursions and local transfers. 877-879-8808; gobarging.com
The Barge Company runs the Magna Carta, an eight-passenger barge that cruises the Thames, including Hampton Court and stops at the Chelsea Flower Show. From $3,000 a person for six nights. www.bargecompany.com
River cruise lines such as Avalon Waterways, Azamara Cruises, Scenic Tours and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises have added excursions to Floriade.
Bike and Barge
Bike & Barge Holland offers 13-night cruises with bike excursions, including tours to Keukenhof Garden and the tulip fields, for $3,195. bikebarge.com
Van Gogh tours include six days of barging and cycling from Amsterdam to Bruges, Belgium, from $1,14. vangoghtours.com

Tulip time
Timing is everything if you want to see the tulips at their best. A late winter or early spring can shift the blooming time. The most dependable time to see the flower display in full flush is mid to late April.
This year, with a late and cool spring, tulips are delayed and will probably last until mid May. Head to the Keukenhof Gardens from March 22 to May 20 for a concentrated floral hit. keukenhof.nl

For more information, visit Holland.com.

Special to The Globe and Mail

Doing Time in the Museum

 

 

Art Blooms Behind Bars

 in Quebec City's 

Musee National des Beaux-Arts

In the mood for a little jail time?

The splendid Musee National des Beaux-Arts du Quebec has one of the most historically interesting positions in Canada -in Battlfields Park, overlooking the iconic Plains of Abraham and the mighty St. Lawrence. From the outside terrace of the museum restaurant, you can sip a cup of coffee while perusing the land where so much of Canada's history occurred.

And thought the landscape is swaddled in snow and ice when I visit, it is still impressive.  On the fields beside the museum, locals are practicing cross country skiing, and children skate on the nearby rink.

But there is more than location that is brilliant in this museum.  The colleciton is wide ranging, but with a special emphasis on the abstract artists best exemplified by Jean-Paul Riopelle, whose works are displayed in a spacious gallery.

The collection consists of more than 37,000 works dating from 1700 to the present, and represents the largest collection of Quebec art. It gives visitors an opportunity to see works by both the established artists of Quebec and the newly emerging talent.

I loved this piece by Jean-Phillipe Dallaire, "Unicorn Rooster"

In addition to the location and the collection, the architecture of this museum is exceptional.  The entrance of the musem leads to a sunfilled glass domed lobby. The neo-classical section of the museum was designed by Wilfrid Lacroix in 1933 and was, until 1991, the whole museum.  It is an elegant space, with comfortable chairs for the tired art lover, and large exhibition rooms.
 Rather than demolish the Old Quebec City prison next door, the museum annexed it and made it an new exhibiton space particualrly devoted to the collection of Inuit art donated to the museum. Several of the old prison cells were kept intact to show what prison life was like in the 1900s.According to their website,
 "On the ground floor, block 6, which had housed dangerous criminals and those sentenced to death, was kept intact along with block 11, formerly reserved for vagrants and petty thieves."

It adds an interesting frisson to your appreciation of the art objects!

The watchtower showcases a visually impressive work created in 1991 by David Moore under the program to integrate arts into architecture.

The Musee National is the perfect destination for an afternoon of looking at fine art that is indiginous to Quebec.  An added incentive to a visit is the Restaurant de Musee, a lovely space that serves light meals during the open hours of the museum. In summer, the terrace is one of the best places in the city to dine or to linger over a glass of wine and watch the sun set over the river and the park.

Hamilton Just Got a Little Cooler

Design Annex, 

Art Gallery of Hamilton

James Street North, the emerging art district in Hamilton, just got a bit of street cred, and a lot of style.  The new Design Annex of the Art Gallery of Hamilton will open to the public on Saturday, July 7th, showcasing local and emerging artists, Canadian designers and edgy and beautiful things to buy.
It's a clean lean space in a heritage building, once a warehouse built in 1860, that was reserected by serendipity.  Tim  Potocic, founder of Sonic Unyon and the Supercrawl, knew of the building and dreamed of its potential, but couldn't afford personally such a big undertaking that the renovations would entail.

At the monthly Art Crawl, he was introduced to architect Bill Curran - "Tim, meet Bill - Bill, meet Tim - you two should talk".  They talked, discovered that they shared many of the same ideas and from that conversation, the purchase and renovation of 118 James Street North had its genesis.
Now it houses the offices of the CBC, as well as the new Design Annex.
"The Annex," explains Louise Dompierre, President and CEO of the Art Gallery of Hamilton, "is a new branch of the Art Gallery where people will be able to see experimental exhibitions and discover new products, many of which will be made by local artist and artisans."

It is a "Creativity Lab" where exhibitions will be mounted and intimate musical performances will be held. The Art + Design Store will feature products for home and office as well as rental art.

The inaugural Design Annex exhibition is a 30 foot exposed brick wall hung with poly curtains informed by the architecture of the building.  Created by the artists' collective WE-3, Grand Drape is comprised of curtains lasercut with a pattern inspired by the original tin ceiling.
I'm not crazy about it - looks a bit amateurish, particularly with the limpness of the plastic that allows the curtains to droop and thus makes the design problematic.  But I like the idea and the inspiration for it.
Have a look at it here, where Mayor Bob Bratina is delivering his welcome speach with the curtain as backdrop....

The works in the Design Annex shop are different and exciting, however, and this will be a perfect place to find gifts and design objects for the home that are unique.  This will also be a home for local artists and artisans to launch new works and for local and world music groups to perform.
It's a creative addition to the neighbourhood and one that will hopefully encourage more development on James.

Design Annex
Art Gallery of Hamilton
118 James Street North, Hamilton
info@artgalleryofhamilton.com
905-667-6628
Hours
Tuesday-Wednesday, 11 am-6pm
Thursday, 11 am-8pm
Friday, 11am-6pm
Saturday and Sunday, 10 am-5 pm
closed Monday
James Street North Art Crawl (2nd Friday of the month) 11 am -11pm.

Animals Who Steal the Scene: Part Two

Reptiles from Around the World: 

Iguana Hold Your Hand.

I was admiring the odd spotted bark on an ancient tree in  Bermuda when one of the spots moved.  The little guy above was curious and beautiful, and stayed still long enough for me to take his photo before he slithered away.

 He was an anonymous reptile, but in Fiji I met one with a reputation. 

His name is Hector and he’s a rare Crested Fijian Iguana found on the island of Malolo in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji. He was rescued by the people who work at Likuliku Lagoon Resort on the island and he has attained instant celebrity. Guests spend more time visiting Hector than they do the Spa.  He’s one of a highly endangered species, and he seems to know he’s important. He’ll pose, with attitude, for photographs, and there are many guests who track his exploits on face book. He’s probably the most famous iguana in the South Pacific.

 And here's another Fijian iguana, from the nature reserve in Fiji.  This British tourist was a bit nervous about letting him climb on his shoulder.

This next one is a resident of Kaua'i and he was artful enough to pose on a flower of bright red, his exact complimentary colour.  Obviously an experienced poser.

And this fellow with the black tongue lives at the aquarium in Napier, on the South Island in New Zealand.

These little guys may be cold blooded, but they sure have a lot of character, and they seem to love the camera.
Keep an eye out for them on your travels.
Next post - It's A Cat's World!