Todos los Santos

All Saints

Sluis, the old ramparts in autumn

Lissewege, a village with Celtic and Saxon roots

Being a charming village, halfway between Bruges and the North Sea coast, Lissewege attracts people since many centuries. It's Celtic name reminds us of its long history in which Saxon farmers, pilgrims and monks all played their part. In more recent times painters and writers found a home and inspiration within its walls.
www.lissewege.be

Yellow cars in Sluis

Lissewege, a monumental church for a small village.

Lissewege was a resting place for those pilgrims who came from 
Scandinavia and the Baltic region. The two old inns where they
used to stay are still there. An imposant church was built during
the 13th century but the small village had no budget left when
the tower had to be finished.  
The building is mainly constructed of locally produced bricks and 
is a fine exemple of Schelde-Gothic. Very well preserved, despite
being despoiled in the 16th century, it houses some works of art 
that are certainly worth to be seen. 
There is a very beautiful organ by Walram Romboudt ( 1652 ) and
the " Veneration of St-James " by Jan Maes ( 17th century ).
The church is dedicated to Our lady of the Visitation.
www.lissewege.be
www.flandes.net

Ferrol, Galicia. Graffiti

The anicetos of Galicia

Galician aniceto at work

The title of this blog may seem a bit strange but "anicetos" is our contribution to the 
Spanish language.
A few years ago doña B. rented a nice flat in La Coruña. It was the most lovely place and nearly perfect apart from the bathroom door. During my stay it suddenly decided to
go on strike and refused at any cost to open.
I ran to a shop to buy a set of screwdrivers but unscrewing everything that could be
unscrewed didn't help, the door stayed locked. I remembered the mythical trick with
the credit card you have to slide between door and frame to deblock the lock.
The door stayed closed and the card went to pieces.
As matters became urgent there was no other option than to phone a locksmith early 
next morning. In the meantime we had to "powder our noses" in a local 
cafeteria.
When the man came, he turned out to be an Einstein look-alike called Aniceto, a
beautiful but rather uncommon name. For some reason the man and his name made a 
deep impression on us because we started using it as a synonym for whatever
profession in the construction, repair or renovating business. We had 
plumber anicetos working in the house and bricklayer anicetos nextdoors. An internet
aniceto connected the cable and there are plenty of aniceto vans passing me on
the highway. Two Spanish anicetos from Santiago appear in the title of this blog and
the only real Aniceto, the one in La Coruña, opened the bathroom door in two seconds
with his credit card.
And charged forty euros for doing so.

Sunday market on a rainy day

A towngate in times of war

One of Bruges four remaining towngates is the
Smedenpoort. It was constructed during the 14th century
and is very similar to the Ezelpoort. 
A remarkable feature is the bronze skull, nailed to
the wall. It replaces the original one which belonged
to a certain mister van der Straeten who, in 1691, had  
the infamous idea to open the gate to let the French
troops into Bruges.
His plan failed and his head became a reminder.


During the end of  WWII the Germans occupied the gates
and ramparts of the city while the allied troops got hold
of the railroad bridge, a few hundred meters away.
They fiercely exchanged fire with all arms at hand and
everyone living in the street between the Smedenpoort
and the bridge fled to the basements of their houses
to find some shelter.
A Canadian soldier, Harvey Stewart Revill, ventured
a bit too far when he approached the gate and got
shot in the belly. Luckily, those living in the most nearby
house had seen everything and dragged Harvey into

The skull

safety. A young doctor who stayed there could give first
aid but said that the Canadian had to undergo surgery 
urgently.
The next day the situation became worst and there was
no other thing to do than to ask the Germans for help.
Some German soldiers arrived and saw how critical
Harvey's condition was. They were good men and called
immediately for a stretcher to bring him to hospital.
To enable a safe departure for the doctor and his patient, 
one of the Germans had to stamp his boots and to shoot 
his gun to attrack enemy fire towards himself.
Harvey was brought to the St- Jozefkliniek where he was
operated on by professor Sebrechts, a famous Belgian
surgeon in those days. The operation was succesful but
Serg. Maj. Revill died a few weeks later. By then Bruges
was liberated and his comrades were still able to visit him.
An Irish nun assisted him during his last days.
Professor Sebrechts garden is now a public park. 
The former St-Jozefkliniek houses students of the
Spermalie hotel and restaurant academy. A vivid place
full of young people with a bright future ahead in a
free, democratic country.


www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/virtualmem/photoview/2083503/89530

wwii.ca/memorial/world-war-ii/143104/warrant-officer-class-ii-harvey-stewart-revill/

Shopping in Lille

www.lilletourism.com

Damme, Charles Delporte

Walloon sculptor and painter Charles Delporte donated a considerable part of his work to the town of Damme.
The three-headed statue nearby the church is well known and the former village school is now a museum
dedicated to his oeuvre.

                                              

Damme, a bit of history

Long ago, half the province of West-Flanders was a labyrinth 
of salty swamps, creeks and islands, until some monks, 
constructing a clever system of dikes and locks, could turn this
wild landscape into cultivated land; the famous polders.
As they lay below sea level, many pumps have to work
day and night to keep the land dry. Otherwise, the sea would
easily win back what it lost.
The system is fragile, and a massive attack by Neptune's forces
created in 1134 a new, big creek, enabling ships to sail far inland.
Damme was built at the very end of this creek, and, linked by a
canal, became the port of Bruges.
As the story goes, the dikes protecting Damme, were 
constructed by Batavians. One day, a crack appeared and water
started to pour out. The workmen had to act quickly and
blocked the hole with the first thing at hand. Which was a dog.

It explains why the original name of the town is "Hondsdamme".
Damme did very well, as long as Bruges was prosperious.
But the creek got slowly filled with mud and sand again. The
golden age of Bruges was finished.
A desperate attempt was undertaken, during the French
occupation, to connect Bruges again with the North Sea. 
A canal, named "Napoleonkanaal", was never finished, and
ends abruptly in the center of Sluis, a few kilometers short of
it's destination.
Today, the paths along the canal attrack cyclists and ramblers.
Many monuments in Damme testify of the towns bygone glory.
The little townhall, surrounded by old houses, is a gothic marvel.
Visit the church too, it's tower was once used as a lighthouse.
There is an old hospital with a very nice chapel and, of course,
plenty of small streets and squares with good
restaurants and bookshops where one can find lots of 
secondhand books, old engravings and comics.
Damme's most illustrious resident, the great medieval poet Jacob
van Maerlant, would have loved it.
His statue overlooks the old market square.
www.damme-online.com

Damme, the windmill

Damme, a port forgotten by the sea

Once the port of Bruges, Damme is now a small village

surrounded by polders. The eternal southwestern wind

bends trees and men alike.

Santiago de Compostela, café Iacobus

There is a particular cafeteria in Santiago with
a beautiful, well preserved art deco interior.
It's a place were they serve good coffee and
offer a nice choice of pastries.
Find a moment, when it's not too crowded, and
admire the staircase.
I fell in love with it!








Café Iacobus
Caldereria, 42
Santiago de Compostela
www.iacobuscafe.com
www.santiagoturismo.com

Santiago, old houses

A pilgrim.

It must have been a few years ago when, to my great surprise,
a pilgrim passed me in our village. An elderly man with a grey
beard and complete pilgrim outfit; staff, shell, calebas and
backpack.
You can see them sometimes in Bruges, where bronze
shells, fixed in the sidewalks, indicate the Camino.
But little, forgotten Aartrijke has no connection 
whatsoever with Santiago de Compostela. Anyway, the pilgrim
seemed sure enough about what he was doing, and 
walked firmly into the Aartrijkestraat, which is leading
due south.
I presume he arrived safe and well in Galicia.


www.santiagoturismo.com
turismogalicia.blogspot.com

Lille, les majorettes.

Doña B. took these pictures in April. And I love them very much.
They have a touch of Degas, don't you think so?

visiting Lille

We love to visit Lille. It's not that far and

Vieux Lille

it's abroad. That's the advantage if you live
in a small country, you're abroad in no time.
We prefer to go by train, even if it would take
only less than an hour by car.
But the train is fun and relaxing, and arriving
at the "Lille Flandres" railroad station is
arriving in style.
Being a Flemish town in origin, only a few old
buildings in the  center (Vieux Lille) remind 
the visitor that this place was once a part of
Flanders. Nowadays Lille is a very French town
bursting with very French life.
The shopping streets are poshy and there are
plenty of fine restaurants and cosy bistros.
General de Gaulle was born in Lille and his
birth house is now a popular museum. And Lille's
Palais des Beaux Arts is in France second to 
the Louvre.
I love to stroll through the silent streets just
outside the center. They are maybe not very
spectacular, but they showed their splendor on
this late summerday.
Being very French, and a bit Flemish.


www.lilletourism.com