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A heart-breakingly beautiful little
Madonna and Child on Carmerstraat.
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| Le Pavillon sur L'Eau |
Quite a busy week with a friend on a first-time visit to Brugge. This
gave me the excuse to revisit Luc Vanlaere and his marvellously
melodious harp recital, free, and the first concert of the season for
him. We also had to see the Memlings and St Janshospitaal plus the
Pharmacy, plus the Madonna and Child of Leonardo da Vinci. It is
super to witness the delight of a first-time visitor to this
mediaeval little city with its canals and Flemish gables and its
unending human pageant. Another friend over last weekend took us to
the
auction house of Bonte and its preview of an astonishing amount
of Oriental art and other antiques. I was particularly keen to see
the several Louis Reckelbus paintings in the sale none of which I can
now afford given the undue tax bill hovering. I was especially keen
on Number 520 in the sale and the knowledgeable attendant, chatting
of many painterly things, told me that it would fetch a good price
given the high interest exhibited. Damn, I thought uncharitably but
on the way home on my own on Monday, I popped in to see Lieven in his
astonishing shop stuffed to the gills with antiques, books, putti,
religious statues and more. As ever, I was impressed with his
boundless knowledge; his ingenuity in locating such a variety of
echoes from the past; his apparent relaxed attitude to the scholarly
chaos within his emporium and his unerring ability to spot the likely
weak spot of a potential purchaser, protesting poverty no less as she
buys a huge historic Bruggean poster from the Sixties. Yes, dear
reader ‘twas I.
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| Brugge, Wednesday March 21st. |
In the meantime this last Wednesday, en route to coffee with ‘the
girls’ I was surprised by a huge crowd being harangued by someone with a powerful microphone, in the Markt, with many of the surrounding streets blocked or impeded
by watchful police on foot and powerful-looking, helmeted police
straddling parked motor bikes in readiness, as it were; rows of the
latter in fact as if an invasion were imminent. It was the run-up to
what I think is a new cycle event, from Brugge to De Panne, perhaps
to replace the Tour van Vlaanderen which Bruges lost to Antwerp two
years ago amid much soul-searching. Subsequent enquiries discovered
that the event was the Driedaagse Brugge-de Panne, Elite Men’s
Europe Tour on Wednesday and the Elite Women’s World Tour on
Thursday, March 22. Phew! The City does try hard to
cater for a wide variety of tastes and activities.
STILL steaming over the fact that the end of Dutch level 4 examination was summarily cancelled the evening before the event because the teacher was ill. It might have taken place two days later, if she had recovered but I couldn't go because of visitors so she said that someone would phone me with an alternative arrangement. As nothing had happened, I rang the college as soon as my guest had left and was told I would be contacted. As no one has, I have the frustrating feeling that I have missed the boat; what does it matter to the authorities that one elderly person hasn't taken the exam and, furthermore, a person who was not intending to continue to Level Five? I shall try again tomorrow, ten days after the event-that-never happened. I am beginning to realise that I feel quite resentful if my plans are changed without my involvement; it is the lack of control that is hard to stomach even if the change is minor. The elderly do grow evermore powerless so that day-to-day control over their personal lives assumes an even greater significance.
However, t
oday to have my hair cut and the gifted kapper/owner having broken his arm, an assistant who usually blow dries my hair, was to do the cut-and-style. He has been having 'problems' with his present partner so we had a long and intense discussion and feelings of powerlessness were dismissed as he asked my advice ['you are so old' in this case meaning, 'wise'!] Eastern Europeans have a gratifying deference to the aged which quite restored my spirits! AND he did a great job on my hair. Definitely ask for him next time!
STILL steaming over the fact that the end of Dutch level 4 examination was summarily cancelled the evening before the event because the teacher was ill. It might have taken place two days later, if she had recovered but I couldn't go because of visitors so she said that someone would phone me with an alternative arrangement. As nothing had happened, I rang the college as soon as my guest had left and was told I would be contacted. As no one has, I have the frustrating feeling that I have missed the boat; what does it matter to the authorities that one elderly person hasn't taken the exam and, furthermore, a person who was not intending to continue to Level Five? I shall try again tomorrow, ten days after the event-that-never happened. I am beginning to realise that I feel quite resentful if my plans are changed without my involvement; it is the lack of control that is hard to stomach even if the change is minor. The elderly do grow evermore powerless so that day-to-day control over their personal lives assumes an even greater significance.
Love the posts ...
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