Views of Bruges

Early days in the construction of The Bruges Diptych on Goudenhandrei

 I really want to write about the latest Triennale, just officially opened. It is entitled TraumA and seeks to explore beneath the surface for the city’s hidden dimensions through monumental examples of public art and architecture. Nearest to my place, around the corner on Goudenhandrei, is a wondrous structure, not yet finished in fact. It is so ambitious in scope of construction and use of materials, that one does feel a small house could have been built at the same speed and cost! It is Number 3 on the leaflet which gives the architect as Jon Lott and the name of the edifice, The Bruges Diptych. It claims to be built near where Jan Van Eyck almost certainly lived, and the architectural diptych consists of Lott’s splendid construction built at the rear of the site of the original Van Eyck waterfront house. The Diptych is so-called because it tries to establish, a connection between what can be seen on the Goudenhandrei and what takes place behind the house facades, echoing the principal raison d’etre of TraumA. The entire Triennale is based on “architectural interventions”, seeking to take the visitor to experience the

View of The Strangler from Buiten Kruisvest
Nice composition with the Sint Janshuismolen.

oscillation between dream [the famed beauty of the mediaeval exterior of Brugge] and reality [real life as experienced beneath the stately surface.] The finished Diptych pavilion will also be the operating base for the public programme of the Brugge Triennale 2021 which includes children’s events in the calendar of exploration and experience through guided walks and group visits led by curatorial staff. Plus lectures, debates and film screenings.

The garden of Guido Gezellehuis is always tranquil, always green and secluded, separate from the bustle of normal life [pre-Covid] within the Egg. But at present, the magnificent pine tree standing sentinel over the garden is wrapped around with a luminous pink metal structure encasing both tree and an inviting silver stairway making its way to the high summit. Hector Zamora likens his structure to the Strangler trees in tropical forests which slowly encase and eventually, overcome, host trees. But in this creation, the scaffolding invites visitors to experience the trunk, the leaves, the branches, the summit of

View from on high over the St Sebastiaan Guild garden.

the tree in a completely different manner from the everyday, making the ascent easy, and rewarding the small effort with a totally different view of Brugge. Today, Friday 29 May, I climbed the silver stairway for what will be the first time. I chose today for its sun and lack of wind and rain of which plenty lately, to maximise the experience, and enjoyed it all enormously! Hector Zamora definitely has a splendid imagination, permitting anyone to have the adventure of climbing to the sky, as it were, in completely easy safety. Even those nervous of heights will have a fear-free experience! And the views are wonderful and panoramic. AND, unbelievably, my continuing love affair with the blackbird continued when I heard its song as I climbed! A lovely morning.

Rather better than my attempt, earlier in the week to talk to someone from the Tax Office, somewhere in Belgium. I cannot complete the Dutch tax forms in red any year, so, pre-Corvid, I simply typed up the details of my pensions, etc and took it to the Bruges tax office, queuing with other citizens for ages, to sit down opposite a tax person who never failed to be kind and charming as she/he copied my info on to the computer. Always trouble-free! This week, cautioned that ringing the help number provided on the envelope sent to me, was the best way forward, I rang and apologised for the English language and asked if the operative could speak English. He answered simply, “No.” Did he have an English-speaking colleague available? “No!” came the immediate reply, followed by, “Francais?” I explained in slow French that my Francais wasn’t good enough and to my astonishment, he said, “ Oh excuseer m’vrouw, Bye, bye.” and rang off. A Bruges-born friend then tried on my behalf but failed to find anyone English-speaking but was given a new number to ring. He hung on as the number provided, rang for seven fruitless minutes. I had been told that if I posted the form as I had intended, it depended on who opened it for fair treatment. Some tax employee could well log my info sheet as “Not registered,” For the first time in six years I felt excluded and am currently pondering on next steps while wondering if one of those ‘Independence for Flanders’ parties has seized control of the Belgian tax system.

The highest viewing platform of The Strangler.

BUT Bruges still beckons invitingly with its current TraumA!

Banisteria Caapi by Henrique Oliveira
Root structures crawling over the remains of 
the original mediaeval city wall.
Roots made of plywood collected in Sao Paulo
and Brugge.
Pottenmakersstraat 1.

Happy Coincidences by Amanda Brouwer on Vervesdijk
and on the facade of the College of Europe.
A colourful palette of shapes and surfaces in fabric created
with local volunteers.
There are three additional canvasses which will be found
located in three successive hidden spots in Brugge.

A final view of Brugge of a boat which has wintered on the Coupure. A poignant reminder for me of my sister Esme who died
in 2017.

Borrowed Landscape.

 

I have been looking again at one of my treasured books, as one does, and one, furthermore and to my shame, that I have never properly read, cover to cover, though originally I had thoroughly enjoyed the album of stunning photographs within and read some of the masterful texts. The book is Secret Gardens of East Anglia by Barbara Segall with photographs by Marcus Harpur. As the cover proclaims, it is a private tour of 22 gardens in East Anglia conducted by Barbara and subsequently, photographed by Marcus. It presents a riveting wander through some exquisite landscapes with a variety of creative and artistic gardens, often conjured from lesser beginnings, and I am at last taking 

Elton Hall, Cambridgeshire

time to savour all of it.

The reason I mention Barbara’s book here is because I am gripped by her first sentence in the first entry in her book, introducing the extraordinary Barnards Farm, West Horndon, Essex. It reads, “Most of us have borrowed landscape.” And then comes the explanation, “We are usually pleased and quite smug if this includes a church steeple, say, or a magnificent oak or copper beech within sight, but beyond, the perimeter of our garden.” It struck me that I had never thought within that ‘borrowed landscape'

concept of the wonderful views from this

Bruggean apartment. It is a perfect phrase for the cornucopia of roofs, chimneys, spires, towers, ridges, tiles, Flemish gables which grace my view every day. Plus, of course, the many, many buildings,

One view from my terrace, featuring the steeple
of the Poortersloge and the Belfort..

hotels, houses plus apartments visible below the skyline. But it is the roof-scape of which I write! The view is wholly urban but because it is Bruges, the urban is extraordinary in its timeless, mediaeval, continuing beauty. Far and near, my borrowed landscape presents a perfect narrative in its portrayal of the Bruges story from the early sixteenth century roof of what was the mediaeval convent of the Zwartezusters, now part of AZ Sint Jan, the local hospital, with one beautiful roof ridge marked with alternating groups of yellow and green tiles, totally unseen from the ground, but proclaiming its singular and unexpected comeliness modestly to the sky. From the Zwartezusters’ roof, to the several church spires; a distant solitary cross on a high roof, set against the clouds; the historic tower of the Belfort, central in importance to the townspeople for over 500 years; the 15^th century spire of the Pootersloge with the nearby late 20^th century elegant golden quill curving atop the roof of the house of the American calligrapher; those brick loops crowning some chimney pots; for what purpose? To modify wind direction perhaps? Who knows? Utility would certainly have been the purpose for their original creation though now, it is for their beauty that they are admired!

The beautiful little tower beyond what was the
convent of the Zwartezusters,.now part of AZ St Jan.

And below this much-loved roof-scape, central in Woensdagmarkt below, stands the nineteenth century statue of Hans Memling, artist of the Flemish Primitive School, who lived (1465-1494) and painted for most of his life in Brugge and is still saluted as the greatest in the Flemish Primitive tradition with its seamless link to the rise of the Renaissance. And this is my borrowed landscape seen from one large sitting room, presenting a vista both intimate and expansive and giving a structural yet historical recital of the Bruges narrative and a whisper of the soul of the city.

There are other borrowed landscapes seen from bedroom and terrace; from the guest room, for instance, the horizon boasts the statuesque Baroque church, Sint Walberga, presently crowned with a modern crane. Within the same view, in the foreground, are the gabled roof steps of the pharmacy opposite in the narrow chasm of Genthof, with the splendidly ornate tower finishing with an elongated onion flourish. All beyond my rented perimeter but adding interest, variety and beauty to my view and to my life. A borrowed landscape always before me though when I gaze, I tend to claim it for mine!

The beautiful Hans Memling statue.

I 

View over the Genthof pharmacy with Sint
Walberga on the horizon and the builders' crane beyond.

Limber up with Gimber

Voila! The genuine article.
The smooth glass bottle is a joy to behold and to handle!

 Almost by chance, or at least on a sudden whim, I decided to buy a bottle of Gimber, a product which I had noticed on several retail shelves in Brugge recently. I loved the stylish glass bottle actually and I have always adored ginger so what was not to like? Immediately I tasted it, I loved it; it is a

Garage: where it all began!

concentrated liquid, super either in sparkling cold water or mixed in boiling water or as the base for cocktails. Totally zingy and delicious to drink, so much so, that several friends to whom I recommended it, tried it and felt the same. Considering lockdown and not meeting up as normal, I am quite proud that four friends whom I only meet on Zoom, are now devoted to Gimber too, using it often in lieu of alcohol for cocktails.

I was intrigued as to from where/how this irresistible drink had appeared and have now discovered that it is all the brainchild of one, Dimitri. Apparently, after hitting a rough patch in his life, Dimitri spent almost his last money on a ginger press juicer with which he experimented, eventually hitting the combination of ginger, sugar cane, lemons and

Dimitri, the Ginger Genius at the root of this
Gimber Gig!

 herbs, after experimenting with all kinds of ingredients, amounts and combinations. The experimentation obviously took place in his garage, the traditional site for a budding entrepreneur to work his way towards the light! The fateful day, in November 2017, was when all the ingredients finally fused into an amazingly satisfying drink which stimulated the taste buds but without the necessity of alcohol. Every weekend he topped un the original product of 25 bottles, mainly at first, for himself and his family; then his wife started to serve it in her décor store and Dimitri obligingly produced a little more. Gimber gradually became a modest local success story with stories of devotees driving many kilometres for the privilege of buying a bottle.

Positive vibes on display!

The Gimber website claims that “it wasn’t all sunshine, smiles and soda, but soon positive people with positive vibes started joining the project and together they built up today’s Gimber team.” The rumour is that Belgian long-haul airline pilots now drink Gimber to stay sharp and sober and quenched.. So Gimber is indirectly contributing to successful holidays and business trips, [before and after Covid restrictions of course!] I have a leaflet produced by Gimber giving ideas and details for Gimher cocktails which I intend to send to one of my grandsons; he and his girl, working from their flat for the last year, dress up and make cocktails on a Friday evening for a reward after a long week of work and life indoors! Could well be fertile ground for Gimber persuasion!

And, for a different limbering up! Earlier this week, walking along the Kruisvest, near de Nieuwe Papegaai windmill, quite early one morning, I saw a small group of people on the grass, led by a Chinese teacher, doing Tai Chi. SO evocative of the two months I spent in Beijing when I often saw quite large groups of people early mornings, concentrating on their Tai Chi, usually in a park. This Bruggean small group was mainly young but had the typical relaxed slow aura related to this way of exercising which disarms the spectator into thinking the whole routine is effortless. It isn't. But the charming sight is somehow life-affirming and calming and I imagine it is similar for the serene participants. Great way to greet the day! Positively halcyon.

 

Long Remembered.

 

 Interior of Jerusalemkerk with the monumental tomb in the
foreground.

 As mentioned in my previous blog, the news that the monumental memorial tomb of Anselmus Adornes and his wife, Margriet van der Banck, in Jerusalemkerk is currently under much-needed renovation in Antwerp, brought me to consider the astonishing length of time which the name of Anselm Adornes has remained in the public eye. Born in Brugge in 1424, Anselm was the fifth generation of a Bruges-based noble family originally from Genoa; he regularly fulfilled all kinds of functions in Bruges City council, and on behalf of the central authority of the Duke of Burgundy. The Adornes family was pious and had an enduring connection to, and reverence for, Jerusalem. Pieter 11 and his brother, Jacob Adornes, began the building of Jerusalemkerk in 1428, inspired by the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem and, though unfinished, it was consecrated in 1429. The architecture and layout provide an exceptional illustration of the great reverence of the Adornes family for Jerusalem while the

Stained glass window in Jeerusalemkerk showing
Anselm Adornes and his wife, Margriet van der Banck.

beautiful stained glass, the monumental grave itself and its relic of the Holy Cross, are unique. Anselm, often credited erroneously with having built the church, merely completed the work started by his father, Pieter, and uncle, Jacob.

Anselm lived a public and adventurous life. He became a merchant, patron, politician and diplomat. and, in concert with the family tradition of public duty, filled many prestigious functions on the City Council between 1447/8 and 50/51. He became Comptroller in 1459-1460 and Mayor of the Council 1475-6, surviving accusations of theft from the City Treasury, with several other notables, during the infamous Brugge riots. Alone in retaining his possessions, a pointer, perhaps, to lesser guilt [the other two accused lost everything and were forced to retire to a monastery for life], in May 1477, he nonetheless had to parade publicly, barefoot and bareheaded, confessing his guilt and asking for forgiveness. Adornes had to repay four times the amount he had allegedly stolen, and was disbarred from future public office. All of this turmoil occurred during a period of civil unrest and riots in Brugge and when eventually peace was restored, lords like Adornes were honoured again though he never held public office in Brugge afterwards.

Urban jousts in the Middle Ages..

From 1444-1449 he took part in the jousts organised by the knightly company of the White Bear. His
public life, more or less coincided with his marriage to Margriet van der Banck in 1443 and the couple went on to have 16 children. The family lived in a large complex on Vervesdijk in the midst of the important Scottish merchant community until a sudden decision by the Scottish Parliament to forbid trade with Flanders caused the Scots to leave Brugge altogether in 1468. Adornes headed delegations to Scotland to try to restore the previous mutually-beneficial Scots-Bruges trade and it was during this period that he established a positive relationship with James 111, leading to a restoration of the Scots’ merchant presence in Bruges with the attendant trade, in 1470.. His status was elevated by this success particularly when King James made him a Knight of the Order of the Unicorn in Scotland in 1468. On 14 June 1470, Adornes was appointed Curator of Scottish Privileges in the realm of the Duke of Burgundy and was effectively Ambassador for the Duke of Burgundy to the court of James 111.

Close-up of the Adornes tomb.

In 1470 Adornes left on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem accompanied by his oldest son, Jan, eventual Canon of St. Peter’s Chapter in Lille, and after their return, the completion of Jerusalemkerk was accomplished with some added “Eastern” flourishes to the architecture, fashioning the little church into more of a true copy of the Holy Sepulchre Chapel in Jerusalem as originally intended. It is believed that the idea of the monumental tomb originated with Anselm himself at this time, and with the central importance of the funerary monument, this succeeded in moving the identity of little church into that of a mausoleum.

Tommaso Portinari.

In 1472 Edward 1V and James 111 of Scotland authorised Anselm to represent the Scottish Court in Rome and “among the Muslims of the East.” He acted as intermediary between Hugo van der Goes and King James for the portrait of the King and his wife, now kept in the National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh. In the 1460s and 1470s Adornes fulfilled many assignments for Charles the Bold, including important advice, based on his first-hand knowledge of Jerusalem, on a proposed Crusade. He led negotiations in 1473 for Bruges, to try to regain the Tommaso Portinari ship, the San Matteo, high-jacked and taken to Gdansk in Poland. The ship had been laden with precious goods including a large painting by Hans Memling depicting The Last Judgement. Adornes’ subsequent failure to retrieve the ship and its contents.

King James 111 and his wife, Margaret of Denmark.
Painted by Hugo van der Goes.
National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh.

 means that the painting is still in Gdansk today!

Anselm Adornes’ strong relationship with King James 111 was further evidenced in the years 1477,1479 and 1480 when he made the long and arduous trips to Scotland to contact, and be of service to, the king. In 1482, again to Scotland where he led a military expedition on the King’s behalf in Linlithgow, and then, on a pilgrimage subsequently, he stayed in a monastery in North Berwick where he was ambushed on January 23, 1483, by an armed gang and killed. His body is interred at Linlithgow but his heart was subsequently returned to Brugge and installed inside the monumental tomb in Jerusalemkerk where his wife already lay, having died in 1480.

The life of Anselm Adornes lasted less than sixty
years but it was hugely influential and high-achieving. In addition to his varied and important public life in Bruges, Flanders and in Scotland, he taught himself Latin to further his interest in manuscripts and literary texts; he delved into contacts with humanists and polyphonic religious music and in 1472, commissioned by King James of Scotland, trained a lute player. This was an extraordinary life of action and service; learning and leading. Adornes’ highly original and magnetic personality managed to exert a profound influence both

The White Bear on the 
Poorters Loge where the company
of the White Bear met.

locally and internationally 
accounting, at least in part, for the enduring fame of his name.

Jerusalemkerk.

Digging Up Brugge.

 

 I have not exactly grumbled properly, because I do approve of what the Commune is doing.

Jan van Eyckplein under seige.

That is the restoration and repair of many streets in the town including the underlying cables and pipes. It is just that one cannot turn a corner now without finding the way is closed by trenches in the road and multiple piles of cobblestones. I applaud the fact that the City Elders are taking advantage of the negative effects of the pandemic to use the unparalleled opportunity to renovate while the streets are more or less empty of tourists. It is just the tiny inconveniences and larger efforts to circumnavigate that occasionally irritate!

Sint Annarei. 13th century foundations.

However, an unlooked-for side effect of this massive regeneration project [for such it is] is the archaeological benefit. Several really interesting finds have occurred over the past few months within the Egg, unsurprising given the age of that august space. Perhaps the most interesting is along Sint Annarei; the discovery in March 2021, of the foundations of the former brewery, Den Hert plus the remains of a 13^th century wall. Den Hert had stood at numbers 17-18, from 1580-1921 with another brewery, Den Arend, at 23-27 Sint Annarei nearby. 13^th century foundations and walls of several houses have also appeared. Five large wooden vats with diameters of more than 1. 8 metres, have been

St Annarei and the present archaeological site showing
the disappeared street. Marcus Gerards' 1562 map

recovered and there is analysis currently to determine what the contents were. These pre-date the brewery

and it is expected that they may well indicate use by crafts such as those of dyers, tanners and fullers, given that traces of similar crafts have been discovered along Vervesdijk on the opposite, western side of the canal. The area would have been well suited to such activities given the slight distance from the centre, in case of unpleasant odours, and the proximity of running water. Signs of a disappeared street, marked on the Marcus Gerards' map of 1562  have also been located.

Sint Amanduskapel on the Marcus map 1562

Hand water pump which replaced the church, 
demolished in 1817.

Burial vault with wall decoration beneath the      
former Sint Amanduskapel.

In Feb 2021 workmen, working on the town water supply, discovered brick foundations, a fieldstone wall and a burial vault in Sint Amandstraat.

 A skull and shards of highly-decorated Brugge pottery, judged to be from the period 1250-1325, were also found. An old chapel, Sint AmandusKapel, probably founded by Sint Amand in the 8th century, had stood there from 1562, the chapel of the craft of herbs and groceries.  Presumably, eventually less used, it had been sold in 1798 and demolished in 1817 to be replaced in 1820, by the very large water pump still there.

The Anselm Adornes tomb in Jerusalemkerk

Unrelated to the incidental archaeological activity in Brugge but echoing these ancient links to the past, is the news that the monumental tomb of Anselm Adornes and his wife, Margriet van der Banck, in Jerusalemkerk has been removed for urgent restoration in Antwerp. It is estimated that in September 2022 it will be re-installed in its original important space in the family church. Anselm Adornes, born of a patrician family in Brugge, in 1424 and descended from Genoese merchants, became a merchant, patron, politician and diplomat. He had an extraordinary life ending, prematurely with his murder in Linlithgow, in Scotland in 1483 where he is buried; his heart was sent back to Brugge for interring in the impressive memorial tomb currently under renovation.

The following blog will outline details of this extraordinary man’s life.

A footnote to thank Kristien Boulinguez, in case she reads more than one blog! Just to ask her to contact me if she actually does visit Brugge on her historical quest for mediaeval Brugge. Would love to meet Kristien.

Rare Commentary.

Four year old Philip

Princess Alice with her son
1924

I am, relatively speaking, not interested in the British Royal Family but then again, not especially hostile to it either, though do believe that a country which retains Royalty and the attendant aristocracy, cannot truly be a democracy. That said, when Philip died last week, at almost 100, it was not a great personal loss though it seems, from across the Channel, that the media has, as usual, gone overboard with non stop comment and endless ‘features’. Plus ca change ……

Philip's sisters, 1922.

I have always considered Philip as physically gorgeous, when young, and unfailingly supportive to the Queen even when he let rip with racialist, colonial-type gaffes which caused offence and hilarity in equal volumes and over which remarks, Elizabeth generally sailed, serenely on. I believe he was probably a briskly-impatient father who heaped some suffering on his eldest, Charles, who followed his father's educational path but who hated Cheam Prep. School and Gordonstoun ["Colditz in kilts"!] in equal horrified measure. I do remember, too, that Edward was frog-marched into the Marines I think, when he was rather more drawn to the theatre! One didn’t need to read about the Royals to judge that Anne was awfully like her father in temperament and that they were probably great pals!

However, mea culpa, it is only now that I have learned more about Philip’s early life and feel uncomfortable that I hadn’t been interested enough to discover more when he was alive; it would have

Philip's mother became a nun. She was also recognised by Israel
as Righteous among the Nations for sheltering Jews
during WW2 in Greece. Profoundly deaf, she had a tragic but heroic life.

made me more tolerant of him. Born in Corfu in 1921 eight years after the assassination of his grandfather, King George of Greece, and youngest child of Prince Andrew of Greece and Princess Alice of Battenberg. The family was exiled when Philip was one and led a somewhat itinerant life which no doubt contributed to the nervous breakdown of his mother in 1930 when she was hospitalised. Philip did not see his mother at all between 1932 and 1937. He went briefly to live in Paris but soon landed safely chez Uncle George, the Marquess of Milford Haven who became his active guardian. Philip’s own father seems to have drifted off without contact with his son. Uncle George’s son, David, became Philip’s great friend and eventual best man at his wedding.

In keeping with the class system regarding education, Philip was sent to Cheam Preparatory School which fostered a tough, independent ethos for its boys. He grew to love it there where his sporting

Kurt Hahn, German educator and
inspired educational innovator.

talent and competitive spirit had full rein. Similarly, after Cheam, came Gordonstoun, founded by Kurt Hahn as a deliberately Spartan establishment with a heavy emphasis on sports and education for leadership. Philip, who had long decided to banish introspection and adopt a resolutely cheerful and independent spirit as a way of dealing with the chaos and loss of his earlier life, flourished, eventually rising to become Head Boy. The school gave him a secure, stable, challenging environment which compensated for his earlier rootlessness. During his years there, Cecilie, one of his four sisters who had all married when Philip was young, was killed with her family in a plane crash in 1937. His headmaster said, approvingly, that Philip took the dreadful news “like a 

George, 2nd Marquess of
Milford Haven.

man.” Six months later, his guardian died at 45 from cancer. George of Milford Haven had been very interested in engineering and was technically ingenious and had passed on this interest to Philip. This aptitude became embedded in Philip’s enquiring mind and a fascination with how things worked, became one of the hallmarks of his subsequent life.

George’s younger brother, Louis Mountbatten, took up the guardian reins and it was he, ever ambitious for his name, who arranged for Philip, then a student at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, to show around Princess Elizabeth and her sister, Margaret. The enduring rumour that the 13 year old Elizabeth fell in love with him then, may well be true though such early puppy love does not usually endure and produce a marriage of 73 years. He proposed during the Summer of 1946 but George V1 was not pleased; the Court was suspicious of Philip with Louis behind him; Louis was considered “unsound” with odd habits of friendship with Labour politicians! But Philip’s early losses are poignantly echoed in a letter he sent to Queen Elizabeth after he had stayed with them, thanking her for “...the simple enjoyment of family pleasures and amusements and the feeling that I am welcome to share them.”

Engaged couple, 1946.

Philip at Gordonstoun.

Young family with Charles and baby Anne.

Towards the end. No sign here of that indomitable
spirit withering or a challenge unmet.

I obtained much of the above information from a BBC News website  which was, itself, based on the book:

Young Prince Philip: His Turbulent Early Life by Philip Eade.

The Psychology of Owning a Car Parking Space

 

Feathers a little ruffled here!

I do not own a car but I live in a building of eight apartments with a side offering of a small car park. There are marked spaces plus two or three more available nearby in a garage. Once a year the owners of the apartments meet, this year on the ubiquitous Zoom, to discuss various relevant items. I do not attend as I am a tenant; of the owners, three live here [soon to be four] in three apartments and only one

is a car owner; the other five are absentee landlords, presumably with cars. The recent meeting apparently resulted in a very heated discussion about …. car parking. Of the absentee landlords, one lives in California; one in Monaco; one on the Belgian coast. The others live in Belgium but not in Brugge. I would guess that landlord visits by car to the building are not weekly. However, one Belgium-based owner had visited recently and his car parking space had been filled with someone else’s car. Reportedly, the fury that this aroused, presumably in the initial encounter, and certainly in the subsequent meeting, was considerable. Among the tasks allotted for the Syndic to carry out, was to discover if I had had guests. When family or friends visit for a few days, I had been told I could allow them to park in an available space and this I have done with the minority of my visitors with a car.

I received a phone call from the Syndic which began with the question, Do you have a visitor at the moment? In Covid I live at least 95+% of my time alone and cannot have visitors, residential or not. I spent Christmas alone fortified, as is my usual week, by Facetime chats. I was astonished at the question [because of Covid] but did soon discover that it was rooted in the Parking Problem. There is no need for further tedious explication though I have to admit, that my feathers were ruffled!!

And so to my question: What IS it about a private, personal parking space that can ignite the passions

in a way that a group of adults with untroubled lives, will spend a long, angry time on ‘discussion’? [“I will clamp your wheels!] I have mentioned this to a few friends and each had a story involving car parking and anger! Humans are territorial anyway and the car feels personal when one is in one’s own, driving along. It IS a personal space where one can be untidy, or store clothes and possessions, even money!. Somehow one’s car links up to the narcissist within! I can do what I like; it’s my car! The inner narcissist released! Perhaps this strong feeling of ownership is extended to include the parking space one owns too? I pay for that; it’s MINE! So the ego feels challenged, violated, when a stranger parks there without my permission [which will never be given!] I have observed that people who “blow up” quickly over something, often seem to have other anger issues; a clutch of other elements in their lives which they feel somehow diminishes them as people, and hurts them enough to cause anger. But can all the people angry about their misused parking space be SO angry? We aren’t talking cancer or heart attack or Long Covid here; just somebody parking in my space! To this car-less, car parking space-less person, it all seems incredibly petty and destructive of self and others.

Astridpark tulips

Home again after 5 months' quarantine

But in the meantime, there are tulips out in Astridpark; the swans of Brugge are out of quarantine [protection from bird 'flu] and gracing the canals again; a new rhododendron, President Roosevelt, graces my terrace and begins the annual beautification of that space; Mah Jong for three of us continues to provide a companionable few hours each week with both intellectual and sociable stimulation while my other Zoom and Facetime interludes serve to keep me in touch and connected. Feathers remain unruffled even stroked!

President Roosevelt in bloom.

Four rather refined ladies playing Mah Jong