Reunioun an Lëtzebuerg (Mission to Luxembourg)

In most of the international agencies that I've met so far, business trips are referred to as missions, and my first mission for the OECD was to go to Luxembourg to attend a pension workshop hosted by Eurostat (the statistical office of the European Union). My attendance included presenting the upcoming work of the OECD in the area of pensions as well as a new statistical table on household retirement resources. The workshop lasted a little over a day and a half, which provided me with a few hours to see Luxembourg City before my trip back to Paris.

Luxembourg City may not have a lot of tourist attractions but it is a beautiful city. The air is crisp and clear. The streets are exceptionally clean, even compared to newer North American cities. Litter is non-existent and even graffiti is minimal in the city center. All of the buildings looked well maintained, although it seemed they were more recently constructed. It also appeared that the locals there are somewhat wealthier than other Europeans, judging by their more expensive clothing and professional gait, as well as the proliferation of luxury brands everywhere. The luxury brands may have been on sale for tourists, but Luxembourg doesn't have the tourist traffic of other European cities so I have to assume that a lot of the demand comes from the locals.

I spent my free time walking around the central part of the city (Ville Haute) and passed by some of the city's landmarks. The area also contains several blocks of pedestrian-only shopping streets lined with luxury shops, so I spent some time window shopping.

On the right is Gëlle Fra, a monument to World War I veterans from Luxembourg. In the center background is the former headquarters of the High Authority of the European Steel and Coal Community (probably now another EU administration building).



The Grand Ducal Palace, official residence of the head of state: the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

From one storefront window, three Patek-Philippe Calatrava watches. They made the Rolex watches next door look like a bargain!

This is a shot of a slope entering the Vallée de la Pétrusse. I liked this picture as it contrasts the newer commercial buildings against the older residential homes in the valley below.

A statue of Grand Duke William II in the Place Guillaume II town square.

Statues at the Place du Théâtre.

So that was Luxembourg City in a few hours. I also walked to the Kirchberg area, which contained several EU administration buildings, but the photos of the area weren't post-worthy. There was a moderate number of tourists around the city, although far fewer than Paris, Rome or Barcelona. While most of the tourists were Asian, there were also a few Ukrainians looking around the city, as Ukraine and Luxembourg were playing a Euro 2016 qualifying match later that evening. (I did not see the match but Ukraine won 3-0.)

Omnes Viae Romam Ducunt (All Roads Lead to Rome)

Rome was near the top of my list of places to visit and the city provided a great opportunity to escape the chilly autumn in Paris. The temperature in Rome was between 18 and 22 degrees Celsius during my three day visit but what surprised me was how most of the locals were already wearing light winter jackets! The residents must be acclimatized to more tropical weather and this choice in outerwear made all of the tourists easily identifiable as we were all wearing short sleeve shirts.

I made this a three day visit so that I wouldn't have to rush through everything like in the Munich and Barcelona trips, and I could use the November 11 Armistice Day holiday in France to rest and recover.

Like earlier weekend excursions, the plan was to see the major attractions, catch a football game and take in the local culture.

Day 1:

My focus for the first day was to see the major sites of Ancient Rome. Fortunately, all of the main attractions were in close proximity, so I was able to complete all of my sightseeing on foot (although it was a lot of walking).

A photo of me outside the Colosseum. Construction was started in 70 AD by Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD by his son, Titus.

The interior of the Colosseum. Most of the ground level has been removed to reveal the tunnels and prep rooms where gladiators and wild animals were held prior to their matches. On the left, you might see a cross, which Pope John Paul II installed in commemoration of Christian martyrs (although the extent to which Christians were killed here is debatable).  



The Palatine Hill was originally the residential area of the Roman Emperors. Most of the sites in the area have been worn away to piles of stone or have been grown over by grass. Pictured is the Peristyle of the Domus Flavia, with the Triclinium in the center-right background.

 

The Roman Forum contained the government administration buildings of Ancient Rome. The columns in the center-left are the remains of the Temple of Saturn and to the right is the Triumphal Arch of Septimus Severus. The Column of Phocas stands in front of the Temple of Saturn. The well preserved building in the background is the Tabularium, the official records building of Ancient Rome.

 

I was able to see the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum throughout the morning and middle afternoon because I bought tickets in advance. This enabled me to skip the lines, which were very long and slow-moving. This also freed up some time to see a few other attractions in the area.

 

Since the Circus Maximus was right next to Palatine Hill, I decided to quickly walk over and take a look. I was curious as to why none of the other tourists were going to such a well known site of Ancient Rome, until I got there and discovered that there was nothing left of the arena except the worn out tracks where the chariots used to race. Even then, it appeared the grass was slowly growing over the chariot track. 



The Circus Maximus, home of Rome's largest chariot races. Now it is an open park with a long gravel track.

After seeing the major sites of Ancient Rome, I walked north to see a Renaissance era site: the Trevi Fountain. Unfortunately, the fountain was under renovation and it is expected to be closed until late 2015.

The Trevi Fountain, under renovation.

Day 2:

Since many of the Vatican's sites are closed on Sundays, I used the second day to see a bit of everything around Rome (including the football match).

The Fontana della Barcaccia and the Spanish Steps. At the top of the steps is the church of Trinità dei Monti, but it is under renovation and some large fashion billboards were placed over the scaffolding.

The front of the Pantheon. This was a Roman temple originally built during the rein of Augustus and then rebuilt by Hadrian around 126 AD. It has since been converted into a Roman Catholic church.

The interior of the Pantheon, which contains Roman and Catholic statues as well as a Catholic altar.

The Piazza Navona, with the Fountain of the Four Rivers in the left foreground.

After some quick sightseeing in the morning, I made it to St. Peter's Square in Vatican City in time to receive a Papal blessing.

A photo of me receiving a Papal blessing. I had to crop the photo so that you can recognize the window from where Pope Francis makes his speech.

 

I spent the afternoon seeing Villa Borghese (a large park), getting lost, discovering the best gelato in Rome (at a small shop near Piazza del Popolo) and then figuring out my way to the Stadio Olimpico to see AS Roma play Torino in a Serie A match. 

Stadio Olimpico during the match between AS Roma and Torino.

This football match was different in a few ways. First, the security at the stadium was much heavier than the German, Spanish and Belgian games that I've seen. I had to pass through two security checks where my bag was searched. Despite this, a few people still managed to get flares into the stadium. Second, the home crowd was much louder than the other matches I've attended. There were ultras on both sides of the stadium waving large flags and starting different chants, and whenever the Torino fans became noticeably audible, the home fans would quickly whistle, jeer and drown them out with their own song. Third, AS Roma tried to make the atmosphere more of a family affair, including holding a fan fest outside the stadium and showing shots of the crowd on the big screen. This was slightly mitigated by the heaving jeering when the announcer had to recite a disclaimer warning against racial chanting and aggressive behaviour.

AS Roma won the match 3-0 and the whole crowd (except the small contingent of heavily guarded Torino fans) had a good time.


Day 3:

For the third day, I had just enough time before my flight to see a few sites at Vatican City. As with the Ancient Roman sites, I saved a lot of time buying tickets in advance, which allowed me to pass some very long lineups.

The Gallery of Maps, my favourite room in the Vatican Museum. The one annoying part about the Vatican Museum is that some rooms (including this one) have gift shop counters right there in front of the artwork. 

 

Photos were not allowed in the Sistine Chapel, but while I was turning off my cellphone, I "accidentally" took a photo of the ceiling.

While the advanced ticket allowed me to skip the line for the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel, it did not provide any shortcut into St. Peter's Basilica. So I had to wait in line at St. Peter's Square. Fortunately, it was already afternoon and the line had shortened considerably.

The exterior of St. Peter's Basilica, shot from St. Peter's Square.

 

The interior of St. Peter's Basilica. This was taken from the main entrance, facing towards the main altar, although there must have been at least five other wings with altars that could easily make for an impressive church on their own.

 

After visiting Vatican City, I went back to my hotel to pick up my luggage and along the way I decided to rest at Piazza Vittorio Emmanuelle II. There happened to be a cat shelter in the plaza (although it did not appear to be an official cat shelter like the one at Torre Argentina) and within 30 seconds of sitting down near a fountain there were two cats approaching me. Most of the cats in the shelter were grey tabby cats with black stripes.

A cat from Piazza Vittorio Emmanuelle II.

 

That was Rome in three days. The extra day allowed me to move around the city at a more comfortable pace and see most of the interesting sites. The other fun part is that I noticed that food in Rome is much cheaper than elsewhere in Europe, so I got my fill of pizzas, calzones, paninis and gelatos, and fortunately all of the walking helped me burn off the extra calories!

 

Een Dag in Brussels (A Day in Brussels)

A day trip to Brussels on November 1 was a convenient way to relax for the weekend and see a small part of Belgium. I only planned to stay for one day because 1.) the high speed train could get me from Paris to Brussels in one hour and 20 minutes, thus mitigating the need to stay in a hotel in order to get an early start to the day, and 2.) Brussels doesn't have any sites that are high on my to-see list (this is further corroborated by my colleagues and by travel blogs saying that Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges and Liege are all more interesting Belgian cities than the capital). However, Brussels is still an interesting city with its own charms.

My plan was to do some sightseeing, attend the Anderlecht football match and fill up on Belgian waffles. On the sightseeing front, one of Brussels' better known tourist traps is the Mannekin-Pis, a small statue of a boy urinating (and yes, there is water spraying into a fountain). This statue annoys the hell out of North American tourists who are expecting something more from one of Brussels' most famous landmarks, but it appears to be more of a fun side-trip for Asian and Eastern European tourists. Brussels also has a Jeanneke-Pis (a girl squatting to urinate in a fountain) and a Zinneke-Pis (a dog lifting its leg towards a post, but this is not a water fountain). I decided to make it a scavenger hunt to find all three statues (fortunately they are all within a few blocks of one another). I haven't done any research on the idea behind these three statues, but I was left with the impression that Brussels has some sort of connection with public urination, which factors into the last activity of my trip (more on that at the end of my post).



From left to right: Jeanneke-Pis, Mannekin-Pis, and Zinneke-Pis. There's a lot of pissing going on in Brussels.

November 1 is a public holiday in Belgium (Toussaint / All Saints' Day), so the city seemed eerily quiet during the morning and most of the afternoon, but maybe all Saturdays are like this. Vehicle and pedestrian traffic was very light.

At the center of Brussels' historic district is the Grand-Place, which is a beautiful city square surrounded by several historic buildings. If you plan to visit Brussels, this should be at the top of your list (although you should go during August of an even-numbered year, when they display a flower carpet of one million begonias).

On the south side of the Grand-Place is the Hôtel de Ville, the city's Town Hall. There are hundreds of intricate sculptures along the outer walls.

On the north side of the Grand-Place is the Museum of the City of Brussels.

After seeing five art museums in Paris (details to follow in future posts) and the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, I was weary of viewing more art work and so I looked to see something different but unique to Brussels. Belgium happens to be the home of a lot of comic strips, many of which have attained international notoriety, and the city fittingly had the Belgian Comic Strip Center. Both Tintin and the Smurfs featured prominently in the exhibits.

Various works from the Belgian Comic Strip Center. The top two pictures are from a fun comic strip called Boerke. The bottom left picture is a historical comic strip depicting the Napoleonic Wars. The bottom right picture is an artistic modern piece depicting Alice in Wonderland in a New York setting. Click on the picture to see more closely.

The Smurfs originated in Belgium as Les Schtroumpfs. Pictured above is a puzzle drawing. The first challenge is to find the six objects that are not related to music; the second challenge is to find the two smurfs that are identical to one another. The answers are at the end of the post.

Before leaving the city center, I took some time to relax in the Botanical Garden of Brussels.

Visiting Brussels provided the opportunity to see RSC Anderlecht, the top team in Belgium (both last year's champion and this year's leader in the Jupiler Pro League). They were playing against Lokeren, who happen to be having a good season so far.

Constant Vanden Stock Stadium during the match between RSC Anderlecht and Lokeren. The stadium is what I would call normal size, fitting 28,063 people, and was at around 90%-95% capacity during the game.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw. The home supporters were vocal with jeering and whistling whenever a player fell down too easily or when the referee made a questionable call, but otherwise they were quiet, such that the Lokeren supporters made much more noise throughout the match (although I was sitting closer to the visiting fans' section which may have made them seem much louder).

The last part of the trip that I had planned was to see the Atomium and Mini-Europe after the football match. The problem was that the football stadium was west of the city while the Atomium/Mini-Europe were northeast, and the subway/tram ride out to the latter was much longer than I expected. By the time I reached the Atomium, it was nearing sunset. It was certainly too dark to see Mini-Europe so I cancelled the last bit of my visit.

The Atomium, just before and just after sunset.

I had a good share of Belgian waffles and Juliper beer throughout the day, but the beer passed through me very quickly. While the train station washroom charges 50 cents per use, there happened to be a public urinal just outside the station. So Brussels provided me with the opportunity to urinate in public just like Mannekin, Jeanneke and Zinneke (although to be fair, several other European cities have public urinals). The stalls are four-sided and I was able to get the spot facing away from the street.

Liekens public urinal. My apologies for not photographing a selfie but I had my hands full when I used this.

That was Brussels in a day. The city became livelier and more crowded during the evening, which gave me the impression that Belgians are night owls. And for those of you trying to solve the Smurf puzzle:

• The answer to the first question is the mirror of Vanity Smurf, the hammer of Handy Smurf, the flask of water, the wrench, the flower pot and the smurf coming out of the sousaphone (tuba). Since the smurf coming out of the sousaphone has a party favour which can make some noise, I actually thought the smurf standing between the curtains and the smurf napping in front of the drums were less relevant to music than the smurf in the sousaphone.
• The answer to the second question is the smurf playing the flute behind the pianist and the smurf playing the flute behind the cellist. I thought that two of the smurfs in the choir at the front also looked identical but they are holding different pieces of sheet music so I guess that makes them different enough.

I've been getting some questions from readers asking more about daily life in Paris. I intend on providing more insights on this after I have finished a few other trips and subsequent posts.