A bit like Cookie Crisp?

I also saw this candy shop in Bruges:

It made me think of one of the taglines for Cookie Crisp cereal (or, more accurately, cookies in the name of cereal!): "Coooookie Crisp!" howled by Chip the Dog. Here's a video if you have no idea what I'm talking about and didn't spent Saturday mornings in the early 90s having this drilled in your head.

I'm not sure how the "Flemish" version would be pronounced.

Employee parking in Bruges

When I visiting Bruges this past weekend, I stopped by In & Uit Bruges to check out an art installation by Lieven De Boeck. In the courtyard, I found the area for employee parking:

This is awesome for so many reasons! I love that employees bike to work, that there is special bike parking for them, and that there is even a bas relief to decorate.

December's Adventure: Day 8, Liège

On to day 8, which was the last day of the big trip with my cousins in December.

We had driven to Liège, Belgium the night before and stayed at a horrible hotel. Let's just say that the pictures made it look much nicer than it was and I didn't read reviews far enough back. We were happy to leave it in the morning and head downtown.

There were several nice Christmas markets throughout downtown so we wandered the city, stopping by stores and churches as we went. My cousins found another small winery that was selling its own homemade vin chaud and agreed that my hypothesis that vin chaud/glühwein that is homemade and/or organic tastes so much better than what most other booths sell.

I had picked up a Use-It Guide for the city and it recommended a hike up to the Coteaux de la Citadelle, which overlooks the city. We had some difficulty finding it since the stairs are set back a way, but we finally were on track and schlepping up tons of stairs. The view at the top was quite amazing! We found another set of stairs and those were quite steep as well.

 

Oh, look! A hill! We walked up and down this.

 

 These are the stairs we took. They were plentiful!

These were an option to get up/down the hill too. No thanks!

We trekked back down the hill, found some dinner, then decided to call it a day. Getting out of town was frustrating; I didn't take my own advice to park outside of the main part of downtown so it took 20 minutes just to drive several miles. Once we hit the highway, it was smooth sailing to drop my cousins off in Frankfurt to fly home.

It was a great trip! We ate delicious things, shared many laughs, saw artistic and historic sights, put 1,000 miles on my car, and walked our buns off in the cities. I'm so glad that my cousins were able to come out and visit.

December's Adventure: Day 7, Part 2: Brussels

If I had to sum up the apparent theme of Brussels, I would use this word: peeing. No, it's not that I've seen people relieving themselves in inappropriate places. Instead, it is the Belgian city's odd fascination with sculptures of mammals relieving themselves that has made an impression on me.

The oldest, of course, is Manneken Pis, the statue of the small peeing boy put in place in the early 17th century. In 1987, Manneken got a little sister named Jeanneke-Pis, who also is relieving herself at Impasse de la Fidélité 10 (across from Delirium Cafe, for those who want to drink some beers and get the feeling she's having). She was dressed up for Christmas in a festive outfit as she squatted.

To complete the happy little family of children relieving themselves, in 1998 the city added their pet dog, Zinneke Pis, at Rue de Chartreux 31H.

In addition to the awkward sculptures, we saw the city's interesting emblem on trash cans: St. Michael is trampling the devil.

We then saw the city's Official Santa Transport mammal. Okay, maybe it's not official, but it's a restaurant's take on holiday decoration. I think it was some sort of...topiary (?) wrapped up with fabric and then Santa was given a leg up to ride the odd beast. There were Christmas lights, so it was very...festive.

Things that make me say "hmm..."

December's Adventure: Day 7, Brussels

We enjoyed a pleasant night at our Brussels hotel and woke up refreshed on Friday morning. On our way downtown we stopped at the Carrefour grocery store two blocks from our hotel. To save money on my trips, I like to buy my drinks (if not filling up from the hotel tap) and some things to eat at the grocery store. Plus it's a great way to try out food that the locals eat daily! I was happy to find a couscous for breakfast, which was a slightly more healthful option than the various Christmas market foods I'd eaten. After some basic French by my cousins and some pantomiming by me, we convinced the helpful store clerk to give me a plastic spoon so I could eat the couscous.

Our first official stop was the City Museum of Brussels, or the Maison du Roi, on the site of the previous bread market hall located in the Grand Place. It covers the history of Brussels, including its art, architecture, design, culture, and...best of all, Manneken Pis! There is a silly and cute documentary about the little statue. My favorite quote from the documentary is people, in many different languages, saying, "he is so small! I thought he'd be bigger." At two feet tall, he definitely not the towering "personality" that one would assume for a sculpture who has become the unofficial mascot of the city. In addition to the documentary, visitors can see many of M.P's costumes from different countries. There is even a computer where one can view a catalog of the costumes with more information.

I enjoyed the museum and would suggest if for those curious to learn more about the history of Brussels. The city itself has an interesting history and has been subject to many architectural changes. Also, it's fun to see the costumes of a "world famous" little peeing dude.

I did sit for a bit at the museum. After a week of extensive travel and walking at least 10 miles a day, my feet, even clad in my expensive and comfortable Christmas gift boots, were quite sore. We didn't take any public transport in the towns we visited after dumping the car; it was all walking. I love walking but after about 60 miles of it up to that point, my feet were saying they wanted a rest.

I was able to rouse myself for more sights and walking. Using the super handy and free Use-It Guide for Brussels, I had identified some things I'd like to see, do, and eat. My cousins very kindly obliged.

On the way we saw some interesting sights not on the list. For example, we found a small Christmas market tucked into a square. My cousins enjoyed some macaroons while I oohed and ahhed over a steampunk carousel. As vintage as it looked, it was built in 1999. How cool is it though? Many of the seats did interesting things, like the Pegasus that "flew." Here is an article about this magical contraption and its builders.

My cousins wanted to eat some more delicious quiches from a vendor they had found the night before in Place Sainte-Catherine, a nearby square. As they ordered, I stopped by the Brussels Use-It Guide location, also in the square. This was the first time that I actually went in-person to a Use-It office; normally I just print the guides from the internet. The office in Brussels is really neat; there is free wifi, friendly locals to meet, and free Use-It Guides, including other cities. I stopped by and told the volunteers how awesome I think that the guides are. And, just to be clear, I don't get anything other than the pleasure of recommending a good, free guide out of this :) I'm super impressed with the guides and the quality, non-commerical information written by locals. The volunteers at the office were pleased by my input and even offered me some guides that weren't on the general racks. As I left the office and looked at the Brussels guide, I realized that some of the people I talked to were pictured on the guide itself. It was a fun experience and great to meet some of the folks who made the guide happen.

One stop from the Brussels guide that I felt was a must-eat location was the Comus et Gasteria ice cream shop at Quai aux Briques 86 (in St. Catherine's Square). Oh. My. Goodness. That ice cream was divine! I ordered the salted caramel that the guide recommended. I also ordered lavender ice cream. It was fragrant and delicious. The guy who ran the place was a bit grumpy but I didn't even care. The artesian ice cream was fabulous. Ignore the proprietor's surly demeanor and make a trip there.

I decided to follow dessert with a lunch/dinner from the Christmas market at the square. I chose "poylee savoyarde," which looked similar to German  käsespätzle. I'm not sure if the blobs in it were potatoes or egg noodle* based like the German version, but the cheesy dish was was delicious.

This entry is getting long so I'll finish up the details of our Brussels day in another post.

*hehe. I'm getting quite Germanified here because when I first type the word "noodle," I wrote it with the German spelling. I'm finding myself doing that sometimes with other words too.

December's Adventure: Day 6 Continued, Brussels

We left Valkenburg in the Netherlands on Thursday evening and drove to Brussels in Belgium. I purposefully arranged the schedule so we would arrive past rush hour; in this case, it was 7 p.m. However, it was still a mess with congestion and driving lanes that would converge with no warning then spread out again. The government in Brussels is actually considering closing down parts of the city to auto traffic because of congestion problems. It's recommended to take public transportation in Brussels and not drive, for sure!

We finally found our hotel and dumped the car at the underground parking at the hotel across the street. The parking was 23 euros per day, which seemed a bit steep after being in the other cities, but I was feeling so tired and frazzled by that time that I just wanted to be rid of the car so it was worth the convenience.

We checked in at the Hotel Villa Royale (more detailed review to follow, at some point). It was freshly decorated with small but comfortable rooms. Since it was still somewhat early, we headed out to the main part of downtown, the Grand Place. It took us about 20 minutes to walk downtown. Once we arrived at Grand Place, we enjoyed the Christmas light and music show. It's quite pretty.

Our next stop was to buy some chocolates. I've been to Brussels before so I suggested my favorite store: Corné Port-Royal. We each bought some delicious chocolates and enjoyed the rich, fresh taste, as good as I remembered it from my visit in 2008. The other wonderful thing about the store is where it is located, in the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert, a beautiful 19th century shopping arcade.

We then went to visit Brussels's famous statue: Manneken Pis (literally "Little Man Pee). There are so many legends surrounding this small statue who is also a fountain, but the residents mostly love him (or roll their eyes). The funny thing is that the statue is quite small at about two feet tall. He was naked when we saw him but he does have a huge collection of fancy costumes to wear and even a city employee to dress him. To find him, Wikipedia.org instructs the curious to find him at "...Rue de l'Étuve/Stoofstraat and Rue du Chêne/Eikstraat. To find it, one takes the left lane next to the Brussels Town Hall from the famous Grand Place and walks a few hundred metres southwest via Rue Charles Buls/Karel Bulsstraat." Getting tired after our Brussels fun, we walked back to the hotel.
 

 Delicious chocolates in a gorgeous 19th century shopping arcade? Check!

 Cheesy tourist attraction? Manneken Pis: check.

 My astute cousin D. pointed out this Cactguy after I told her the disconcerting story about the Cactguy I know.

December's Adventure: a Christmas market trip

Two weeks ago, my cousins from the US visited me in Germany. I was excited to see them; after all, they're always fun travel companions and they're my first visitors of family/friends from the US!

I arrange a whirlwind 8-day tour for us. Below is our itinerary. Most of our focus was on visiting Christmas markets in each town. As I get time, I'll blog about what we did in each city and add pictures.

Saturday: Since they arrived in Frankfurt am Main, that was our first stop. Without giving them pause to catch their breath, I drove us back to Kaiserslautern and went to the House of Sustainability's fantastic Christmas market in the woods.

Sunday: we took a trip to Heidelberg. Though I've been quite a few times in the last year, this time I played tourist, too. My friend lives there so normally I play the role of semi-local.

Monday: we took a trip to Strasbourg, France. It's less than two hours away from where I live and is quite pretty, too!

Tuesday: we made our way to Cologne and stayed there until Thursday morning. Our main focus was the cathedral, or Dom.

Thursday: we stopped in what I call the "chicken strip" part of the Netherlands (seriously, it's just a small strip of land!) to see the Valkenburg caves and the Christmas market inside. We then continued to Brussels and stayed there until Friday night.

Friday: we continued to Liège and stayed at a ridiculously bad hotel. On Saturday, we wandered around town and then concluded the trip with dropping my cousins off at the airport so they could fly home.

After all of this, I came home and slept for 10 hours on the evening of my return. I was tired!

Get your drank at the nachtwinkel

By "drank," I mean the Dutch word, not the drug reference!

In Belgium, we saw the "nachtwinkel," or the night shop. Belgian shopkeepers value the importance of being able to meet customers' needs even outside of traditional store hours (Germany, I'm staring at you), so there are nachtwinkels (not sure how to make that plural auf...Flemish?).

I love that they sell "drank." That just means beverages. However, it makes me think of some convenience stores in the US. **Okay, keep in mind that the following is what things used to be called - but these things have been co-opted to mean something else now.** Cheap convenience stores in the US would sell something called "drink." Its flavors are actually labeled by what color the drink is. So, the drink that is purple is called "purple drink," the red one is called "red drink," and so on. People don't even try to call purple drink grape flavored because it didn't taste anything like grapes; after all, why would something so fake and full of food dyes and high fructose corn syrup taste "natural?" I remember seeing some of these drinks when I was a teen and they were in these opaque plastic bottles shaped like little barrels. I thought that "blue drink" looked like windshield washing fluid for cars.

**Some of these terms now are used to refer to an illegal combination of over the counter medications, alcohol, etc. I'm not sure if anyone calls the highly artificial beverages by the previous name of "drink" or "drank," without a drug connotation.**

Despite that, I grinned a little bit when I saw the nachtwinkel with "drank." I wondered if they had any drinks named after what color they are.

Oh! And here's a Michigan moment: we actually do still have a drink named after its color and there isn't a drug connotation with it: Red Pop! Faygo, a Detroit pop company, makes it. Of course it's full of dyes and whatnot, but it is nice to have once in a while. It's supposed to be strawberry flavored, but I wouldn't say it's quite full-on strawberry. What does it taste like? It tastes like red. There you go.

Have the cat do your shopping in Leuven for you

We saw these stickers on some stores in Leuven, Belgium. B. was being a smarty pants and said that maybe it meant you could have your cat shoplift for you. I didn't think that was the case.

"Liefst Leuven" means prefer or preferably Leuven (according to Google Translate) and Leuven Laat means the store is open later, til 8 p.m. It's part of a marketing campaign for shopping in the city. I thought it was rather cute, but I'm a bit biased because I prefer cats, myself. I think they're using the cat like he's choosy and discerning, or something along those lines (and definitely not because he's shoplifting, B!).

--

In other arenas of life...well, I've been gone from the blog a bit lately because life here has been quite busy. I'm in the middle of the class that's in midpoint of the degree I'm pursuing now, so it's really the median all around. This is the first online class I've taken, and I have realized that I really don't like the online class format. I feel a bit bratty saying this, but I'm not happy to pay $700 to read the book on my own and write papers. I could have had a similar experience for free, learning on my own. Obviously I need to do the work to finish my (third) degree, but I really wish there would be recorded lectures for students to watch. Do any online classes do that, or am I just too old school? I also miss the interaction among students and with the instructor in class. Writing some half-hearted, insincere response to something on the class message board because we're required to is no fun. I like listening to lectures because one can benefit from the expertise of the instructor and lectures bring the topic more alive. Plus, for the way I learn, I listen, take notes (there is the added benefit of kinesthetic learning when I'm writing the notes), and start to memorize the information immediately; I later follow up by reviewing my notes and the information is pretty well set into my memory at that point. I don't feel that I'm learning that much by slogging through the dense text on my own; I also feel as if I'm retaining so little of what I read.

Of course, I think my brain is nowhere as nimble as it was when I finished my last degree 10 years ago. There is a theory that our brains are being rewired from spending so much time online and on computers; we're not able to sustain as much intense concentration any more. I agree with that; I used to love reading classic literature, dense with footnotes and references. Now, I usually read everything via skimming and I must force myself to concentrate and read everything word for word in my class's text. I find myself losing concentration all the time.

In addition to my whinging and carrying on about the online class, I am also taking two German classes right now. One is through a local organization and it began this summer and will be ending soon. I also just started a Volkhochschule German class that is run by a version of community education, and it's all in German. I'll have to write more about that experience later. I just attended the very first class meeting and was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep up but I did keep up and thoroughly enjoyed it. I will definitely be busy for the next three weeks as I juggle work, the three concurrent classes (at least two of them aren't graded), and daily life.

On top of all of this, I haven't felt well for about 3-4 weeks. This has nothing to do with sitting on cold stones or being exposed to air conditioning; this is the time of the year when my allergies and resulting asthma make me miserable. I've alternated feeling sick to my stomach, not being able to breathe properly, and sneezing. Sigh. The good thing is I have been still going to work through this; the bad thing is that I'm quite tired. Germany, I think I'm allergic to you! That is a shame as you are lovely otherwise.

Awesome automation in Mechelen, Belgium

B. and I were impressed to see that there were some options for off-hours shopping in Belgium. As German residents now, we're not accustomed to being able to pick up a few things from the stores later in the evening (after all, one should have planned ahead! Yeah, this isn't convenient).

There are several automated options in Mechelen. We passed a backerij (bakery) and saw an automated bread machine (brood automaat) outside. I was impressed!

I was even more impressed when we passed by an automated grocery store outlet for SPAR. It was possible to buy many necessities from an automated storefront, such as milk, eggs, butter, and even cigarettes and beer (whether the last two are "necessities" is debatable).

Day and night open.

Our Belgian hosts told us that some of the regular grocery stores are even open Sunday mornings. *swoon*

A trip to Mechelen: Aug. 31-Sept. 1

Last weekend, my friend B. and I took a trip to Belgium; we visited Leuven (and here) and Mechelen. The main destination was Mechelen; we wanted to experience the Hanswijk Cavalcade.

We had arranged to stay with a Belgian family in Mechelen and it was a wonderful experience! When we arrived in town, we had dinner with the couple and E's mother, who was also in town to visit. They were so warm and welcoming; it was a fantastic opportunity to learn more about Belgian life.

E and her husband J took us to their favorite cava (Spanish sparkling wine) bar in town. Along the way, they told us about the history of the town. They told us that the city center had been very unsafe about 17 years prior; after about 4 pm, everything would shutter up and people didn't feel comfortable going out on the streets. The town voted in a new mayor who very aggressively cleaned up a lot of the trouble; now, people can safely enjoy a nice late night dinner or some drinks downtown. The downtown area was very charming; there are many Gothic and Renaissance buildings that have survived.

E and her husband J took us to their favorite cava (Spanish sparkling wine) bar, Sava, in the Grote Markt, a huge square. We sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful view of the square; it was lovely, with a great view of the Stuidhuis. I didn't go inside the bar, but wish I had checked it out after seeing the bar's website; the interior looks awesome! Prices were reasonable; I bought the four of us a round of drinks for 12 euros. I ordered cava. The last time I had it, I was in Barcelona for a trip with my cousin and we ended up giggling for an hour and watching passersbys. The silliness then might have resulted from being really dehydrated and the cava went straight to our heads. In Mechelen, there was no silliness.

B ordered the city's official beer: Maneblusser, which means "moon extinguisher." It's even the nickname for Mechelen residents because of a famous story: during a misty night in 1687, a drunk man exited the bar and was shocked to see that St. Rumbold's Tower was on fire. Everyone ran to put out the fire but soon realized that the tower wasn't actually on fire! Instead, the red glow was from the full moon and the mist. Even though the residents of the city tried to keep the story under wraps, it didn't work and they earned the nickname of "moon extinguishers." Het Anker, a brewery in the town, makes Maneblusser.

Our hosts told us a little bit about the cavalcade the next day. King Philippe and Queen Mathilde were going to be in attendance. We also learned that there is some controversy about the royal family; apparently, they are maintained by the state, and they are very costly to the taxpayers. Some Belgians are very unhappy about this as the royal family is only a ceremonial figure and people believe that the family should support itself.

It's a bit misty...good thing it's not on fire!

It was getting late, so after we finished our drinks, we headed back. We walked by the tower of St. Rumbold and were relieved to see that it wasn't on fire.

A trip to Leuven, Part 2

Leuven, August 31 continued...

After viewing St-Pieters Church in Leuven, my friend B and I looked for the Hospital Museum Histaruz, which is a museum with a medical collection from the 1920s-on recommended by the Use-It guide. We missed it when we first looked for it because it's set within the Universitair Ziekenhuis Sint-Rafael which takes up several blocks on Kapucijnenvoer Road; we finally found a sign for the museum and entered through a courtyard on the building, turned right, then turned left to go in.

Two very nice volunteers welcomed us in English (unlike what the guide had said) and we paid our 2 euros each for admission. My initial impression? Um, it's rather creepy!

Looks like an abandoned hospital from a horror movie...

Uhh, wheelchairs with no residents in the chapel?

Want to practice injections with a fake arm?

I'm a baby in a bottle, baby, you gotta...wait a minute, wrong song.

The hospital didn't become less creepy as we continued. Some parts of it were dark; others weren't, but it was hard to unsee what we saw in there -- look what greeted us in one room!

The tumors in wax weren't very uplifting.

Even worse was the dentistry room. This picture is really alarming! They're sticking what amounts to a crowbar in the guy's mouth and the guy looks like he's going to hit him in the mouth with a mallet.

Another picture, this time a print, was really disconcerting. It must have been so bad that I forgot to photograph the whole thing, but here's a part of it where a monkey is trying to perform dentistry on a bird. It's a total what the heck type of moment, and the rest of the print is even worse! There's some guy in his long johns getting dental work done and there's a cat in the room. That just doesn't seem that hygienic!

Another room had a lovely collection of urinals.

We were ready to go but apparently we missed seeing the basement. A volunteer came running after us, very worried that we didn't see the whole museum, and even escorted us to the stairs so we would know right where to go. Since she was so earnest, we felt that we had to see the whole museum. The basement was a continuation of odd leftover hospital equipment. There was even a room full of old computers just stacked on shelves.

We finally had seen everything and thanked the nice volunteers. It was a really odd visit; it was almost as if the hospital had been shuttered with everything in it, then reopened after only the ghosts were left. It's worth a visit for those who like offbeat adventures, creepy dolls, and scary medical devices.

Thirsty after our adventure, we stopped at Carrefour, a supermarket, to buy a drink. Look what we saw: there is the American version of Mexican food available there, Old El Paso brand products. Oh, OEP, how you have branched out to the international markets.

Old El Paso brand salsa and guacamole in Carrefour, Belgium.

While we were there, a guy approached us and asked us something in a language that I couldn't even begin to place. B. said that we were sorry, but we didn't understand him. Apparently, between the 6 or so languages we know between the two of us, whatever he was asking wasn't in any of them! The guy said something else in whatever language it was. We all looked at each other, perplexed. He then said something that sounded kind of like "sucré," which would be French, I guess, but the rest of what he said didn't sound like French, so I really don't know what it was. Quickly improvising, I asked "azúcar?" (Spanish for "sugar") and he nodded so I took him to the aisle with sugar in it, pointed, said "aquí," the guy said "gracias," I said "de nada," and B. and I were on our merry way. B. was a bit shocked, I believe, that I was actually useful for a foreign language for once as I'm usually relying on him for everything other than English. I don't think the guy started in Spanish but at least we were able to end on that common ground.

After that, we ran into this fellow on the street at the River Dijle. He is Paep Thoon, a 15th century organist at the Saint Pieter's Church who was sarcastic and always telling jokes, but there was truth in what he was saying.

Since we had basically started worshipping the Use-It guide, we decided that we must do its bidding and visit the "Ugliest tree" in the courtyard of Sint-Geertruikerk. The only problem was that we weren't quite sure which one it was! There were two that were kind of ugly so we looked at the Facebook page for a picture, found the correct one and gave it a hug.

It was time to leave for Mechelen after giving the ugly tree some love. As we were leaving town, I was struck by a hunger for some corn, which just happened to occur when we drove by the odoriferous Stella Artois beer factory.

A trip to Leuven, Belgium

This past weekend, my friend B. and I took a trip to Belgium. Our main destination was to Mechelen for the Hanswijkcavalcade, a special part of the procession that takes place only every 25 years. On the way, we decided to stop at Leuven, which is about half an hour before Mechelen. It was a good, and slightly odd visit, thanks to the great Use-It guide, written by locals, that I found online.

Leuven is a university town and the capital of the Flemish-Brabant region. I read that it's difficult, or in some cases, not allowed, to drive around in the city center and parking is a nightmare, so we dropped the car off at the parking lot at Station Leuven, the main train station. Trust me, you don't want to bring your car into the city, as is typical with many European locations.

We were not sure if we should walk to town or take a bus; we didn't get very far on understanding the bus tickets and didn't want to wait in line to ask, so we decided to walk. From the main train station to the city center is about a mile or less, we learned, so it was a pleasant walk.

When we visited on Saturday, 31 August, we found the city bustling with residents doing their Saturday shopping, students whizzing around on bikes or conversing in groups with their friends, and of course, tourists. 

We stopped by the Sint-Donatus Park, aka the Stadspark, aka the City Park, because I thought it was funny that the Use-it guide described it as full of "part time palm trees." I have this big thing now about palm trees as a result of some other silly adventures on other trips, so of course we needed to see the palm trees that stay in the park during the summer and in the greenhouse during the winter. Later on, we ran into the winter home of the palm trees at the Kruidtuin, or the botanical gardens, on the other side of the canal. Too funny!

Fancy, eh? The palm tree in its summer home.

In the center of town, we stopped by Sint-Pieters Church, which was begun in 1425. It was originally meant to have a 170 meter long tower but the sandy soil couldn't support it so the tower was built to 30 meters. It does look a bit stubby.

Sint-Pieters Church, Leuven. Photo by B.

I saw this statue inside and was drawn to it. What the heck is going on, I wondered. Is it like a Russian stacking doll of religious figures? Apparently "Anna selbdritt is a subject in Christian art, showing Saint Anne with her daughter, the Virgin Mary, and her grandson Jesus, literally "Anne herself the third," or if you will "Granny makes three," according to a Wikipedia article. Okay, so it's a (slightly strange) three generational "portrait," so to speak, but St. Anne is giant-sized. Got it.

Het Anna-ten-drieën, ca. 1480, by M. van Sint-Barbara van Pellenberg

The next picture is of some "marble" walls. On your next trip to an old church, take a closer look at the walls and the sculptures/carvings. There is a possibility that what appears to be marble or granite is neither; it may actually be painted wood! This technique became very popular during the Renaissance.

From a distance, this is quite realistic faux marble, but up close one can see the cracks in the wood.

A body holding its head.

A head with no body.

...and to be continued...