Photography & travel

EGYPT – Pyramids

The Great Pyramid, built by King Khufu (Cheops) second King of Egypt’s 4th dynasty,feels overwhelming when you stand next to it.Especially when you are almost alone. We were waiting at 7 am for the local entrance to open. [a tip from another blogger]So we didn’t go through the main entrance like most visitors do. It was pleasantly quiet and we still had time to enjoy a Turkish coffee from a nearby small coffee shop. You can hop on a tour bus and let you drive around, but then you miss out on a large part of the experience. And that …

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EGYPT – GEM#2

Next to the main museum you have a second building which houses a remarkably preserved 43-meter-long solar boat, discovered beside the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Ancient Egyptians believed these boats transported pharaohs through the afterlife, offering a glimpse into their spiritual beliefs and funerary practices. King Khufu’s Solar Boat was discovered in 1954 by Egyptian archeologist Kamal el-Mallakh at the foot of the Great Pyramid.The boat was hidden under the sand in a sealed pit. Kamal suspected that there was another boat hidden somewhere. And he was right. It took more than ten years to reassemble the first boat, weighing …

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EGYPT – GEM#1

The Grand Egyptian museum or GEM is indeed a gem in capital letters. Designed by Heneghan Peng Architects from Ireland and constructed by the Belgian based company Besix together with Orascom Construction PLC based in Egypt.From the outside the building is massive but once inside it doesn’t feel that way.The atmosphere feels intimate and airy, thanks to the triangular alabaster window at the top of the entrance that transform the bright sunlight into a satin-like glow.First thing you notice when you enter the Grand Hall is the red granite statue of King Ramesses II. Weighing 87 tons and with a …

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WIEN day#3

Our third and final day in Vienna, a trip which isn’t complete without a visit to the Wiener Staatsoper. We did not attend a performance, but enjoyed a guided tour of the opera house itself. Our guide did a wonderful job.When you wander through the corridors, you automatically start to imagine what it must have been like at the opening in 1869. Everyone dressed in late 19th-century fashion. Woman in wide skirts and large sleeves with their waist constricted in a restrictive corset. Men in beautiful wool costumes with exquisite tailoring and refined details. Maybe we should go back and …

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WIEN day#2

Our second day in Vienna and it’s a sunny one. Perfect for exploring the city at our own pace, walking.I forgot to note down the #steps we did that day. But if you start the day at Margareten, walk to Belevedere 21 & Belvedere Schloss, continue to Hundertwasserhaus and follow the Donau canal-Wienfluss with a lunch break at Plachutta Wollzeile, enjoy the view of Domkirche St. Stephan, next Peterskirch, Hofburg and Marie-Theresien-Platz with a quick stop at Wiener Secession, a drink at Naschmarkt and continue on Rechte Wienzeile to our hotel, this means more daily steps than what is prescribed …

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WIEN day#1

Are you fascinated by history and do you love Baroque architecture? Do you enjoy classical music? Do you like to catch an opera now and then? If you answer ‘yes’ it sounds like you might be a culture vulture. That’s exactly what our family friends thought, which is why they gave us a gift voucher from Music & Opera so we could pick one to our liking. The big question was: “which opera should we go to”? Actually, it wasn’t a difficult choice: to the cradle of opera, of course. Vienna here we come! After we stored our luggage at …

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ITALY – Puglia – Alberobello

Is Alberobello an architectural gem or a hype? In any case, this village has also been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, like so many other places in Italy. There are various theories as to why these typical houses were built in this way. One of them resonates with me because of its simplicity and logic. While working their fields, the farmers regularly encountered rocks in the ground. Because they did not feel like moving them anywhere, they used them to build low walls around their land. As more stones were surfacing, they were stacked in circular shapes that …

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PIERRE ALECHINSKY – Pinceau voyageur

Pierre Alechinsky, a Belgian artist know worldwide. New-york, Paris, Valencia, Madrid, Osaka, Tokyo and now in Brussels with a solo exhibition at Villa Empain. The building itself is a gem. An elegant Art Deco building dating from 1930, designed by Swiss architect Michel Polak for Baron Louis Empain. The baron himself hardly ever lived there. The villa has had a turbulent history. It was sold, rented out and eventually bought back by the Baron, who then donated it to the Belgian government. In 1980, the villa, which was in a deplorable state, was purchased by the Boghossian Foundation. Thanks to …

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PARIS – Bourse de Commerce

Walking around in Paris is always a journey of discovery, especially if you haven’t been there for a while. Time and dynamics are slowly changing the city. The major monuments will of course always remain, but the local economy and urban renewal are sometimes like a facelift for some of the streets and neighbourhoods. Bourse de Commerce, originally a place to negotiate and trade grain, was build at the end of the 18th century. The building underwent several renovations before finally being leased to François Pinault for 50 years in 2016. It was he who commissioned architect Tadao Ando to …

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PARIS – Fondation Louis Vuiton

I don’t know why. But Paris and I have a certain chemistry, like longtime lovers. Not only because the city is famous for her ‘vibrations amoureuse’ but for her ‘présence en général’. The squares, avenues, parks, great bistro’s and restaurants, the river Seine and of course the numerous museums. We specifically went for 2 of them which we never visited before. ‘Fondation Louis Vuiton’ and ‘Bourse de commerce’. Both didn’t disappoint! Fondation Louis Vuiton rises on the edge of Bois de Boulogne and has a very distinct shape. Airy, translucent and covered with glass shells like the wings of a …

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