03 April 2007

4 cities in 4 days

I take a flight to Brussels, Belgium to see my friend Lieven. I take a tour around town and visit the Atomium which was built for the world fair in 1958. The Atomium has been recently renovated and now looks all new and shiny.

I visit the Grand Place which is the old city center. There are some really beautiful buildings from the 16th century. There is a French touch to Brussels which is nice, too.

From Brussels I continue my trip to Antwerp. Belgium is in fact devided into a southern French and a northern Flemish part. The Flemish part is much richer than the French part. There are many people in that part who want their separate state...

In Antwerp I meet the people from Lokaal 01, an independent art space. After two nights in a great and cheap hotel I continue my trip to Utrecht, Holland to visit Impakt Festival (for film and video). One of my films is shown in the festival. Utrecht is a beautiful town of around 300,000 people. The old area consists of mostly little houses which are neatly arranged for example alongside a canal. Utrecht is a university town, thus you see lots of young people in the streets. They all ride bikes. The canal gives a great quality of life to the town.

I pass a coffee shop and see two huge guys standing outside. They look like bouncers, although i am 100% sure that they are just standing there.
Between their massive bodies I get a glance at the people inside the coffee shop who look really pale and wasted.