In all, quite a good weekend

We didn't have much of a summer in northern Europe and my plans to explore Brussels in the quiet periods that I normally have in the summer months went awry - becuase work wise there were no quiet periods. But last weekend good weather and a break from deadlines came together.

Thursday night was the opening night of 'Nocturnes de Bruxelles' - evenings when half a dozen museums open their doors for free - provide guided tours, special events and refreshments. It's a bit like getting an invite to 'an opening'. It makes you feel like a special guest rather than just a paying visitor. The first night the Tram and African Museums opened their doors - and it was possible to travel by an old tram from one to the other - which is on the outskirts of the city.

The museum is a huge palatial affair, which still carries a lot of colonial baggage. It will close at the end of this year for renovation - though it is thought that the renovations will be more for political correctness than structural. To welcome us to the reception they had a first class kora player.

Later we toured the exhibits - and the downstairs storage rooms - not usually open to the public. Several rooms were full of 'hunting trophies', dozens of heads of antelopes etc. including one with what must have been fifty elephant skulls - like a grotesue catacomb- It kind of spoiled the evening for me - like making a tourist trip to slavery port in West Africa (which I have done) or a concentration camp (which I haven't). You have to look a the past sometimes and not hide it away but it is also a very uncomfortable thing to do.
tbc..