The Dream of Art Nouveau is Alive in Brussels

I have been remiss at keeping up with a regular blogging schedule.  For some reason, it's so much easier to make time for writing and photography when you are outside of your normal everyday routine.  Now over a month has passed, and while we are wilting away in a 90+ degree heat wave here in Portland, the highs in Brussels are more along the lines of how we like it here - the mid-70's.

Sorry, Bucharest.  I do love Romania, but I would have to retreat deep into the Carpathians to survive summer in your land!

For now, if I were to magically transplant myself into another life, another place - I think that living in an Art Nouveau building in Brussels would be kind of sweet.

I could live here!

 On the very last day of my trip abroad, my friend Patrick and I roamed the streets of Brussels, spontaneously indulging in our shared fascination with Art Nouveau architecture.  It is bountiful in this city, and such a respected art that the architects actually "sign" their works.

Now, there's plenty of impressive architecture to be found in this fair city, but we found it to be quite fun to focus in on this one particular style, meandering through the city's streets with an eye open for the tell-tale details.  And my, what details we found!  I was especially fond of these critter motifs that we discovered in several doorways.

  

I was also thrilled to realize that, similar to my experience in Bucharest, there were gorgeous little details I had walked past without noticing.  But once we were looking for them - they were everywhere!  Like the Mucha-esque murals on so many of the buildings' facades.  Just gorgeous!

Oh Brussels, with your Art Nouveau buildings, your fresh waffles, impossibly delicious chocolates, irresistible beers and temperate climate - in two days you made yourself into my fantasy of another life! 

I wouldn't mind biking by this building everyday...

I know a big part of my journey is to love where I'm at while I'm there, and I do still love Portland.  But there are places that make you think about what - and where - else is possible.  Unexpectedly, Brussels put a spell on me.

And it sealed the deal by allowing dogs to dine with their two-legged companions!  Maybe one day we'll discover this same enlightenment here in Portland...