By the numbers
8,577 steps
6.27 kms
The last few nights there has been rain and I am hoping this
wont be something regular especially as I will be leaving for Ypres tomorrow.
The thunder hasn’t been that bad, yet and nothing like what we get at home. I
did have a quick breakfast before heading out to meet the tram. I was wearing
my nice and clean jumper as it was cold again this morning and I wanted to not
spend the day chilled to the bone. I made it to the train station with heaps of
time to spare. I got myself a tram ticket for the morning as I think that is
how it works. We shall see in the morning if it beeps at me funny.
I went wandering around the station and found where the
Eurostar leaved for London and also the murals in the station for Tintin. I did
watch the big board for the changing of the trains that were coming and going.
All I needed to do was visit platform 14 and wait. Around 5 minutes before my
train was supposed to arrive, I seen that there was a change of plan as I now
had to be on platform 17 as the train going to Ghent was going to be late. I
wasn’t going to Ghent as that was the train before mine. I jumped onto the
train and was going to be there until the very end of the line to Louvain La
Neuve. That was where the museum was located. The ticket checker looked at my
ticket and stamped it so I shouldn’t worry when they come along unless you
don’t have a ticket. After an uneventful ride while reading a book, I was happy
to get off. I was able to get a combination ticket specifically for todays visit to the museum. Its great when you can book the train and within the price you get the museum too.
I had to Google directions to the museum and even though I
got there early enough, I had to wait until 1030am for the museum to open. I
was going to the Herge Museum about the creator of Tintin. I found there was a
university right next door and I probably didn’t look out of place apart from
the fact that I didn’t speak French as they seem to be doing here. I was happy
to have found the museum and waited around until they opened up. Turns out to
use the lockers, I got a band that when pressed into the the lock iit locks and
doing the same unlocks. I thought it was pretty cool that you could have
something like that. I grabbed an audio tour on the way through and luckily
there was English. Some guy who was wandering around asked me which was was out
and I said I had no idea. I don’t errally know what he was after apart for
thanking me for my help.
Herge or Geiorges Prosper Remi was a Belgium cartoonist an
he had been doing that nearly all his life including in childhood. Some of his
characters like Tintin appeared . The comic strips were not the only thing he
did as for a little while he was in advertising. After a while the comic strips
grew and they became popular. The first few books were in black and white until
he changed to colour even though he was skeptical about it. Nearly all the
images he had in the comics were of a real thing like vehicle or of an actual
location. Even the space craft he used when Tintin went to the moon was
actually built with sections on a small scale. It was fascinating although most
of it was in another language, but the best part were the English displays so
you could follow along without a problem. I thought it was interesting you
could start at the very top and work your way down from the third floor. After
his career took off he was actually surprised he got letters from overseas
telling him people loved his books or to let him know about some mistake. There
were some interviews and one screen had Belgium language and French and English
subtitles, which was weird, but could follow on. Herge was a lover of local
news stories and fantasy and his stories would reflect that especially when
they follow the line of actual news stories where he would thow his characters
into them. It was interesting there was some truth based on events and even
something like Tarzan or even King kong. Looking at the various book and the languages they
were translated into was amazing. I did love the illustrations that were
throughout the museum like Snowy the dog with a bone or expressions of some of
the characters. Even though he died in 1983, people remember his books and all
that. I remember as I used to read the ones in the library at school.
Once I had finished in the museum, I had to stop for lunch
and the museum had a cafe, which I ended up having a filling pasta bolognaise
and a coffee. After I had eaten, I went to the gift shop for a look and didn’t
get anything as my bags would be too heavy to carry and I would not like that
at all. There were several Tintin books, I would like, but being hard cover
they could have problems in my bag. The same with the puzzles and figurines too.
I wasn’t worried and made my way back to the station, thinking about what I may
do when I get back to the city. Turns out I had missed the train by 5 mins, so
I had an hour to wait. I wandered around a little bit before heading back to
the station to read my book while I waited. Once on the train, I decided that
it might be best for once to relax for the rest of the afternoon without having
to worry or push myself. I had found the cemetery would have been closed as it
strangely shuts at 4pm. That was around the time I arrived back at the station.
I still have a tram to catch to the hostel and I had picked up a sandwich,
which is my dinner since I had a large meal for lunch.
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