Quick Tour of Burgundian and Habsburg Mechelen

In March 2021 I visited the Museum Hof van Busleyden in Mechelen for the ‘Renaissance Children‘ exhibition, telling the story of Burgundian and Habsburg princes being educated by Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy.

Orval Abbey near Florenville in Belgian Luxembourg

Oh no, I turned 40 in June. For years I escaped Belgium for my birthday. I even managed to do so last year, in between COVID-19 related leisure travel lockdowns, visiting my sister Florence in Switzerland. This year leaving the Realm proved to be very impractical. But Danny, his boyfriend Sam, Oriol and myself booked…

Ducal and Imperial Palace of Coudenberg in Brussels

The Coudenberg or Koudenberg is a hill in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Nowadays it’s the location of the Church of St. James on Coudenberg, Royal Square (Place Royale, Koningsplein), the Constitutional Court, the Court of Audit, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, the Magritte Museum and institutions of the Brussels Capital Region….