I went out into the city searching for beauty today. It had started well this morning ... there was blue sky and sunshine but I moved too slowly and voila, by the time I left the house, it was grey.
A few weeks ago, I had made one fast family visit to Antwerp's relatively new MAS museum and had found myself wondering whether the top floor might not feed my need for a view. It's not bad but, by crikey, it's flat here.
Another view from The MASS Museum, here in Antwerp.
I left the MASS Museum and walked back through the grey city, carrying my heavy camera bag, wondering why an earth I had taken it out on a such a dull day.
I stopped to look through the window at my favourite art gallery here in the city. It's the place where I consistently see art that appeals to me ... which is no mean feat. And it's easy to pass-by, located in Maalderijstraat, between the Cathedral and Grote Markt.
Anyway, I decided I would blog about it and so asked Minske if she spoke English. Of course she did. Most Antwerpenaars speak English. I asked if I might take a photograph of the gallery and share it with you here but then ... I got distracted.
I asked Minske Van Wijk how she had ended up with the gallery and somehow, we kept talking and it turned out she had also made a short film titled De Veer van César.
I was curious to know more and, at some point, realised this film might be 'the beautiful thing' I was searching for in the city today.
And so it was. I came home, organised my little world here, then sat back to watch. It's delicious! It has English subtitles (and French too), and it gives a delightful sense of this place. A behind-the-scenes glimpse. Oh I need to write of this in a better way but for this first taste, you only need to know that it is poetry, and beautiful cinematography, and wonderful animation ...
You can find out where to buy your own copy of the DVD over here. Meanwhile, the trailer is below ... without subtitles.
There were cheetahs too, at Planckendael Wildlife Park.
We wandered all over the park for almost 2 hours and then, just as we were leaving, the sun came out. At 5pm, the light was stunning out there in the carpark ... sigh.
There were two cheetahs, pacing the fenceline, so very interested in park staff on bicycles.
I took this photograph through a glass wall. Not perfect but not bad for a low-light kind of day.
We wandered off to Planckendael, a rather lovely wildlife park here in Belgium. And there were these fish and I just kind of adored them.