Botanic Garden photos especially for Arboretum staff!

The orchid room above was the extra storage area for orchids, one of two rooms just for ochids.

Note the kind of tree behind the signs!

At long last - the National Botanic Garden!

Yesterday I finally made it to Belgium's national botanic garden, home to more than 16,000 species. It is 92 hectares and I spent half the day there without seeing everything. It is a traditional botanic garden in having lots of collections, but untraditional maybe in that there is a castle in the middle of it and some woods and fields. There is a huge conservatory half of which was under construction, as well as a smaller one that holds the Agavaceae for the garden that features plants arranged by family. Yet another Orangery now holds a cafe, but behind that is an enormous walled garden. Against the walls all kinds of vines grew, including - kudzu! There are many plants on display that are considered invasive in the US and I think they had mislabeled Celastrus scandens in the plant family section - the flower arrangement looked like oriental bittersweet to me! But this is a botanic garden for research and display and it didn't surprise me that all these plants were featured.

There is very little emphasis on invasive plants in Europe, maybe because there is such a long history of human influence on the landscape. There was a little booklet in the giftshop about giant hogweed, but otherwise not much on introduced plants.

The Belgians had colonized parts of Africa, so their displays of African plants were quite extensive, and who would guess that an institute in Leuven holds the world's most diverse collection of bananas?! Researchers at the botanic garden have also specialized in studying mosses, lichens and fungi. The garden was cleaning up after its annual garden festival over the weekend, and I have to say I sympathized with the staff!

Ardennes photos

Just some addtional photos to give you the flavor of the Ardennes. The topiary garden was across the river from our hotel. We didn't go through it, but could see a few! The stone walls often have small ferns and wildflowers growing in them. This was a sedum in flower. The rock formation is a dolomite chalk dome.

Ardennes

At least these postings about food are separated by a little serious information on the EU! Last weekend we rented a car and drove to the Ardennes in southwestern Belgian, a french speaking area. Reading road signs in Dutch is extremely difficult, so it was at least a little better in Wallonia. Although there are still lots of inexplicable signs relying on symbols and we're still not sure if you yield when the arrow points towards or away from you.

We stayed in the "smallest city in Europe", Durbuy, which has about 300 residents and 300 tourists. Our hotel was right in town, Le Sanglier des Ardennes and we had signed up for the gastronomique package. The rooms are very nice with antiques and a comfortable bed and the typically European bath with a big tub and handheld shower. But really, this trip was mostly about food. After dressing for dinner we had drinks in the parlor and an amusee bouche (apologies to the French on the spelling! This is a little tasting of something that the chef prepares) of little glasses of gazpacho, little squares of foie gras and leek in a gelatin, and curried pate a choux puffs. Dinner was 3 courses including excellent rack of lamb and asparagus. After dessert we retired to the parlor again for coffee, and another amusee bouche arrived of a miniature creme brulee, a small glass of what seemed like concentrated sangria and some fresh fruit.

We attempted to walk this off on Saturday morning after croissants and coffee. It was still grey and wet outside, but not raining. We hiked through some beautiful woods with large beech and other trees. The ground was covered in ferns and other plants, but not much in flower. The path led up into a pasture (see photo of fencepost) and continued uphill through the pasture until it reached a road again. We walked back downhill through another little town and back through the woods. Durbuy is along the River Oerthe, a fairly shallow but fast running river with all the rain. A large chateau sits in the middle of town (looks like a castle to me, see photo) and is privately owned. It didn't look like anyone was home when we were there.

Saturday night was the big 5 course dinner featuring baby lobster as an appetizer (maybe something more like a large crayfish?) veal in morel sauce, a cheese course, and different wines to accompany each course. At least we split the wines!

Before breakfast on Sunday we hiked uphill to a tower near town and back to work up an appetite for Sunday brunch! The brunch is a buffet covered with several kinds of smoked fish, hams, meats, seafood, breads, cheeses, and desserts. Fortunately with a buffet you can take little pieces of a lot of different things. Favorites were a smoked trout with peppercorns and the local ham. And a very good apple tart.

To work that off we rented a 2 person kayak and did a pleasant 10 km ride down the river (see photo of Jake in kayak). This is not as long as it sounds between the current in the river and the fact that it was kilometers, not miles!

European Union

This post I wrote a couple days ago, but hadn't gotten to post due to internet connection issues ...

This morning we went to visit the European Union Parliament in Brussels with the students. We arrived rather early (had to be on the bus at 7am, not easy for a bunch of people still suffering from jet lag!) and had to wait before the security people opened up. Once we got in the building we were still early for our tour, so we waited in the café, which wasn’t really open yet either. A nice Belgium woman who helps organize groups and room availability etc. though got us coffee and tea so the time passed quickly. At 9 am we went upstairs to a classroom where we were met by a Portuguese tour guide. She was very enthusiastic about the EU and full of information. After a video she went through more detail of how the Parliament operates. Currently there are more than 750 members representing the 27 countries. All documents are translated into 23 languages. The members of Parliament are elected by popular vote in each country. Average voter turnout is 45% which she lamented as being apathetic, but compared to the US is really impressive! Countries are allocated a certain number of representatives based on their populations with Germany having the most representatives.

Parliament votes on laws recommended by the European Council, which is made up of the heads of states or ministers from each country. The funding for the EU comes from each country and from VAT, value added tax, and from tariffs on imported goods. The amount each country is required to contribute is based on its gross domestic income.

While we were there we attended a session of parliament at which they were discussing an amendment to regulations on food safety for small producers like butchers and bakers in little towns. Representatives from the Food and Agriculture committee spoke as well as representatives of each of the 6 or so political parties that make up the Parliament. At first there were very few representatives in the room, but as the time for voting drew near, they all began coming into the room. The noise level got pretty loud and groups of representatives stood in the aisles chatting until the vice-president overseeing the session reprimanded everyone for their lack of consideration. Translators for the 23 languages sat in booths overlooking the floor and at each seat was a headset through which you could choose what language you wanted to listen to the debate in. Who knew that Suomi was another name for Finland?!

From Belgium, well nourished.

Finally recovering from Internet and sleep deprivation, we've finished three days of European Law training with Seton Hall students and retreated to an Inn in the Ardennes that specializes in extravagent gourmet repasts. In anticipation of tonight's tasting menu, we are planning a long hike in the mountains today. In Brussels, the Museum of Musical Instruments, pictured in Sylvan's post was a highlight, particularly the exhibitions about how they were built. Then, I'm not sure Sylvan described the restrooms in the Belga Queen where we had dinner. Yes, the restrooms. Men and women share wash basins, but the other areas are separate. Surprising the individual stalls are all glass, clear glass. Everyone looks around and thinks "I'm supposed to go in there and do what?" But, very cool, as you lock the door, the glass turns opaque. Whew! Neat.

It is Saturday and I am looking forward to a stroll in the mountains. More later.

Photos from Brussels

We experienced internet connection problems arriving in Leuven, so we are behind in our postings! Here are a few photos from Brussels including the excellent Museum of Musical Instruments where you take headphones around to hear how the different instruments on display sound, a statue of Mercator at Le Petite Sablon square and part of a fountain near St. Catherine's square.