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the evening. Had to hunt up the pe.y-egt. and get ell cleaned up before hitting the hay, as the trip necessitated early rising.
"Willie” had breakfast ready for us at 6,30- dark at that hour, of course. Brew rations forlunch and then hiked up to" the Grand Place where we were to board tee lorry. Prom "Grand Place" to "Grand PI 8 0 6 v/ss s,Td out 60 kil g s t and vjb c ov 6rcd it in 5 & our s which, is r 8irib — ling some for a lorry. Didn’t'see very much of the country en route- lorries aren’t built for sightseeing-, you know.
V/e &,te our lunch in the lorry, and then descending, 1 iter all v fought our way through hordes of men wanting to sell us views of the city. I’ll not dwell on the beauties of the Grand Place. A guide" book I m sending by separate post covers the subject much more thoroughly than I could. Suffice tosay ths.t it is one of the wonder nieces of Europe. Prom there we wandered up to St. Gudule Cathedral, a marvelous- lyv beautiful edifice. A requiem mass for the Belgian soldiers who had fallen in the war was being held when we entered, the church, the King and Queen of the Belgians being present. As might be expected a hu^e gathering was there, so we were unable to thoroughly explore the interior. The stained glass windows are wonderful.
Leaving the cathedral we next visited the Colomne du Congres Having heard how Pritz had confiscated all the bronze in Belgium, in-" eluding even the church bells, I fully expected to find this monument dismantled. Such was not the case, however. The huge lions are still guarding the base of the monument, and old Leopold continues to survey the city from his lofty perch.
Passing to the right of the column we ascended a flight of steps and came out on the Rue Royale. Poliowing; down it we reached thee Botanical Gardens, but unfortunately found them to be gardens in name only, that is as far as the outdoor was concernedl I believe the conservatories house a wonderful collection of rare tropical plants but we hadn’t the time to spare to visit them. ?£";
Retracing our steps we came to the Palais du Roi, where the royal^ family hang '.out. It is a group of buildings not unlike the Gov’t buildings 8w home, and to judge from the red crosses in evidence everywhere, had been used as a hospital by Pritz. Two mangy looking Belgian soldiers were on sentry go, so we didn’t attempt to enter the grounds. Across from the palace is a park, but it, like everything else in the country, showed signs of decay.
Just around the corner from the palace we bumped into the Palais des Beaux-Arts- everything is a palace over here, seemingly. Spent over two hours wandering through the various rooms, which house one of the finest collections of sculpture and painting in the world.
The statuary was marvelous, there being some especially fine specimens
- / Rodims work. All the great masters were represented in the painting line, but of course to really appreciate the wonderful work there, one should devote many days to it.
The Palais de Justice was our next objectj-®and it is every bit
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