It all started with a purchase in Holland...

We left our beloved Amsterdam for Den Haag.  Then we left our beloved Den Haag for Delft.  I was walking through a flea market in an otherwise deserted city, trying to see why Delft was such a big tourist draw.  Then I saw it...

Neither Jeff nor I are big shoppers.  Jeff probably less so than I am, at least as far as flea markets are concerned.  Up until now,  we have not bought anything during our travels for ourselves.  So, while I was wandering through the small holiday weekend market in Delft, I didn't expect to see anything of interest.  Aisle #2 had it.  A beautiful collection of Art Nouveau!  I was immediately drawn in.  I eyed a beautiful platter.  The vendor tried to draw me in.  I looked at Jeff, whispered that I *really* liked it! and then walked away.  Fast forward 20 min, and a few more vendors stalls.  I went back to buy the platter, hoping it would still be there.  It was.  The vendor was willing to negotiate.  He won, I won!

When we arrived in Brussels, I noticed that there were several buildings in our neighborhood that had beautiful Art Nouveau architectural details.  Hmmm.  I just bought an Art Nouveau platter, then I find myself in a turn of the century neighborhood with lots of good examples.  We stopped at an information center to pick up maps and I asked about the prevalence of Art Nouveau details.

Victor Horta lived and worked extensively in Brussels at the turn of the century.  I never heard of him.  We got a map of an Art Nouveau architecture walk.  When we got back to the apartment, I looked up Horta.  He was a MAJOR influence in the Art Nouveau movement, particularly in Brussels.

The universe was lining up...the platter, the Ixelles neighborhood in Brussels where we are staying where there are 3 of the 4 Horta homes on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list, and a day without rain and not too hot for walking to take pictures of as many as I could!  And a great man willing to support the effort without complaint!!!  Jeff gave up seeing Ghent and Bruges so that I could do the walking route!!

I have added some pictures of the unbelievable examples of Art Nouveau architecture!!

Nothing but blue skies in Brussels!