Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Just pop into the lobby to see the museum's groundbreaking
Art Nouveau building (a former department store designed in
1903 by Belgian architect Victor
Horta), browse through comics in
the bookshop, and snap a photo
with a three-foot-tall Smurf...and
that's enough for many people.
Kids especially might find the
museum, l ike, total l ly bor ing.
But those who appreciate art in
general will enjoy this sometimes
humorous, sometimes probing,
often beautiful medium. The displays are in French and Flemish,
but they loan out a helpful, if hard-to-follow, English guidebook.
You'll see how comics are made, watch early animated films
(such as
Gertie the Dinosaur,
c. 1909), and see a sprawling exhibit
on Tintin (the intrepid boy reporter with the button eyes and wavy
shock of hair, launched in 1929 by Hergé and much loved by older
Europeans). The top floor is dedicated to “serious” comics, where
more adult themes and high-quality drawing aspire to turn kids'
stuff into that “Ninth Art.” These works can be grimly realistic,
openly erotic or graphic, or darker in tone, featuring flawed anti-
heroes (€7.50, Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, closed Mon, 10-minute walk
from Grand Place to Rue des Sables 20, tel. 02-219-1980, www
.comicscenter.net).
s
european Parliament
—Europe's governing body welcomes
visitors with an information center and audioguide tours. This
towering complex of glass
skyscrapers is a cacophony
of black-suited politicians
speaking 20 different Euro-
languages. It's exciting just
to be here—a mouse in
the corner of a place that
aspires to chart the future
of Europe “with respect for
all political thinking...con-
solidating democracy in the spirit of peace and solidarity.” The 785
parliament members, representing 28 countries and 457 million
citizens, shape Europe with a €120 billion budget (from import
duties, sales taxes, and a cut of each member country's GDP).
The
Info Point
is a welcoming place with 28 flags, enter-
taining racks of freebies, and videos promoting the concept and
beauties of the European Union (including bins of tiny
My Funda-
mental Rights in the EU
booklets). Ask for the
Troubled Waters
comic book, which explains how the parliament works (free,
