Night view of the Menin Gate: Ieper, Belgium (Ypres)

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)



When my plane landed in Brussels I was dazed from lack of sleep. I'd had only a few hours sleep in the last couple of days, having worked late into the night on Thursday and then pulled an all-nighter on Friday to get everything written and filed before my 6 a.m. departure Saturday morning.

Most people would have buckled up their seat belts and slept during the flight, but I have some kind of airplane insomnia. I find it almost impossible to sleep on a plane. Besides, we flew over so much unsettled weather (tornadoes across the Midwest) the flight was too bumpy to rest easy. Much of the time the flight attendants were sent by the pilot back to their own seats and the seat belt light was seldom off.

At any rate, my plane landed and my train from Brussels arrived in Ypres exactly on time. After lunch and a long nap, I set out to explore.

As I walked up and down the narrow streets near the marketplace, I thought about what drives us to go and see and explore. About what compels us to endure crowded, bumpy flights, the grating security annoyances and the harsh physical effects of long-distance travel. But when I turned a corner and caught sight of the Menin Gate I realized again that the answer, as is so often the case, was right in front of me.

We go because there are places and people and experiences that tell the flawed and all-too-human story of our loves and losses, our hard-won battles and bone-crushing defeats. Because there is nothing as powerful as standing in a place you've only read about before.

Window detail: Grand Beguinage at Leuven, Belgium

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)



Founded in the 13th Century, the Grand Beguinage in Leuven, Belgium, was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. Considered the oldest surviving beguinage, the Leuven location is now part of the University of Leuven, the oldest Catholic university in the world.

Leuven also has a unique connection with the United States. When the library was deliberately bombed by Germans during WWI, Herbert Hoover spearheaded a campaign to have American students contribute to the rebuilding.

Donations from universities, high schools and academic associations were combined with money raised by school children from across the country. Etched in the stones of the exterior of the new building were the names of American schools and organizations that had helped make the new library a reality.

You can read more about the Leuven Library story here.

Tintin Comes to America

(Photo by Cheryl-Anne Millsap)

I spent a week in Belgium in October of this year. While I was there I got a sneak peek at Steven Spielberg's new movie The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. I loved it.
Almost as much fun as the action-packed movie was the party that Brussels threw to celebrate the premier. Aerialists "danced" across the giant billboard as celebrities walked the red carpet. Spielberg made an appearance, as did members of the Royal Family.
Streets were packed with vintage cars and vintage camera clubs.

I read the Tintin books when I was a girl but most people in the U.S. have never heard of the gutsy young journalist.

I wrote more in my Spokesman-Review column. Read my Tintin essay here.