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Hi I'm Rick Steves,
back with more of the best of Europe.
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This time we've got buckets of mussels�
the best fries in Europe, with mayonnaise�
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monk-made beer� crunchy waffles�
and dreamy chocolate�
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Yep, we must be in Belgium!
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Belgium is one of Europe's great secrets.
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500 years ago a trade boom left it
with dazzling art and architecture.
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And today it's re-emerging
as a trade capital of Europe.
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For travellers it's a breeze,
everything is close togheter
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well organized, there's almost no language barrier
and the people, they're wonderful.
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Enjoying the highlights of Belgium,
we start in Bruges, with Renoir canals,
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fanciful gilded architecture,
serene flemish masterpieces,
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and according to locals, the best beer in the world.
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Where else can you bike along a canal,
savor heavenly chocolate
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and see a Michelangelo, all within earshot
of a bell tower with a hyper-active carillon?
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Then, we head for Brussels, home of Europe's
most magnificent medieval square
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and capital of the European Union.
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Almost lost between Germany and
France in the middle of Europe,
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tiny Belgium is easy to overlook.
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But we'll see why it's worth discovering.
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After exploring Bruges,
we'll ride the train to the capital, Brussels.
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We're starting in Brugge [BROO-ghah], as the Flemish
who live in this part of Belgium call their town.
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The French-speaking half of the country, and English speakers
call it Bruges [broozh].
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However you choose to pronounce it,
the name comes from the Viking word for "wharf."
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In other words�it's been a trading center for a long time.
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About a thousand years ago, the city grew wealth
as the most important textile market in northern Europe.
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Back then, the city's canals provided
merchants smooth transportation.
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Today, they provide visitors smooth photo-ops.
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A short cruise shows off the town's old wealth.
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By the 14th century, Bruges' population was 40.000,
as large as London's.
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As the middleman in sea trade between northern
and southern Europe, it was an economic powerhouse.
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In the 15th century, while England and France
were slogging it out in a 100 years-long war,
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Bruges was the favored residence of the powerful
and sophisticated Dukes of Burgundy
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and at peace.
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Commerce and the arts flourished.
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But by the 16th century, its harbor silted up,
trade moved to the port of Antwerp
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and the economy collapsed
ending Bruges' Golden Age.
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The town slumbered for generations.
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Then, in the 20th century,
the tourists discovered the charms of Bruges.
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Today this uniquely well-preserved Gothic city
prospers because of tourism.
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Even with its crowds, it's the kind of city
where you don't mind being a tourist.
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And, it hides some sweet surprises�
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The people of Brugges are connoisseurs
of fine chocolate.
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You'll be tempted by chocolate-filled
display windows all over town.
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Locals buy their chocolates fresh daily,
like other people buy pastries.
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They love the family-run places
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like Dumon, where Madam Dumon
and her children are hard at work.
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Their ganache, a dark creamy combo,
wows chocoholics.
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Bruges seems to have a chocolate shop on every corner,
and some are more adventurous than others.
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The Chocolate Line, famous for its many
gastronomique varieties, proudly shows off its kitchen.
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Everything is lovingly made by hand.
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Some specials come
with an extra dose of creativity.
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So how many different flavours do you have ?
About 60 different kinds we have.
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You must have some special flavours.
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We have special ones, like cuban tobacco,
or saffron curry, or ginger.
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Cuban tobacco ?
Yes.
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Is that legal for americans ?
Yeah.
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Can I try one ?
Yes, sure.
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So, how is this made?
It's a layer of marzipan
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flavoured by tobacco of Cuba.
Cuba tobacco leaves ?
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Wow !
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Probably not as good as a cuban cigar,
but it's very good as a chocolate.
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The Market Square, ringed by restaurant terraces,
great old gabled buildings and the bell tower,
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marks the city center today as it did
in its medieval heyday.
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Back then, a canal came right up to this square.
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Farmers in the countryside shipped
their wool and flax to Bruges.
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Before loading it onto outgoing boats, the industrious locals
would maximize their profit by dying,
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spinning and weaving into finished textiles.
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The bell tower has stood over
Market Square since 1300.
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Climb the 366 steps for a commanding view.
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The tower houses a grand carillon.
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Rather than fingers the carillon player uses
his fists and feet.
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Aime Lombaert, who's rung these bells since 1984,
arranges his own music and enjoys sharing his art.
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Grab a bench in the courtyard to enjoy
one of the regular and free carillon concerts.
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The opulent square called Burg, Bruges' historical birthplace,
political center and religious heart
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is decorated with six centuries of fine architecture.
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The square's historic highlight is
the Basilica of the Holy Blood.
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The gleaming gold knights and ladies
on the church's gray facade
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remind us that this church was built
by a Crusader in the 12th century
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to house the drops of Christ's blood
which he brought back from Jerusalem.
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Inside the Basilica, the stark decor reeks of the medieval piety
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that drove those crusading Europeans christians
on their holy war against the Muslims.
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With heavy columns and round arches,
the style is pure Romanesque.
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Stairs lead to the brighter Gothic style upper chapel.
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The painting at the altar tells
how the holy blood got here.
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Derrick of Alsace, having helped conquer
Muslim-held Jerusalem in the Second Crusade,
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Here, he kneels before the grateful Christian patriarch
of Jerusalem, who rewards him with the relic.
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Derrick returns home and kneels before
Bruges' bishop to give him the vial of blood.
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Next door is the town hall.
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Fifteenth-century Bruges was
a thriving bastion of capitalism
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and this building served as a model for
town halls elsewhere, including Brussels.
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One of Europe's first representative
governments convened right here.
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In the adjoining room, old paintings and maps show
how little the city has changed over the centuries.
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This map shows in exquisite detail
the city as it looked in 1562,
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when a canal connected the North Sea
to Market Square.
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A fortified moat circled the city.
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Of the town's 28 windmills�
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� four survive today.
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The mills made paper, ground grain and functioned
as the motor of the Middle Ages.
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My favorite way to explore Bruges is on two wheels.
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Just about anywhere in Europe where the biking's good,
you'll find handy and inexpensive bike rentals.
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Get lost on the back streets,
away from the shopping and tour groups.
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Working up an appetite, you'll be tempted
by the smell of French fries,
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called Flemish fries here,
they are a local specialty.
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And, in Belgium, fries are an art form,
taken very seriously.
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Who made the first fry ?
Belgium.
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This potato was peeled this morning,
cut in pieces and put in that fat.
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You actually cook it in grease two times.
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Two times. Once in that, then it rests here,
afterwards, second time, high temperature.
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Low temperature, resting, high temperature.
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These are forming a skin right now.
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Yes, you see, these fries are swimming
like fishes in the fat.
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They are talking.
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I hear them, yes.
What are they saying ?
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That they are ready to be eaten.
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00:10:23,678 --> 00:10:29,310
In the 1500s, rich men and women decided that lace collars,
sleeves and veils were fashionable.
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For the next two hundred years, lace was the rage.
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It all had to be made by hand and countless women
earned extra income meeting the demand.
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This school makes sure that
traditional lacemaking survives in Bruges.
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People come from around the world
to study these 400-year-old techniques.
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To make bobbin lace
(which originated here in Bruges),
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women juggle different strands tied to bobbins,
weaving a design with the many threads.
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Unlike knitting, lacemaking requires total concentration
as you follow intricate patterns.
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Nearby, The Gruuthuse Museum,
a 15th-century mansion of a wealthy Bruges merchant,
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displays period furniture, tapestries and much more.
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This region was renown for fine tapestries.
They were popular with the wealthy
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colorful, great for warming up big drafty interiors
and a fun opportunity for a rich guy to tell a story.
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This series tells of courtship
and marriage in the early 1600s.
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The scenes and their old French captions
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subtly spin a story of youthful lustiness
that upsets stereotypes about medieval piety.
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Scene one, called Soup-Eating Lady,
shows a shepherd girl with a bowl of soup in her lap.
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00:11:49,962 --> 00:11:54,753
The flirtatious shepherd lad cuts a slice of bread
(that's foreplay in medieval symbolism)
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and, according to the text saucily asks if he can
"dip into the goodies in her lap"
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Nearby, another woman brazenly strips off
her socks to dangle her feet in water.
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00:12:13,938 --> 00:12:15,933
In scene 2, called The Dance,
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couples freely dance together under the apple tree
of temptation and around a bagpipe
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symbolic back then of hedonism.
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00:12:27,784 --> 00:12:32,243
The Wedding Parade shows where
all this wantonness leads: marriage.
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Music plays, the table is set and the meat's on the BBQ,
as the bride and groom enter� reluctantly.
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The bride smiles, but she's closely escorted by two men,
while the scared groom gulps nervously.
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Finally, in the last scene called Old Age,
the now elderly shepherd is tangled in a wolf trap.
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The caption reads "Alas, he was once so lively,
but marriage caught him
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and now he's trapped in its net."
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The merchant who lived here had it all.
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In fact, his mansion even had a private chapel
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with a box seat overlooking the cathedral altar.
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This was the ultimate in church-going convenience
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he could attend Mass and not even leave the house.
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For 600 years the Church of Our Lady has stood
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with its 400-foot tall tower of bricks
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as a memorial to the power and wealth
of Bruges at its height.
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Inside, reclining statues mark the tombs
of the last local rulers of Bruges,
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Mary of Burgundy and her father,
Charles the Bold.
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This delicate Madonna and Child is said have been
the only Michelangelo statue to leave Italy in his lifetime.
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It marks the tomb of the wealthy Bruges businessman
who bought the statue in Tuscany.
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Mary, slightly smaller than life-size,
sits while young Jesus stands in front of her.
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Their expressions are mirror images of each other,
serene, but a bit melancholy,
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with downcast eyes, as though pondering
what lies ahead for the young child.
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Though they're lost in thought,
their hands instinctively link, tenderly.
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00:14:37,857 --> 00:14:40,947
Just a cross the street, a monastery ran a hospital.
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It's recalls how the sick were treated.
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It also displays masterpieces by the great
Flemish painter, hometown boy, Hans Memling.
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Some 500 years ago, the nave of this former church
was lined with the sick and dying.
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Nuns served as nurses.
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In many ways, this was less a hospital
than a hospice.
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It helped the down-and-out make the transition
from this world to the next.
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Rather than dying in the streets,
they died here�with dignity.
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Care was more for the soul than the body.
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Religious art reminded the sufferers
that Christ could feel their pain,
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having lived it himself.
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Today, rather than the sick and dying,
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the wards now house a handful
of exquisite paintings by Hans Memling
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Memling was the master of
"Flemish Primitives."
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"Primitive" is not an insult.
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It was a 19th-century term for nostalgic,
pure and spiritual art
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of these highly skilled 15th century oil painters.
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Employed by and often portraying Belgium's wealthy,
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they captured their world in astonishing detail.
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Hans Memling's Saint John altarpiece
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was designed to comfort patients in the hospital.
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Gazing at this slice of heaven, they could imagine
leaving this world of pain and illness
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and joining Mary and Jesus in a serene setting,
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listening to heavenly music
and conversing with the saints.
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Memling's heaven echoes wealthy Bruges
in the 1400s, showing the city skyline,
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Oriental carpets that passed through here,
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fine furniture manufactured by the city
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and the latest Italian fashions.
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In the right panel, Memling then takes us
on a journey to the end of the world.
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John the Evangelist sits on the island of Patmos
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transfixed as he envisions the Apocalypse now.
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He writes down his vision,
a revelation of the end of time
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which eventually becomes
the last book of the bible�Revelations.
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Up in heaven, in a rainbow bubble,
God opens the seals of a book,
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unleashing awful events
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fires, plagues and wars that stretch
as far as the eye can see.
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The dreaded Four Horsemen
gallop across the dreamscape
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chasing helpless mortals
who scramble for cover.
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In the St. John Altarpiece, Hans Memling
shows us the full range of his palette,
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from medieval grace to Renaissance realism,
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to Avantgarde surrealism.
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All in a luxurious setting
somewhere between Bruges and heaven.
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Belgium is right up there with Germany,
England and the Czek Republic
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as one of the world's great beer countries.
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And, when it comes to variety,
Belgium is number 1.
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If you're not up to sampling all 120 local types,
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go right for the local favorite, Straffe Hendrik,
literally "strong Henry."
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The happy gang at this working family brewery
gives entertaining and informative tours.
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Good morning ladies and gentelman,
and welcome in the brewery "Straffe Hendrik".
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This brewery started in 1856, but we know there was a brewery,
here, on this premises, next to the canal, in 1564.
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So, in Belgium we have 120 types of beer
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and that's because we like using
all different types of natural ingredients.
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so, if you drink belgium beer,
you might recognize sour cherry,
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00:18:19,358 --> 00:18:22,565
raspberries, liquerish, ginger,
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00:18:22,659 --> 00:18:24,881
juniper berries, honey, sea weed,
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as long as it's natural, it's ok,
we really have a beer culture.
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00:18:28,932 --> 00:18:32,734
And we don't drink to get drunk,
we drink to enjoy different types of beer
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and make quality time with friends.
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So i thought, people all worry,
if belgium beer is healthy, if it's nutritious
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Well , I can have a good answer to that one
because is says here
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on this littel poster, that one liter of
the belgium beer is exacly the same
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as 200 grams of bread, 180 grams of meat,
and 72 centiliters of milk.
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What more do you want ?
I mean, saves a lot of shopping, and it's a good excuse.
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Who needs an excuse ?
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When there is so many types to try,
and an inviting tasting room, with friendly people
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it's time to drink beer like a belgian.
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We're catching one of the frequent trains that zip
from Brugges to Brussels in about an hour.
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Le Grand Place, Europe's grandest square,
is just a short walk from the train station.
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Brussels got a late start.
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Six hundred years ago, it was just a handy place
to buy a waffle on the way to Bruges.
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Then it was given free trade status
and its economy took off.
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By 1830 it was the capital of an exuberant
and newly independent country, Belgium
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booming with the industrial age.
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Today, with a million inhabitants, it's the headquarters
of NATO and the capital of the European Union.
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Brussels' Town Hall dominates the square.
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The fancy smaller buildings giving
the square its unique character
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are former guild halls with ornate
gabled roofs topped with statues.
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00:20:00,971 --> 00:20:04,429
Once the home offices for
the town's different professional guilds
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bakers, brewers, tanners and so on
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they all date from shortly after 1695
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the year Louis XIV's troops surrounded the city,
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00:20:13,096 --> 00:20:17,680
sighted their cannons on the Town Hall spire
and bombarded Brussels.
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00:20:18,994 --> 00:20:23,218
The French destroyed several thousand
wooden buildings, but managed to miss the spire.
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00:20:23,343 --> 00:20:27,145
As a matter of pride, these Brussels businessmen
rebuilt their offices better than ever
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all within about seven years.
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00:20:29,148 --> 00:20:34,045
Today, they look down over the square,
tall, enstoned with richly ornamented gables.
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00:20:37,017 --> 00:20:41,320
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00:20:37,017 --> 00:20:41,320
The neighboring street, Rue des Bouchers,
is Brussels' restaurant row.
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00:20:42,196 --> 00:20:45,233
Brussels is famous for good eating - serving many cuisines.
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00:20:45,330 --> 00:20:51,217
This city specializes in seafood,
the most popular dish: Mussels in Brussels.
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00:20:56,182 --> 00:21:01,365
For some reason, every visitor
has the Manneken-Pis on his list.
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00:21:01,678 --> 00:21:05,765
Even with low expectations,
this bronze statue is smaller than you'd think.
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Still, this little squirt is a fun,
light-hearted symbol of Brussels.
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Traditionally, visiting VIPs bring him a costume.
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A nearby museum displays hundreds of his outfits.
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00:21:21,292 --> 00:21:25,477
Today he's an Venezualian cowboy or something.
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00:21:27,257 --> 00:21:30,523
For higher art, I like Brussels
two greatest art galleries:
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00:21:30,797 --> 00:21:35,041
The side-by-side Ancient and Modern Art museums .
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00:21:35,197 --> 00:21:39,871
The Ancient Art museum, featuring Flemish
and Belgian art of the 14th to 18th centuries,
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is packed with a dazzling collection of masterpieces
by Van der Weyden, Breughel, Bosch and Rubens.
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00:21:49,806 --> 00:21:54,304
Rubens huge canvases graced palaces
and churches far and wide.
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00:21:55,829 --> 00:21:58,274
The Breughel room takes you back in time.
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00:21:58,430 --> 00:22:03,280
Flemish artists like Pieter Breughel the Elder
were masters of everyday detail.
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00:22:04,747 --> 00:22:06,938
In his Census at Bethlehem,
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00:22:07,016 --> 00:22:11,494
Breughel gives us a bird's-eye view
over a snow-covered village near Brussels.
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It's full of life, kids throw
snowballs and sled across the ice
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and men lug bushels across a frozen lake.
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while a crowd gathers at the inn, for the census.
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Into the scene ride a man and woman
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it's the carpenter, Joseph leading pregnant Mary,
looking for a room.
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00:22:31,128 --> 00:22:35,411
Breughel deftly synthesizes religious scenes
and slice-of-life detail
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in a local landscape, far from the Holy Land.
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00:22:40,027 --> 00:22:43,469
Peter Breughel the Elder's son,
Peter Breughel the Younger
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was a fine artist in his own right.
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00:22:46,012 --> 00:22:48,847
In this painting,
The Struggle between Carnival and Lent,
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00:22:49,043 --> 00:22:53,228
we see a classic battle between feasting and fasting.
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00:22:53,522 --> 00:22:58,431
The robust figure of Carnivale
jousts with the haggard figure of Lent.
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00:22:59,214 --> 00:23:03,829
Overlooking the square, the tavern and the church
compete as a refuge
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00:23:03,907 --> 00:23:05,726
for mortal souls.
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00:23:12,942 --> 00:23:18,790
The attached Museum of Modern Art gives an easy-to-enjoy
ramble through the art of the 19th and 20th centuries:
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00:23:18,848 --> 00:23:22,583
from neoclassical to surrealism and beyond.
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00:23:23,620 --> 00:23:28,842
The Belgian surrealist Ren� Magritte used
his training in advertising to push our buttons
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00:23:28,843 --> 00:23:31,775
with a collage of bizarre images.
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00:23:31,873 --> 00:23:34,865
He paints real objects with camera-eye clarity,
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00:23:34,866 --> 00:23:38,483
but jumbles them together in new
and provocative ways.
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00:23:38,581 --> 00:23:41,535
People morph into animals�or chairs.
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00:23:41,672 --> 00:23:44,586
And stairs lead nowhere
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00:23:44,938 --> 00:23:51,118
The surrealistic juxtaposition only short-circuits
your brain when you try to make sense of it.
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00:23:53,699 --> 00:23:56,633
And some of Brussels' top art is edible.
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00:23:56,926 --> 00:24:01,757
Many tourists consider the local waffles
a cultural highlight worth travelling for.
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00:24:05,063 --> 00:24:10,089
While the people of Brussels love their fun
taste treats, it's also a city of sophisticates.
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00:24:10,226 --> 00:24:13,687
As the unofficial capital of Europe,
the place is cosmopolitan
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00:24:13,688 --> 00:24:16,308
and hosts businessmen from around the world.
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00:24:16,562 --> 00:24:21,569
Though Brussels (like Belgium) is officially bilingual,
most of the people here speak French first.
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00:24:21,921 --> 00:24:24,757
Bone up on bonjour and s'il vous pla�t .
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00:24:26,614 --> 00:24:29,489
Brussels is the political nerve center
of a united Europe
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00:24:29,704 --> 00:24:32,051
only Washington DC has more lobbyists.
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00:24:32,383 --> 00:24:35,708
When Europeans have a gripe�
this is where they demonstrate.
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00:24:35,881 --> 00:24:38,306
And the most impressive part
of the city skyline these days
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00:24:38,307 --> 00:24:41,169
is the glassy headquarters
of the European Parliament.
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00:24:41,544 --> 00:24:44,173
Europe's governing body now welcomes visitors.
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00:24:44,402 --> 00:24:48,329
This busy symbol of unity is filled with
a cacophony of politicians
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00:24:48,407 --> 00:24:51,098
speaking the full range of European languages.
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00:24:51,615 --> 00:24:54,978
Visitors listen to a political-science lesson
while viewing the chambers
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00:24:54,979 --> 00:24:57,576
where the members of the Euro-parliament sit.
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00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:02,191
Today hundreds of parliament members
representing an entire continent
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00:25:02,332 --> 00:25:05,461
are hard at work, shaping Europe's future.
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00:25:08,058 --> 00:25:11,875
For centuries, Europe's cultural and
political differences have led to war
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00:25:12,050 --> 00:25:13,426
Today's daunting challenge:
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00:25:13,552 --> 00:25:18,245
to respect these differences while building
a democratic, prosperous and peaceful Europe.
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00:25:18,417 --> 00:25:21,703
And the fun part travelled today:
watching the story unfold.
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00:25:21,844 --> 00:25:23,612
Thanks for joining us.
I'm Rick Steves.
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00:25:23,675 --> 00:25:25,552
Until next time,
keep on travelin'.
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Au revoir.
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