Oostende / Ostende / Ostend - The Crystal Ship

[amboseli]

For the third time running, Belgian’s largest coastal city forms the backdrop for the popular art festival The Crystal Ship. Specially for this unique event, over fifteen (inter)national artists created large scale murals and art installations using the City by the Sea as their canvas. The new artworks became a permanent addition to the fifty larger and hundreds of smaller creations which resulted from the past three editions. Together they form an impressive artistic trail throughout Ostend. More info on the website.

So, we drove to Oostende on this beautiful day, bikes on the car rack, and our purpose was to cycle along all the murals and street art. We got the free map at the tourist office and off we went. Unfortunately directions weren't always very clear and after three hours of cycling in the heat, and more than 40 kms, we gave up.

There are 50 murals/art installations in total. Hereafter is what we have seen. The exhibition is permanent, we may go back to see what we missed today.

[bixaorellana]

Outstanding monumental art! Great pictures, Amboseli. I have seen the red rocks online, but your photo is much better and somehow gives a realer sense of them. I am struck by how many of the buildings are seen against the sky. I imagine in a different setting, the mural walls would seem more hemmed in by other buildings. That blue, blue sky over the ocean and coast sets off everything perfectly.

[kerouac2]

I've always enjoyed Oostende, but I have never visited it as much as I would like, probably just because it is a bigger city and more difficult to park. But I like all of the Belgian coastline, so I tend to stop in places like Middelkerke, Nieuwpoort and obviously De Panne, since I am at that end much more often.

Now you have given me a specific reason to find a parking place in Oostende after all. It shouldn't be too difficult since I tend to go out of season.

[bjd]

What a great idea to put that artwork on those apartment buildings!

[patricklondon]

Impressive. I have a (no doubt inaccurate) mental image that Belgian seaside resorts have been going through the same depressing cycle as most of ours - interesting that both are seizing on investment in arts as a way of reviving interest and the local economy, as in Folkestone and Margate.

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[amboseli]

May 9, 2018 5:39:30 GMT kerouac2 said:

Now you have given me a specific reason to find a parking place in Oostende after all. It shouldn't be too difficult since I tend to go out of season.

We've had great difficulty in finding a parking place for our car and traffic was crazy. I cannot imagine how the situation must be in the season. At last we parked a bit out of the center, we had our bikes after all.
Instead of trying to find a parking place in Oostende, you could also park in De Panne, Koksijde, or somewhere else along the line of the coastal tram (Kusttram) and take the tram to Oostende.

[amboseli]

May 9, 2018 11:26:48 GMT patricklondon said:

Impressive. I have a (no doubt inaccurate) mental image that Belgian seaside resorts have been going through the same depressing cycle as most of ours

It is! Although there have been initiatives in the last years for the revival of the coastal resorts, such as this Crystal Ship exhibition, or Beaufort.

[lagatta]

You could simply take the train and the tram, hopping off at different places. Unfortunately I just saw Oostende, on my way to a town along the Kusttram line.

The Kusttram is considered the longest tram line in the world. It is worth taking for itself. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Tram_(Belgium)I linked to English Wiki but the Dutch and French articles are far more detailed, with lots of public transport geekery. You can also see the Paul Delvaux museum at St. Idesbald. www.delvauxmuseum.com/

The extensive damage caused by both world wars is palpable and still leaves a tinge of sadness to the Flemish coast.

[kerouac2]

That's only if you consider 1960's and 70's architecture to be sad. Yes, I do, too.

However, I think it is kind of aging well and is acquiring an agreeable patina. I am reminded of cities like Le Havre and Saint Dié-des-Vosges which were destroyed in the war and completely rebuilt afterwards. When I was little, I thought they were very ugly and charmless. Now it is I who is ugly and charmless, but the architecture of those cities has triumphed over the last 50 years.

[lagatta]

Yes, I do dislike much of that architecture - not because it is modern but because it was obviously thrown up in a hurry - no choice - and much of it is not ageing well.

But also because of the ghosts of those who never made it to the "ugly and charmless" phase, if you think of people of a certain age in those terms.

www.belgiancoast.co.uk/en/inspiration/coastal-tram

www.delijn.be/nl/kusttram/ Also in French, English and German.

www.independent.co.uk/travel/hold-tight-belgium-goes-off-the-rails-the-tramway-along-the-flanders-coast-offers-some-bizarre-and-1508228.html

www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/belgium/737990/Belgium-by-the-sea.html

King Leopold's "exploitation of the Congo" has to enter the annals of understatement...

[mossie]

Some of those were very impressive. What is the relevance of 1906 to the coat of arms?, or am I showing my ignorance of Belgian history.

I do agree about '60s and '70s architecture. I worked on several crappy housing estates of the period, where the architects had won prizes FFS.

[whatagain]

Mossie i would wager 1906 is the date the house was built.
Been ages I haven't been to Oostende. Family bought an apartment close by.
My father had for a time an apartment in the seaside in koksijde.
Since he gave a set of keys to his secretary but not to us I somehow got the message he didn't really want us there. I was wrong but I don't like the Flemish coast anyway so missed both an opportunity to spend time with my father and to enjoy the seaside.
But these pics entice me going back.

[amboseli]

May 10, 2018 8:27:46 GMT whatagain said:

Been ages I haven't been to Oostende.

I hadn't been in Oostende for at least 20 years. The last time, some girlfriends and I went especially to have dinner in one of the restaurants at the Visserskaai ... much overpriced! I still find Oostende one of the least attractive seaside towns along the Belgian coast. I much prefer De Haan, or quiet Duinbergen. Koksijde, too, but it's a much longer drive for us.