Crooked glasshouse

For years I've been wanting to visit the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken but I'd always miss out on the ticket sales or have something else planned. This might sound a bit strange to those who don't know much about these impressive place; at least I thought so, until I learned that they're only open to the public for twenty days a year. Every year the greenhouses are available for anyone to visit during most of its plants' flowering period. The reason for this is that King Leopold II wanted everybody to enjoy its splendor at its peak: he was well-known for displaying his collections containing art, plants, animals and even people (maybe I'm exaggerating a bit here). In Belgium he'd gained the title of "Builder King" as he commissioned many public works, buildings and urban projects. "The Concession", an Anglo-Norman villa district in the coastal town of De Haan, is my favorite. Unfortunately all of his accomplishments are polarized by the horrors he inflicted on the people of the Congo when he reigned over Congo Free State.

The Winter Garden featuring a hint of a barrier in the bottom left (2024)

All of King Leopold II's realizations were paid for in Congolese blood. Back then their main product of export was rubber, also known as "red rubber" by people in the business as they knew the means of getting said rubber wasn't entirely kosher. This was the case despite his claims that him colonizing the Congo was only for philanthropic reasons. Yet, this philanthropy was not meant for the Congolese but for the Belgians since he would go on to build and fund all these amazing constructions, like the Parc du Cinquantenaire and the railway station Antwerpen-Centraal, with his blood money. However, it is thought that this was a publicity stunt as he only donated all of these projects, including Congo Free State, to Belgium after people we're starting to question where all of Congo's profits were going to. This made him decide to start the Royal Trust Society of Belgium. This was basically a way for King Leopold II to bequeath his entire estate to his family without having to pay taxes for it as these properties were worth a lot of money. To this day nobody knows its total worth, but it is said that it's more than 500 million euros.

Unfortunately there was another barrier (2024)

Me appreciating these beautiful flowers (2024)

Of course this year I'd have another chance at going to the Royal Greenhouses of Laeken. Unfortunately I'd already given up on the idea since the website kept crashing when the tickets were available. Even my friends were going feral in our group chat exclaiming they can't book any tickets. Luckily my husband was aware of me wanting to go so he threw his glove at their website unbeknownst to me. All of a sudden he called asking me if Saturday May 4th would be doable for both of us. I put two and two together and asked him whether this was for what I thought it was. He answered my question with a sweet "yes" and I told him how happy I was that we'd finally visit those greenhouses. My colleague, who was sat next to me as I was making the phone call, told me she'd never gone but my excitement for it made her curious. I spent that entire afternoon explaining the history behind it with much enthusiasm (like I did earlier). This ended up convincing her to plan a visit to the greenhouses.

Rose grapes (2024)

Unfortunately for us May 4th would turn out to be a rainy day meaning we couldn't take any (good) pictures outside. Something that immediately caught our eye was how underwhelming it actually was. Don't get me wrong, the amount of exotic plants is amazing but they weren't presented in an alluring way. We got tired of being surrounded by fuchsias, azaleas and hydrangeas. I think we saw almost all of the species linked to these aforementioned genera. This is why when I saw the rose grapes I got so happy because the were finally something so different. I got enamored with its soft pink hue and its leathery leaves. These were apparently planted by King Baudouin because he was very fond of them (they were even featured on the 10.000 Belgian francs notes). My husband convinced me to get one of them at the giftshop but I said that it wasn't a good idea right now (we don't have any plant care items at home). The greenhouses lack a touch of creativity and cleanliness. We passed by the same arrangements over and over again with some windows being whitened by calcium. It was very unfortunate to see that the Royal Trust Society of Belgium does not take better care of it. Putting all my criticism aside - and accepting that I'd hyped it up too much in my own mind - you actually get what you pay for. It was 6 euros a person which is 50 percent cheaper than Meise Botanic Garden (next week we're attending a tea party in their Balat Green House). All in all, I had an enjoyable day with my husband for which I wore:

• Headpiece: Zara
• OP: Baby The Stars Shine Bright
• Bloomers: Off-brand
• OTKs: Baby The Stars Shine Bright
• Shoes: Off-brand
• Bag: Second-hand Baby The Stars Shine Bright
• Umbrella: Off-brand

Me posing with this beautiful azalea (2024)

Thank you, and take care.