A real Rodin "The Thinker" in Brussels

Today my friend A. showed me another Brussels cemetery, the cemetery of Laken which lies next to the "Our Lady of Laeken" cathedral. The Belgians call this cemetery the Brussels "Pere Lachaise". It is quite interesting, as it not only has the graves of several important Brussels families, but also houses a souterrain/catacombs of graves. Unfortunately the cemetery is in a bit of a state, the roof of the catacombs is in danger of caving in and many, many graves have been robbed or vandalised. I was told this "The Thinker" statue is authentic, amazing to find it in a cemetery. More pictures of some of the things I saw today can be found here.

We also went to have a look in the cathedral, which houses the Royal Crypt, where the members of the Belgian Royal family have been buried. Normally this crypt is only open for the public on some Sundays, but it was open today and many people were visiting. What we didn't realise until much later is that today was the 20th anniversary of the death of King Baudouin and many people came to visit his grave, including his wife, Queen Fabiola, who left a beautiful heart-shaped wreath.