Arriving in Brussels, Belgium at 2am after a long drive from Berlin, we found ourselves captivated by the city at night. This part of the journey required us to have more of an adventurous mindset, as we had no plans of a place to stay. Sometimes, when traveling in this way, a sense of time is nonexistent. The city was magical at this hour, beautifully still and mysterious as we walked on cobblestones into a grand square empty, but filled with the light found only at night. Exploring side streets led us into a maze of nightlife, hidden but still quite alive at this late hour. In retrospect, all this discovery was worth the few hours of sleep we tried to get in the car, as no hotel or hostel would take us in.

The next morning we awoke to explore these scenes again. A few hours later, the same still square was filled with activity. It is in moments like these that I feel connected to the present moment. I love to stand amidst these backdrops and observe life in a new frame of mind. Outside of myself and anything I could have imagined, yet part of the moment through sight. With my camera I can interact with the foreign landscape, making it feel familiar.

We’d intended to spend more time backstage before this final concert than the previous show’s we’d been to, since our goal in this trip was to come away with the kind of behind-the-scenes shots we could imagine. The day exploring Brussels didn’t exactly go to plan, however, in part due to our peaked interest in the city. We always find antique and junk shops about the time we should be returning from the streets. In Spain last May we found garage and lot sales in the small towns on our way back to the airport and returned home with entirely new pieces of baggage. Its always strange things that we find at the last minute, and though in Brussels we weren’t against the deadline of a car rental or flight, we still managed to find a few items that most people wouldn’t consider returning home with, and we packed these items quickly in order to make it to the venue in time.

The last show of the tour proved to be incredible. The energy backstage was celebratory and being in the midst of it was a unique moment in my career as a photographer. Seeing the excitement that the bands possessed for their music and how the fans responded was inspiring. Mumford & Sons performed a flawless show and Old Crow Medicine Show joined them for an encore to conclude the European fall tour. After the show, the music did not stop, as the bands continued to jam with old time fiddle tunes, led by Odessa. As an artist, I love witnessing an impromptu performance because the images that I can capture are so special. These are the moments that I will return to for years as being the most meaningful. It was also Ben’s birthday which produced a champagne toast followed by more celebration followed by a rousing walk across the street to small Belgian bar. The space was just big enough for the group, making the drinks and conversations more intimate. Cheers to once in a lifetime experiences and the opportunity to share them with friends.

On recommendation from several people during our travels, we averted the last day and a half of our time together away from Brussels and Amsterdam towards the small town of Brugge, in the Flemish countryside closer to the ocean. Brugge is the best preserved medieval town in western Europe, so I’m told. I would believe it. The town center is surrounded most of the way around by an actual moat, with well preserved guard towers at each bridge. The streets and buildings, if you can ignore the tourists, have the ability to transport you back any number of years. The locals we had the pleasure of interacting with had a classic old European sense to them, speaking of the same regional rivalries that created the continent’s diversity over the last millennium.

We were enthralled by the cathedrals, the monastery, the swans, the canals, the houseboats, and the glimpses of peoples lives we could see through classic windows. At times we had to be quick about it, however, because by this time, our traveling companions, Gill and Odessa, had proven to explore our surroundings at a quicker pace than our own. Our time in Brugge was throroughly enjoyed before we made the evening drive back to Amsterdam where I (Amos) had to fly out of the next morning.

I spent a good three hours at lunch today looking at vintage 35mms and hearing every last detail about each. A collector I found on Craigslist, selling his collection, is all in one the most knowledgable and talkative man I’ve ever met on the subject. I’ve been looking into getting ahold of an additional vintage 35mm, and Harold’s collection might just provide me with too many options from which to choose. I wrote more about it on my blog at movement, movement.