Article: The art of Belgium is on display Even getting stuck on a royal roof can't deter a determined visitor

OSTENDE, Belgium -- The royal gallery that runs along the beach in this seaside resort is a stately piece of architecture. An elevated colonnade, it joins a large and lovely manse where the Belgian royals still like to repair in season, and the Thermae Palace Hotel, where I recently stayed, very much out of season.

The Thermae Palace is a turn-of-the-century pile that's a bit ragged around the edges but an impressive example of neoclassicism nonetheless. It's huge. The trek from the lobby to my room in a distant corner of the building was daunting, so to exit one evening I took the fire escape that was conveniently located just outside my door. The stairs led down to the roof of the royal ...

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