…From my perspective

Hotel Klooster

Today was the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo and Mr C planned to spend the day on the battlefield. I was disturbed out of my sleep when he woke up earlier than usual and started to get things ready for his day out. After breakfast Mr C caught the train to Waterloo and I set off on a short walking tour to take in a few points of interest in Leuven.

The Dijle Duck fountain

The first stop on my route was a visit to St Anthony’s Church again, hoping to experience it alone in silence. The church itself was empty so I sat a while in the silence but the crypt had other visitors so I departed and made my way to the next place on my itinerary, the River Dijle Park. On my way to the park I came across the Dijle Duck fountain which is supposedly a good luck charm! If you rub your hand over its back three times, grab a hold of its tail with your little finger and then walk around the fountain until you reach the black button on the ground and the press the button and make a wish you will activate its powers.

Before you ask, no I didn’t…

The Small Iron Bridge

The Large Beguinage

I couldn’t quite figure out where the entrance to the park was, so I stood and pondered over the map for a few minutes. A lady stopped to ask if I needed help (how kind) :-) ) She was able to point me in the right direction to the park entrance and I soon found the small iron bridge that was the point of my visit to the park. I wandered through the park to the Large Beguinage and on arrival I found it to be lovely and tranquil with lots of photo opportunities.

I spent a long time in the Beguinage before making my way back to town for lunch. After lunch I retraced my steps to visit both Saint Michael’s Church (the Jesuit church we walked past the previous day) and also St John the Baptist Church which is situated within the Large Beguinage. After enjoying the interior of both these churches I spent more time in the Large Beguinage before making my way back to St Anthony’s Church. I knew that on this occasion that I would have the crypt to myself. It was so peaceful :-)

Bar Klooster

After my visit to the church, I made my way back into town and visited the Hush Puppy shop, in which I had been window shopping each evening as we walked back to the hotel after dinner. I came away with a pair of sandals and headed back to the hotel to drop them off in the hotel room. By this time my feet were rather sore from walking all day on the cobbled streets so I elected not to go back out.

I researched restaurant options for dinner, then freshened up and went down to the hotel bar with my book in order to wait for Mr C’s return from Waterloo. When he arrived he joined me for a drink before we made our way into town for dinner. The restaurant we chose had good food but towards the end of the evening the service was lacking in due care and attention.

10 Comments CherryPie on Jun 29th 2015

10 Responses to “Leuven – Day Four…”

  1. lisl says:

    I find that exploring alone like this often gives you a fuller experience of a new place, Cherie

  2. Amfortas says:

    How does one grab a duck’s tail with just one little finger? It seems to me that anyone who can manage that has a lot of luck due. :) What a splendid day you had. And what of Mr C’s day? I hope he enjoyed the tranquilty of the long-quiet battlefield. I think your drop-ins to the churches were where the battles still rage.

    • CherryPie says:

      I have no idea how you grab a ducks tail with one finger. I did wonder if it was a ruse to make the tourists look silly. In my case I only managed to look lost whilst perusing the map ;-)

      You will here all about Mr C’s Day in the next post. It wasn’t as quiet and relaxed as mine ;-)

  3. ubermouth says:

    Your tales make me miss England & Europe so much!

    I can`t think of anything finer and more relaxing than wandering around some ancient town.

  4. Flemish gables are so Belgian.

  5. Ayush says:

    a fine post, i enjoyed the shots with all the greenery. after a long day on foot, i can imagine the place in the last shot would appear most welcoming, CP