Opposite the Bus Station

After such a long day  at Waterloo the day before, Mr C overslept a little so I got up quietly and read my book. Our plan for the day was to visit Abbey Park which is on the outskirts of Leuven. My plan was to go to hotel reception and ask about the travel options but this was vetoed so we headed off to the bus station to catch a bus. Just after we arrived at the bus station, a bus to our destination arrived. We didn’t get on it because Mr C was unsure whether you should have a bus pass or if you could pay per journey. After a bit of a kerfuffle (which I won’t go into) and after waiting for the next bus  (30 minutes later), we got on the bus after working out that we could hop on and pay.

I was aware of but didn’t mention the next problem that could potentially arise… Would we know when to get off the bus? I kept a watch on the street names and luckily was able to see the street name as it arrived at our destination stop. I announced we are here and we very hastily got off the bus. We then had a momentary dilemma concerning the direction we needed to go to find the Abbey Park. I (unusually!!) suggested that Mr C used a location widget that he has on his mobile phone, which he did successfully.

Abbey Park

Abbey Park

As we arrived, we walked up the long drive way to the Abbey Park and were surprised to see a heron in the stream next to the pathway. Walking towards the buildings, we noticed that everything looked closed, despite the promotional leaflet from the tourist information office and the Abbey Park’s website, saying it should be open! We found that only the museum was open and were informed, ‘You know the Abbey is closed don’t you? There is a guided tour on Sunday afternoon’. We were disappointed to learn this because we were particularly looking forward to seeing the Abbey’s library. However the museum was very interesting, telling the history of the Abbey, the Norbertines and St Norbert. When we had finished in the museum we made our way back to the bus stop so that we could have lunch in Leuven.

After lunch we browsed around a few book shops before pausing for refreshments. I had a mint tea which was presented in an interesting way, with mint leaves steeped in boiling water before leaving the customer to add the teabag. Since we were in the pub next to (and supplied by) the local brewery Mr C tried a taster of three of the brewery’s beers. As we made our way back to the hotel in order to freshen up before dinner, the Hush Puppy shop called me back and I made another purchase…

Leuven Delights

Our chosen venue for dinner provided excellent food and service and the wine selected to go with my meal was a perfect match. The one criticism I have of the restaurant was that we were not asked if we would like a dessert or coffee so, passing on dessert, we made our way back to the hotel for the evening.

Leuven

12 Comments CherryPie on Jul 1st 2015

12 Responses to “Leuven – Day Five”

  1. ubermouth says:

    Is that white asparagus, Cherie? I LOVE asparagus but have never had the white variety. Does it taste any different? And aren’t they just anemic asparagus -or a different variety all together?

    • CherryPie says:

      I have to confess to not being a big fan of green asparagus, I find the taste a little bitter.

      I had to try an asparagus dish when I was away because it is one of the local dishes. The white asparagus was much more to my liking, it had a softer sweeter taste more like leek.

  2. ....peter:) says:

    this was a full day of adventure Cherie… i like the image of your fine dinner… and the cafés and buildings in the blue hour….peter:)

  3. lisl says:

    You filled your day well, CHerie, but a real disappointment about the Abbey – not somewhere you can just pop back to

  4. James Higham says:

    Sounds like a wonderful time was had.

  5. Ginnie says:

    We ALWAYS grab the white asparagus whenever it’s available, Cherry, because it’s around for only a short-window of time. I had never heard of it while in America, only knowing the green variety, which I LOVE. Now I love both of them.

    I’m glad to see that you did get some good use out of your day, in spite of the set-backs.

    • CherryPie says:

      I didn’t realise that I was privileged to be able to enjoy the asparagus because it is seasonal. I tried it because it is a local dish and within reason I always try out the dishes of the places I visit.

      Have you tried the purple headed asparagus? I like that too :-)

  6. Yummy, the fish looks good.
    I tried their fish soup in Bruges before.
    Kinda creamy.