Cherie's Place

Filed under Anecdotes, Holidays, Mechelen 2014

Mechelen – Day Five

After our final Mechelen breakfast Mr C decided he wanted to stay in the hotel room until it was time to catch a cab to the station. He was also all for waiting until the last minute to book the cab, but I insisted we booked it straight after breakfast. I didn’t want the possibilities of any last minute complications.

I had no desire to spend my last two hours in Mechelen in the hotel room (even though the room was nice). Instead I set off with my camera for a stroll and a bit of exploring. It was a beautiful crisp sunny morning. I walked in a new direction and found the garden that is mentioned in the hotel literature. I then wandered back and walked some more familiar paths and enjoyed seeing the by now familiar buildings in a different light.

All too soon it was time for me to return to the hotel in order to check out and catch the cab to the station. When the cab arrived we noticed it was the same driver who had driven us to the hotel on arrival. I didn’t find the taxi any easier to clamber into than I did on our previous journey. The seats were high to step up to and there was very little leg room. We arrived at the station just in time to catch the fast train to the Eurostar terminal, rather than the slow train we had taken on our inbound journey. This left us plenty of time to check in and get through immigration controls.

Our Eurostar carriage was almost empty and when the train was due to depart we were told we could move to a different seat in the carriage if we wished as no one else would be joining us. I quickly moved to a seat with a table. The new seats had the added bonus of being nearer to our luggage meaning we could easily keep an eye on it at station stops.

Shortly after our departure we were served with a delicious lunch of Belgium cheeses (there was also a beef option). We were asked ‘would you like wine or was it too early?’ I quipped ‘it is never to early for wine’ causing the attendants to laugh We were then given the choice of red, white or rose. Decisions, decisions… As we started tucking into the meal the conductor entered our carriage. He looked at us and said ‘Bon Appetite’. We must have caught his eye because we were the only ones that got that treatment…

The return journey ran just as smoothly as the outward journey. All in all it was much more relaxing than flying to and from Zurich last year.

Tags: Belgium, Eurostar, Malines, Mechelen, Weekend away

12 Comments CherryPie on Apr 4th 2014

Filed under Anecdotes, Heritage, Holidays, Mechelen 2014

Mechelen – Day Four

Mechelen is a city of many historic churches, eight are promoted as places worthy a visit. We each picked a church of our wish list, for Mr C it was Church of our Lady Hanswidj and for me it was Beguinage Church and between us we decided to include Church of Our Lady Across the Dyle.

After breakfast our first port of call was Church of our Lady Hanswidj. From the outside it doesn’t look much because it is surrounded by buildings. The inside is spectacular and we felt blessed that we were able to visit. The church is closing for restoration at the beginning of April. It will be closed for four years!

We then strolled through the botanic garden and saw the church from the other side. We gradually made our way back to the town so that we could visit a chocolate shop to buy some gifts.

The lady in the chocolate shop was very helpful and she guided us through the differences between the boxes and chocolates within them. All the boxes looked beautiful but the ones described as gift boxes held less chocolates. She also helped us to choose a bespoke box of chocolates for someone who has nut allergies.

She asked how long we were staying and if we had seen the carnival which she explained was a local custom (mainly for the children). She then went on to tell us about an excellent magazine (just published) that covered the places of interest and the history of Mechelen. She regretted not being able to give us a copy because they had all been taken during the carnival. She showed us her copy and it was the magazine I had picked up from the toy museum the previous day.

After dropping the chocolates off at the hotel we had lunch and then walked to the Beguinage church. It is currently covered with scaffolding and not very inviting from the outside but inside it is full of amazing artworks and treasures. As in the previous church the custodian was very proud of the church and keen to explain a few features in English. The literature only comes in Dutch (Flemish) and French. We got by with the French version. In both cases they were pleased to see us, they don’t get many English (British) visitors.

We then visited Church of Our Lady Across the Dyle. We picked up a French leaflet to guide us round the church and I asked the custodian (who didn’t speak much English) if it was alright to take photographs. He said yes and then rushed me across the whole length of the church at great speed. I wondered where he was taking me… A nice view perhaps? No… he took me to a place where I should not use flash and then he indicated that flash photography was allowable everywhere else. For various reasons I never use flash for my photographs in churches and cathedrals.

We then made our way back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner, visiting a book shop along the way. When I was back at the hotel I packed my case ready for departure the following morning. As I left the hotel for my evening meal a small bear hitched a ride in my bag…

After our evening meal we had the obligatory nightcap before retiring to bed.

Tags: Artuus, Arty, Bear, Beguinage Church, Belgium, Church of Our Lady Across the Dyle, Church of our Lady Hanswidj, Malines, Mechelen, Weekend away

8 Comments CherryPie on Apr 3rd 2014

Filed under Anecdotes, Holidays, Mechelen 2014

Mechelen – Day Three

The weather was fine when we ventured out after breakfast so first port of call was back to the military barracks. On our visit the previous day we had forgotten to walk around the side to see the restored railway carriage that had transported the Jews from the barracks to Auschwitz Birkenau.

We then set off on a long trek visiting an exhibition of Rik Wouters art which is housed in The Schepenhuis followed by what was formerly Margaret of Austria’s Palace, finally ending up in the Toy Museum, where we also took a break for lunch. Whilst at the museum I picked up an excellent free magazine that covered the history, museums, churches and places of interest in Mechelen.

Whilst returning from the Toy Museum to the centre of Mechelen we inadvertently found the tourist information office. It became obvious why we had missed the day before! It had been hidden by a market stall!! I didn’t find anything in the tourist information office that I hadn’t already researched myself.

Our next port of call was St Rumbold’s Cathedral, so that Mr C could ascend the tower. I sat enjoying the sunlight playing on the statue of St Rumbould and read the free Mechelen magazine that I had picked up and realised that I had happened on an unexpected gem, it had all the information that I could have hoped for. When we left the Cathedral the Mechelen carnival was in full flow. The crowd was showered with sweets, popcorn, plastic balls and cuddly toys. It was lovely to watch the children running around trying to gather them up. Beer was handed out along the way and a bag of little china ornaments was pressed into our hands. We initially thought it was a nativity set but on closer inspection it was six oriental gentlemen.

After all that we had a well deserved rest in the hotel before our evening meal, which again was followed by a nightcap in the hotel before retiring for the night.

Tags: Auschwitz Birkeneau, Belgium, Carnival, Malines, Margaret of Austria's Palace, Mechelen, Rik Wouters, St Rumbold's Cathedral, The Schepenhuis, The Toy Museum, Weekend away

8 Comments CherryPie on Apr 2nd 2014

Filed under Anecdotes, Heritage, Holidays, Mechelen 2014

Mechelen – Day Two

After a good nights sleep we ventured downstairs for breakfast. The breakfast room is quite stunning. It is situated in what was the choir of the church.

The breakfast buffet was one of the best I have ever seen. There was a decadent option of having a glass of Cava to put you in the mood for the day ahead. I chose not to indulge so early in the morning After the refreshing breakfast we ventured into to town to find the tourist information office. We failed and as it was raining we moved onto plan B.

We visited St Rumbold’s Cathedral with its wonderful architecture, artworks and stained glass windows. I found it a little sad to see that parts of it are crumbling and in need of a little TLC.

When we left the Cathedral the rain had stopped so we went for a stroll to find the Beguinages. We managed to miss the Beguinages too and ended up by the kazern Dossin museum and military barracks where Jews were held awaiting deportation during WW2. The museum was excellent and thought provoking. It invited the visitor to ask questions and look for answers.

After our visit to the museum we strolled back in the direction of the hotel and we managed to find the Beguinages that were being illusive earlier in the day. The Beguinage Church was shrouded in scaffolding rather spoiling the ambiance. Several other buildings in the city (including the Cathedral) are also currently subjected to portions of scaffolding.

After exploring the Beguinages we made our way back to the hotel to freshen up before venturing back out into the city for another excellent dinner. Our journey took us past the brewery.

After dinner we retired to the hotel for nightcap in the hotel bar.

Tags: Beguinage, Belgium, Brewery, Cathedral, Het Anker Brewery, Kazern Dossin, Malines, Martin's Hotels, Martin's Patershof, Mechelen, St Rumbold’s Cathedral, Weekend away, WW2

8 Comments CherryPie on Apr 1st 2014

Filed under Anecdotes, Holidays, Mechelen 2014

Mechelen – Day One

The traffic to Stafford station was heavier than expected. This cut it a bit fine for getting to the station in time for printing off the tickets. Luckily the ticket printing ran smoothly, which is not always the case.

Once on the train, we had a bacon buttie and cup of tea for breakfast. Some things just have to be done The train ran smoothly to Euston, where we hailed a cab to take us around the corner to St Pancras station to catch the Eurostar to Brussels. The journey ran smoothly apart from a slight hassle due the scanning machines refusing to register my ticket, meaning the automatic barriers didn’t open to let me through. This involved a bit of too and froing on my part before I was directed to the manual check in booth.

I found checking in at customs was much more relaxed that at an airport. Travelling by Eurostar was very civilised and we were served with what was called a mid morning snack; yoghurts, bread, croissants and pastries with fruit juice, water, tea and coffee provided with top ups. The connecting service from Brussels was easy to navigate and also ran smoothly. On arrival at Mechelen station we caught a cab to the hotel and checked in. The hotel we had chosen to stay in was a converted church and our room had several architectural features and a stained glass window.

When we got to our room we quickly unpacked before setting off to explore the city. It was easy to see why the guidebooks describe Mechelen as ‘a medieval town with charm’, even though some of the buildings are currently shrouded with scaffolding.

We booked into a restaurant for an evening meal and returned to the hotel to freshen up before dinner. There was a small problem with the room safe refusing to open, with our things locked inside… A lady from the hotel reception was unable to fix it, but she was able to open it with an emergency key and booked a maintenance call for the next day. We were offered the facility of the safe behind the reception area until it was fixed. The evening meal was excellent and on the way back to the hotel we stopped off in a small bar that was full of locals. Sixties, seventies and eighties music was playing in the background so it was a bit like stepping back in time. After a small nightcap we returned to our room with a view…