Once again we were offered Champagne for breakfast although on this occasion there were no strawberries so I opted for mixed fresh fruit instead. We had packed our cases before breakfast but before returning to our room to collect them we asked the hotel receptionist if he would book a taxi to take us to the train station at 2 pm. As we walked away from reception back to our hotel room I glanced out of the windows and commented that I thought it was going to rain today:

Mr C – No it isn’t.

Me (as we arrived in the room) – It Is going to rain today.

Mr C – No it isn’t.

Me – The weather has other ideas, look behind you!

Whereupon he looked behind and noticed the sudden sharp downpour much to the amusement of both of us. We took our bags to hotel reception (left luggage) so that we could enjoy the morning in Leuven and as we left the reception desk, the receptionist amusingly quipped ‘Enjoy our Summer’. Luckily it stopped raining and the sun started shining just as we were leaving the hotel.

We eventually (Mr C ignored my three tried and tested route directions) arrived at the Large Beguinage which Mr C missed whilst on his adventures in Waterloo. When he had finished exploring the Beguinage it was time to make our way back the Grote Market for an early lunch. I chose a waffle with fruit and when it arrived I pleased to see it was the waffle of the week, it was covered with mixed fresh fruit. It was delicious! After lunch we still had a little time to spare before we had to return to the hotel to catch our Taxi, so we returned to the botanical gardens for a short walk, enjoying the tranquil setting and the sunshine.

Once back at the hotel our Taxi was a little late arriving but it got us to the station in plenty of time to catch our connecting train to the the Eurostar in Brussels. On this occasion there were no delays, the Eurostar trains were running on time. During our journey we were served with a late lunch of lightly poached salmon followed by a chocolate dessert which I suspect was rather calorific and I regretted eating.

When we arrived at London station and looked at our tickets back to Stafford Mr noticed  that they were first class tickets. He had forgotten he had booked them at a cheap price due to advanced booking. A first class ticket guarantees a seat and  more luggage space, it also meant we were entitled to a meal which after breakfast and two lunches we did not need. We need not have worried because we soon found out that the meal option was a ‘Sunday Snack Service’. A box was placed in front of us and we were asked ‘would you like an apple’. On opening the box we found; a tiny bag of pretzels, a tiny bag of crisps, two half size crackers, a small foil wrapped soft cheese and a bite size chocolate crisp bar. Welcome to England!

As the train was cruising into Stafford station Mr C received a text message saying that our Taxi had arrived. We found it little odd that our Taxi had arrived at the station before we had. When we arrived home we quickly unpacked our cases and freshened up before walking round the corner for a late evening meal with Mr C’s Mum and Dad. The meal was delicious; beef casserole, cabbage and mashed potato followed by creme brulee. There was a cheese course but I declined.

Now back to my diet

Yesterday evening we returned home from our recent travels to the city of Leuven in Belgium. We had a room with a view and a cosy fire. The week was nice and (mostly) relaxing and now I am working my way through over 800 photographs. This has been hampered with my computer playing up by initially freezing up and deciding not to copy the photos across from the memory card. This meant that I had to go through a convoluted route to get them onto my computer.

After my computer froze it stopped recognising any memory card inserted into the drive. Trying to fix the problem resulted in my computer not recognising my iPhone as a data drive. The latter has been fixed but I have given up on the data card drive problem for now. In addition to these problems, my monitor had been playing up for a few weeks and finally decided to pack up a few days before we went away and I have been looking at the best option for a new one.

Now I can get back to working my way through my photographs…

And to finish I would like to wish the men in my life a (belated) Happy Father’s Day

We can enjoy each others company, enjoy the atmosphere and watch the world go by

A previous post explains how we ended up staying in this hotel in Mechelan. I fell in love with the hotel

As luck would have it an email arrived from the Belgian hotel chain that we used when we stayed in Bruges. It gave us inspiration and I fell in love with one of the hotels in the chain. The Hotel is a converted Church! I researched the hotel’s town and found that it had many things of interest. The guidebooks describe it as a beautiful medieval town, with charm and outstanding architectural treasures.

I was also curious about the history of the church. I was happy to find that the hotel provided this information in the ‘useful information book’ which can be found in most hotel rooms.

The building which houses Martin’s Patershof dates from the late 19th century and formed part of the Franciscan monastery. Members of the Franciscan order, the Friars Minor shared their history with that of Mechelen from their arrival in 1231. They were expelled under the French revolution of the late 18th century, but Belgian independence and the state approval of the religious orders saw their re-establishment.

The construction of their new church, a neo-gothic building, started in the Hiehoek area 1867 area and was completed in 1873, followed by the completion of the cloisters.

At the end of the 1990s, the Franciscans left their monastery and put it up for sale. The gardens and part of the cloister were turned into a residential development called ‘Patershof’. In 1999, the building was deconsecrated and then sold to a private individual. Spring 2008 saw the beginnings of the metamorphosis of a heritage site in danger of extinction. Less than 14 months later, Martin’s Patershof opened its doors.

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.

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…

It is my turn at Vision & Verb today.  My post is about about the choice of a weekend away  in Mechelen as a Christmas gift.

I invite you to join me there.