You may recall from a previous post that the abbey which held so much promise was closed on the day that we chose to visit.

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.

Norbertine abbey founded in 1129.

The most completely preserved abbey complex in the Netherlands. The Church of Saint John the Evangelist is also a parish church. It is in fact a Romanesque construction but was converted into Baroque style in the 18th century when it was given a tower. The Romanesque portal in the tower was subsequently exposed.

The monastery buildings of the 16th-17th centuries were built on earlier foundations. Splendid relief work in the refectory and library  (end of 17th century).

Monumental gates of 18th century, including Saint John’s gate and Saint Norbert’s gate.

Monastery barn, farm buildings, Provisor’s house, guest quarters, coach house, water mill, 17th and 18th century.*

*From a signboard near the entrance to Abbey Park

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.

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…

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.