On 11/28…
My last day in Leuven. We decided to stick around and see a few things we hadn’t hit yet, as well as try to get a few “souvenir” items. Wim took me on a bit of a tour of some of his campus buildings which was really neat. One part of the property is home to the oldest tree in Leuven. On the way we met up with Jan who was out and about studying and so we took the sandwiches we made and headed for the public library where there were some benches to sit on inside while we ate. Smart move Wim! Money saving AND warm!
On our way into the cit
y centre I got a really amazing surprise. Sinterklaas was in front of town hall! The Belgians really celebrate “St. Nick’s Day” big time on 12/5 and so the city centre was decorated with lights and trees as well as images of Sinterklaas and his helper, Zwarte Piet.” They apparently arrive in Belgium via a train from Spain. When we got to the square there was a sleigh with Sinterklaas, Piet, and several helpers led by two horses and a military marching band! I took a lot of pictures and resisted the urge to have Wim take my picture with Sinterklaus. (only because even the children weren’t getting them taken – it wasn’t really a photo op…more of a drive-by.)
We headed to a small Beguinage which wasn’t as amazing as the bigger one I saw on my first day but was still nice and gave a good perspective of something different. It also was an example of one that was whitewashed so that was interesting to see. The church there had an interesting addition placed next to/underneath it that I couldn’t help be puzzled by…a comic book museum. Yeah…that makes sense. I’m pretty sure Jesus liked Calvin and Hobbes. ???
I wanted to go to the coffee shop/bookstore one last time and have my last Nocciolato. The three of us talked about our plans for Wim and Jan to hopefully visit the U.S. someday soon. This next year is a big one for them for travel, as they are going to Iceland and hopefully Thailand. So that means it might not be until 2011 and who knows if I’ll even be in Milwaukee by then. Of course, Wim’s dream is to go to New York so maybe we’ll end up meeting there instead. But it was still fun explaining to them what kinds of things we’d do if they did come to the Midwest for a visit. It made me miss home a bit but knowing my return is fast approaching made it easy to get over myself. After the coffee was over I had to say goodbye to Jan as he was heading home to spend the rest of the weekend with his parents/family. Sad.
Wim and I left for the train station to meet up with Leen, his other friend, who had spent the last night in Bruge with some other friends. She was originally invited to Thanksgiving but couldn’t make it so we had dinner with her instead. Before dinner they wanted to take me to their favorite shop in Leuven. It kind of reminded me of a crafts person version of the Organika store in Gozo. They sold all kinds of ribbons and fabrics as well as stuff for jewelry making, ornaments, and all kinds of make-it-yourself décor. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Penelope” then it will make sense when I say that it seemed like the kind of place she would’ve bought supplies to make her clothes and decorate her room. Very cute.
We wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant but it wasn’t open until 6:30 so we dipped into a nearby bar for a quick “aperitif” before we ate. I had a Carlsberg though I should’ve gotten one last Belgian brew. Thankfully they sell quite a bit of variety of the Belgian stuff back at home these days. It was great meeting Leen and I can see why she and Karen are Wim’s closest pals. They are really fun and both have amazing senses of humor and are smart as well. He’s a lucky guy to be able to hang out with both of them and have someone as amazing as Jan in his life too! We moved to the Mexican restaurant where both Lien and Wim were surprised when I told them that at home we don’t really eat Mexican without a Margarita or Daiquiri or Sangria or something. I was relieved they had them on the menu! I hadn’t seen anything like that yet in Belgium and I’ve definitely not seen something like that in Gozo! The food was really amazing but still not the same as at home. I can’t wait to eat some Jalapeno Loco or Botanas. Yum.
Unfortunately Leen had to take the train back home still and it was raining again so we parted ways after dinner. Wim and I debated going to a bar but it was cold and already raining pretty hard. We decided to go home instead and even had to use the umbrellas while riding the bikes. We ended the evening by watching one of Wim’s favorite comedies, “Guesthouse Paradiso.” I guess it was a feature length film made out of a British comedy series. It wasn’t exactly my kind of humor and I felt bad that I didn’t like it more just because I know how much Wim loves it. But I guess we can’t agree on everything!
My last day in Leuven. We decided to stick around and see a few things we hadn’t hit yet, as well as try to get a few “souvenir” items. Wim took me on a bit of a tour of some of his campus buildings which was really neat. One part of the property is home to the oldest tree in Leuven. On the way we met up with Jan who was out and about studying and so we took the sandwiches we made and headed for the public library where there were some benches to sit on inside while we ate. Smart move Wim! Money saving AND warm!
On our way into the cit
y centre I got a really amazing surprise. Sinterklaas was in front of town hall! The Belgians really celebrate “St. Nick’s Day” big time on 12/5 and so the city centre was decorated with lights and trees as well as images of Sinterklaas and his helper, Zwarte Piet.” They apparently arrive in Belgium via a train from Spain. When we got to the square there was a sleigh with Sinterklaas, Piet, and several helpers led by two horses and a military marching band! I took a lot of pictures and resisted the urge to have Wim take my picture with Sinterklaus. (only because even the children weren’t getting them taken – it wasn’t really a photo op…more of a drive-by.)We headed to a small Beguinage which wasn’t as amazing as the bigger one I saw on my first day but was still nice and gave a good perspective of something different. It also was an example of one that was whitewashed so that was interesting to see. The church there had an interesting addition placed next to/underneath it that I couldn’t help be puzzled by…a comic book museum. Yeah…that makes sense. I’m pretty sure Jesus liked Calvin and Hobbes. ???
I wanted to go to the coffee shop/bookstore one last time and have my last Nocciolato. The three of us talked about our plans for Wim and Jan to hopefully visit the U.S. someday soon. This next year is a big one for them for travel, as they are going to Iceland and hopefully Thailand. So that means it might not be until 2011 and who knows if I’ll even be in Milwaukee by then. Of course, Wim’s dream is to go to New York so maybe we’ll end up meeting there instead. But it was still fun explaining to them what kinds of things we’d do if they did come to the Midwest for a visit. It made me miss home a bit but knowing my return is fast approaching made it easy to get over myself. After the coffee was over I had to say goodbye to Jan as he was heading home to spend the rest of the weekend with his parents/family. Sad.
Wim and I left for the train station to meet up with Leen, his other friend, who had spent the last night in Bruge with some other friends. She was originally invited to Thanksgiving but couldn’t make it so we had dinner with her instead. Before dinner they wanted to take me to their favorite shop in Leuven. It kind of reminded me of a crafts person version of the Organika store in Gozo. They sold all kinds of ribbons and fabrics as well as stuff for jewelry making, ornaments, and all kinds of make-it-yourself décor. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Penelope” then it will make sense when I say that it seemed like the kind of place she would’ve bought supplies to make her clothes and decorate her room. Very cute.
We wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant but it wasn’t open until 6:30 so we dipped into a nearby bar for a quick “aperitif” before we ate. I had a Carlsberg though I should’ve gotten one last Belgian brew. Thankfully they sell quite a bit of variety of the Belgian stuff back at home these days. It was great meeting Leen and I can see why she and Karen are Wim’s closest pals. They are really fun and both have amazing senses of humor and are smart as well. He’s a lucky guy to be able to hang out with both of them and have someone as amazing as Jan in his life too! We moved to the Mexican restaurant where both Lien and Wim were surprised when I told them that at home we don’t really eat Mexican without a Margarita or Daiquiri or Sangria or something. I was relieved they had them on the menu! I hadn’t seen anything like that yet in Belgium and I’ve definitely not seen something like that in Gozo! The food was really amazing but still not the same as at home. I can’t wait to eat some Jalapeno Loco or Botanas. Yum.
Unfortunately Leen had to take the train back home still and it was raining again so we parted ways after dinner. Wim and I debated going to a bar but it was cold and already raining pretty hard. We decided to go home instead and even had to use the umbrellas while riding the bikes. We ended the evening by watching one of Wim’s favorite comedies, “Guesthouse Paradiso.” I guess it was a feature length film made out of a British comedy series. It wasn’t exactly my kind of humor and I felt bad that I didn’t like it more just because I know how much Wim loves it. But I guess we can’t agree on everything!
hahaha, I asked you whether you didn't like it: then we could've seen something else! And: Sinterklaas comes by steamboat, not train! And we are going to Taiwan or China not Thailand ;-) xx
ReplyDeleteWow. I suck! I know you asked if I wanted to watch something else but I wanted to give it a fair chance and I know how much you love it! As for Sinterklaas and Thailand – I have no excuse other than the part where I remind you I have the worst memory of any anthropologist in history.
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