A Week with Monique

(Week of May 16 - May 22)

Brugge Windmill

Taking pictures

The Brugge Belfry

Sunsetting on Brugge

Me and Monique

Gent from above

Me and Monique and Sint Baafs

Monique and the Heverlee Castle

I love this picture

The Group at the end of the year BBQ

Me and Liam

Me and Monique at Knokke

Relaxing on the Beach

She loves the beach

The disaster that was our trip to Berlin, helped to divide a second visit by Monique to the land of Leuven. She had arrived on Wednesday of the first week and we headed to Berlin the weekend after she got here. After we arrived back late Sunday (early Monday) we spent the rest of the trip traveling around Belgium to 3 new cities and 1 repeat.

We began her stay by traveling out to Brugge for a second time; the only difference between the two was the sunshine which was paramount this time around. While this trip gave Monique a second chance to visit the quaint little city and appreciate its narrow cobblestone roads and quiet cute back alleys, it also gave us both the opportunity to see parts of the city I had never ventured into before. On our ride out, while I slept, I had handed Monique the tour book and told her to pick out some things she would like to see which we didn’t get to last time. I awoke, upon our arrival, to her giggling smile, as she had found a number (100) of areas of interest which she wanted to explore with me.

Thus we began our second tour through the circular city that was once the major port of the Belgian coast. We started by attempting to visit the chocolate museum and for the second time in as many attempts I was unsuccessful, falling victim to the same error that I did last time – though it closes at 5, the last tour is at 4. A little disappointed we followed the game plan Monique had envisaged, our next step was to make our way out to the wind mills which lie on the edge of the city. The windmills are stationed on the edge Brugge’s of the medieval moat and up a hill which provided a panorama of the spires of the Belfry and the church towers. As we stared out of the city, the sun was high in the sky and the water from the moat lapped against the walls of the city – competing with the cars on the freeway nearby.

Once we finished with the windmills, we headed back into the city through the narrow backstreets and into the university section of town. Following the guided map tour full of bullet points and landmarks, we headed back through the city stopping at different cites from the University crest, to the bear mascot of the city, and the 16th century cannon which is stuck end up in the ground. We enjoyed the slow laid back stroll through city.

Our second trip in Belgium was out to Gent for only my second time this year, but 3rd in my career. My first visit to the city was on a group trip and was ruined by the appearance of our Dutch professor who proceeded to give us an assignment to complete before the day ended, coupled with the rainfall. This trip was much more relaxed than my first and I headed out trying to recall the major sites of the city and more importantly the major streets. We began at Sint-Baafskathedraal which houses Gent Altarpiece. Unfortunately it was under construction (like most of the roads in the main square) during our visit so we could only catch glimpses the real thing and had to settle for a recreation.

Afterward, we headed over to the Gent Belfort to see the city from one of its highest points. The Belfort lies in the center of the three main towers which make up the skyline. From the eagle eye view, for the first time, I sat and actually appreciated the views and attractions of the city. From our perch in the center of the city we were able to look out over the brown roof tops and spires of the other two towers.

Once we ventured back down from the tower, we headed about to see the smaller (literally and figuratively) sights. The backstreets and small canal were much nicer in the sunshine and throngs of people were out enjoying drinks at the waterfront restaurants. We slowly made our way (stopping for some speculous flavored ice cream) over to the Gravenstein Castle only to arrive a couple minutes to late to go for the tour. Thus we finished the day by wondering back through the city to the train station and back to Leuven for Stoovlees (beef stew) for dinner at Domus.

Our final trip during Monique’s visit was out to the Belgian shoreline to see the beaches the Flemish had to offer. Knokke was the name and though it was not nearly hot enough to be in bathing suits, we spent the afternoon in a dug out hole, catching some rays. We spent the day on the coastline under the sunshine. The relaxing day at the beach was a nice change of pace from the hectic travel which had previously ensued.

As the sun set over the waters horizon, the receding light also served as a reminder that the end of Monique’s second dour d’Europe was also coming to a close. With that in mind, we strolled back to the train station and by 9am the following day, I was headed in to Brussels international airport to see her off on her flight. Though I was sad to see her go, I only had a short time to reflect on her departure - final exams and papers quickly came storming in with the sunshine of June.