BELGIUM 2016: Central Library of the Catholic University of Leuven

With this post, I do believe we've come to the end of our Leuven trip from last early December.  Though I didn't plan it this way, I may find it fortuitous to end it here because of what a place of learning represents for us all in this Journey we call Life.

Everything we read about Leuven said the University Library was a definite point of interest, totally worth the trip.  They were right.

This is the central library of the Catholic University of Leuven, established in 1636.

It was burned during both world wars but rebuilt afterwards in both cases.

The University of Leuven itself is the oldest catholic university still in existence in the world.

It has 55+K students.

I'm not sure what the significance is of the impaled beetle or the hot-air balloon sculpture.

But there was an exhibition on Utopia & More at the library while we were there.

In fact, look at these circular steps in the square in front of the library

(getting readied for Christmas with the big tree).  See the written words on the red bands?

Here's what the words said as I walked along to record them:
500 years ago Leuven University existed.
500 years ago the first cookbook in Dutch was published: a notable little cookery book.
500 years ago the Germans already had Christmas trees, but the Flemish did not.
500 years ago Pope Leo X's white elephant Hanno died.
500 years ago Flemish renaissance art was at its height.
500 years ago Utopia was printed in Leuven.

At that point, before going inside the library, we stopped to eat lunch on the corner nearby.
We were told us it was a favorite of students and alumnae.

You know by now how much we enjoy good Belgian beers,
to say nothing of the food, of course!

But the library beckoned!
Here's the outside entrance, with a model of the carillon tower.

With a tour of the library we used the audio guide to find the points of interest.

But it was the library itself that totally sold me.

I quickly left the first floor and climbed to the surrounding balcony
 to be less obstructive with my photography.

I kept thinking of my before-her-time mother who ate up university campuses.
She was a graduate of Smith College and received her Masters at Columbia University in the 30's.
THAT kind of woman before her time!  We kids called her a professional student.

She would have loved this library.  I saw it through her eyes.

As we left the library and walked back to Leuven's market square,
we realized once again why this city in Belgium, 16 miles east of Brussels, is so well-loved.
It's even the headquarter's of the Stella Artois pilsner lager.

How can you say NO to any of that!
But now, finally, we can say Good Bye.

MALTA: The Fishing Village of Marsaxlokk

You know how you first try to get the lay of the land whenever you visit a new place?  Well, the day after we arrived in Malta, Saturday, we had a confab with our trip rep who helped us figure out the how and where and when of our 10 days.

That's when we discovered there would be a fishing market the next day, Sunday, in the quaint fishing village of Marsaxlokk...a definite tourist destination, she said.

Starting from our hotel in Bugibba, we took a bus to Valletta and then another bus to Marsaxlokk.

The 'x' in Maltese is the 'sh' sound, so, Marsaxlokk = MARsa- shlock.

It's a population of ca. 3500+ people.

The first thing we saw as we got off the bus and reached the harbor was the dockyard.

Big, clunky boats with years of hard work oozing out of them.

Then, turning the corner, we saw the market, lined up along the village street facing the shoreline.

Everything under the sun...except fish.  Where was the fish???

Theirs to know and ours to find out!

In the meantime, we started walking up and down the main street.

We knew there would be boats, of course, but these boats?

Colorful boats with their seeing eyes to protect them from mishaps at sea?!

You couldn't miss them if you tried.  They dotted the entire harbor.

And as you'd guess, fishermen came with them, sorting out their nets.

They're just doing their work while we tourists gawked.

A women's quilting bee came to mind.  HA!

Can you picture yourself spending a day at sea on one of these make-shift homes?

Can you imagine the sense of community such a place fosters?

About the time we passed the village square the second time, we decided to stop.

The church is the Parish Church of Our Lady of Pompei, from 1890.

It was the perfect place for a bathroom break, some koffie...and a bit of sun for Astrid!

"Our napkins have been cleaning happy faces since 1971." --Costa (UK)

Truth be told, immediately after koffie, we found a place to eat lunch.

Almost every restaurant/café was full/reserved, so we grabbed the first spot we found...on the street.

Prawns and sea bass...with the Maltese Cisk beer (pronounced CHisk).  Yummy.

And THEN we found the fish!

O M G.  Seafood I didn't need to see, really, but I did.

It was all there.

Right where the fishermen had done their thing for eons.

With women cleaning up after them, of course.

It's a way of life, isn't it.  Can you imagine it being your life?

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Then, guess what?  The next day, Monday, we rode the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus around the island...

...and passed Marsaxlook while sitting on top of the bus.

Even though it was from a different vantage point, it was definitely recognizable!

THIS is why the fishing village of Marsaxlokk is a tourist destination for Malta.

THIS.

For Bob and Peggy: Food, Glorious Food, etc., etc.

By now you know the routine:  we fly to Atlanta, take care of appointments, spend a weekend with the kids, spend the next Sunday - Thursday with Bob and Peggy while the kids work and Nicholas is in school, and then go to the cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains before winding down to fly back home.

This is the time with Bob and Peggy when we weren't at the Skyview Atlanta Ferris wheel or the Candler Field Museum and airport.  And this is the time when Astrid in particular finally relaxes and says "This is vacation."

Fasten your seatbelts, especially if you like good food and drink.

First of all, Bob and Peggy got married in 2004 while I worked in assisted living before retirement.

Peggy was the executive director and I was lucky to attend their wedding.

Shortly after that, they started building their house out in the boonies south of Atlanta.

THIS house.  And I've been there every year since...now with Astrid.

In case you wonder why we like to go there, it's the FOOD, stupid!  HA!

Let's start with breakfast.  Look at who makes the waffles.

To tell you the truth, they both do the cooking.

And we all do the eating.

See, Peggy does her own part, this time for lunch.

And we all do the eating.

To cater to our Dutchness, they even make their own split-pea soup.

And we all do the eating.

By late afternoon, it's time to test the home brew!

This year we got to taste Bob's Chateau Roscoe Chardonnay and Chilian Malbec.

Roscoe is their dog!

See!?!?!  That's Roscoe.

We first celebrated the fabulous brew out on the wrap-around porch.

If it wasn't his wine, it was Bob's Brew of beer, Horansky style.

He's been making beer for years, so we knew what to expect.

We Cheer Beer!

And if that wasn't enough, Bob even made us a mean banana martini.

By now I know what you're thinking:  what boozers.  HA!

But you couldn't be farther from the truth.

Everything in moderation, one drink at a time...over several days, of course.

And to show you the truth whereof I speak, check out the basement.

I suppose if it were meth it would be Breaking Bad (which I've yet to see)?

By the time you get to supper, you'd better have an appetite...

as though you hadn't eaten all day, of course.

See how Bob and Peggy both do the cooking together?

It's a beauty to behold.  A joint collaboration.

And we all do the eating.

Then there's the fun-n-games, like with Bob's 1951 GM toy.

Last year he was just starting to restore it.

This year we were queens for a day, taking a ride.

Every morning Astrid and Bob took Roscoe for a walk.

Astrid put the GPS watch on her arm one day (above left).

The next day she put it on Roscoe's collar (above right).

Isn't that the cat's meow!

In the afternoons Astrid and I took our own walks together,

once to Jackson Lake right down the road.

That particular day and time the kids were getting out of school.

Did you know the Dutch have a few of these American school buses that are party buses here?  Yup.

Another day we walked two miles down the road to the corner store,

and luxuriated in the autumnal abundance in front of us.

And since it just happens to be Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, how's that for an ending note!

Good God, good friends, good food...let's eat!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Fort Vuren on the Dutch Waterline

So, remember when we took grandson Nicholas to see Fort Vuren (and the Loevestein Castle and the Woudrichem windmill) in July?

Well, that reminded me that I had never found a "round tuit" to make a post on Fort Vuren when Astrid and I were there alone in April.  That visit, actually, was the main reason why we wanted to take Nicholas.

So, for the record, here's what we saw 5 months ago.  And it's only 1.5 km from home (Gorinchem)!

Every time we passed the sign while driving along the dijk of the Merwede river,

we said we needed to stop and visit this fort, part of the Dutch waterline.

Now we plan to take all our guests there, if possible.

The fort dates back to 1844 as a fortress on the river against any enemy.

Today, since 2013, you can use it as a B&B.  How ironic.

They even hold weekend concerts there.

And as we often do, we first stopped for a nice break in the cozy café...

...where we both had a delightful uitsmijter, accompanied by the café's own beer:

De Drie Mutsen = The Three Hats.

Fully satisfied, we then took our own self-tour of the underground fort.

I don't know how to adequately express our shock/surprise at what we saw.

I've decided it's one of the best-kept secrets of the Netherlands!

There are TWO levels that keep going and going, from room to room.

You'd need a map to figure it out, though I suppose the soldiers were quick learners.

Talk about a photo-op...and it's all free.

As we left over the moat, we saw the Loevestein castle across the river.

A fort and a castle opposite each other!

I bet they were always saying to each other, "We've got your back."

As we drove away on the dijk, we looked back on the fort, surrounded by its moat,

with the Merwede river on the other side.

I wonder if the cows are old enough to tell the stories hanging in the air?

In this day and age...

which is why I needed to add this for the record!