BELGIUM 2016: Leuven's Market Square

I know, I know.  Just when you thought I'd finished it, here it is again.  But seriously, did you notice that I showed everything except Leuven itself????  So, of course I need to end that early December trip with the one city we went to see:  Leuven.

It was the main market square we wanted to see because of the 3 landmarks facing each other: 

St.Peter's Church, the Town Hall, and The Fourth/Tafelrond Hotel.

Where to start?  It was our first day and we wanted to see it all!

Though it was Sunday, we grabbed the church first, not knowing when it would close that afternoon.

St. Peter's Church is a Gothic church from the 15th century.

Notice the golden bell ringer near the top!

As large churches go, this one was light and elegant on a sunny day.

There were the statues, of course, but not inordinately so for a Roman Catholic church.

I was more taken by the placements throughout of votive candles for prayers...

...and was particularly moved by this alcove.

The oak pulpit was transferred to this church from the abbey in Ninove, 68 km away.

You know I'm going to say it:  I wonder what Preacher Dad would think of it!

It so happens that after touring the church, we immediately crossed the square to see the Town Hall,

and discovered we could catch a tour of it in 5 minutes, which we did.

We don't normally take such tours because we're both inclined to wander off on our own,

knowing we can get the added information from the internet, right?

However, the only way to see inside this town hall is to take the tour.

So we decided to do it.

Like the church, this Town Hall is Gothic and built at the same time, in the 15th century.

Upon entering, this is what you see.

And then, wandering throughout, we saw all the "usual suspects" of town halls.
So much history, all related to Leuven itself.

But what I most wanted to see was the wedding chamber.

In Belgium, as in the Netherlands, marriage is made official at the town hall, in the wedding room.

Can you imagine sitting around that table for your marriage ceremony!

On that note, it was time for our main meal of the day, somewhere on the square.

When we finished eating and walked back outside, it was a fairyland.

Remember that this was the end of November, getting ready for the Christmas holiday.

The Town Hall and The Fourth/Tafelrond Hotel took on new personas all lit up,

the Town Hall being the greatest spectacle of all, changing every few seconds.

But the church across the square stood stalwart against time and change,

ready to ring its bell on the hours as they passed us by.

It made a good impression on us at the start of our Sunday - Friday mini vacation.

One last post coming up, God willing and the creek don't rise, is another Leuven landmark:
 the University Library.

Our Parish Walk in England, 2014

"Over hill, over dale, we will hit the [muddy] trail...."  And we did!

The day before our Sunday Shutterchance meet-up, there were 6 of us Shutterchancers who went on a parish walk through the streets and fields around Bradford on Avon.  Don't you just love the English names of places!

We rendezvoused right outside the Cross Guns pub where we later ate lunch.

It's situated just off the Avoncliffe Aqueduct on the Kennet and Avon canal.

Within minutes of our rendezvous, we were traipsing across the fields.

The fun thing is that we weren't trespassing!  There are even maps for these public walks.

 As in the Netherlands, the war bunkers are still visible, especially along the waterways.
The English call them pillboxes!

 At different points we left the fields and crossed streets, going into small villages.

Here, for instance is the village parish of Freshford, Somerset, about 6 miles SE of Bath.

Population is circa 550, which tells you everything.

And in the true sense of parish, we stopped at the Freshford parish church, St. Peter's.

These wee churches have become my favorites, in spite of the grandeur of the huge cathedrals.

Parts of this church date back to the 15th century.

Before going inside, we walked all around it, while sheep and goats kept watch..

We didn't stay long inside, but at least got an appetizer for the next church on the list....

 ...which was St. Mary the Virgin in nearby Limpley Stoke, Wiltshire, built in 1001.

The Saxon stone archway inside the church was worth the entire visit.

Then we went back into the fields after St. Mary's and played.  That's Lisl, my designated Big Sister 

on Shutterchance, who also hosted us at the beginning and end of our trip, along with her husband Michael
 (who was not on the walk with us).

Chris is Astrid's designated Big Brother on Shutterchance, joining her in the big chair.

He's the one who has hosted us in years past at his partner's farm in the Bath area.

Chad and Ray had their try on the climbing wall...while Ginnie took the pictures.

What can I say:  we're all little kids at heart, brothers and sisters!

 As we walked from here to there, look at what we saw.

How can you not fall in love with the English countryside!

Then, suddenly, we were at the Iford Manor from the 15th century, known for its gardens.

It sits on the River Frome.

From the bridge, I captured this Grey Wagtail tweetie-pie with my magic camera, 1000+ mm away.

Thanks to Lisl who knew what it was.  We don't have them in America, I don't think!

On that note, it was time to eat lunch back at the Cross Guns pub where we had started our day.

Were we ever hungry! A perfect place for a typical English lunch with a local hard cider.

Astrid and I were in heaven.

Look at all the wild flowers we saw on our walk.

And the weathervanes!

And all the sweet impressions throughout the day.

Lisl and Chris had been planning this parish walk for weeks, if not months.

Do they know their little sisters or what?!?

BELGIUM: Bastogne and La Roche-en-ardenne

Continuing on with our Luxembourg long-weekend trip...following our time in Clervaux, Luxembourg (last post), we drove into Belgium on our way home to the Netherlands.  It was a day full of sights, in 3 different countries!

After Clervaux, we stopped in Bastogne, Belgium, in the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes.  Doesn't that all sound absolutely romantic!

Along the way from here to there, we took the back roads and got to see the things I love:

the church steeples, the roadside shrines....

...like this one!  It's the biggest one we saw, just outside of Bastogne.  It even had a love padlock!

Southern Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium are all heavily Roman Catholic areas of Europe, 

in case I didn't mention it before.

Why Astrid wanted us to see Bastogne was because of the Mardasson Memorial...

in memory of the 76,890 American soldiers killed or wounded during the Battle of the Bulge.

The Germans had launched a surprise attack on the Allied forces in the forests of the Ardennes nearby.

It was one of America's costliest battles in WWII.

The memorial is from 1950, in the shape of a pentagram, listing the 48 contemporary states.

Notice how Astrid captured me above my namesake...and my state of birth!

(she also took the top and middle left images)

The Latin inscription on the center memorial stone says,

"The Belgian people remember their American liberators – 4th July 1946."

Remember how I have said before that Europe really thanks the Americans for their part in the World Wars?!

It felt appropriate to pass by St. Peter's Church (11th-16th c) as we left town.

Who was it that said "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars!"  (Mark 13:7)

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

After Bastogne, we drove 28 km to La Roche-en-ardenne, also located in the province of Luxembourg in Belgium.  (It gets real confusing if you're not paying attention!)  Astrid had been there many years earlier and wanted to see it again.

 Along the way from Bastogne...notice the cyclists!  This is Tour du France area.

It happens to be one of the most famous tourist spots in the Ardennes, a small town (5K pop.) lying beside the bend of the River Ourthe.  In fact, Astrid said the town had become too touristy from how she remembered it.  She didn't even want to stay.

 But the town's medival castle rises above, from the 9th century, and was worth the stop.

This town, too, suffered severe damage during WWII.

And so it was appropriate, again. to visit another roadside chapel,

the Chapelle Sainte Marguerite, from 1600, nearby the medieval castle.

Our Granny Towanda (car) was proud to stand in front of her.

And at that point, we drove the highways back home!

That means in upcoming posts I will backtrack to what we did the previous days.  To be continued....

The Zürich Loop

Okay. There's no such thing, of course. I made it up for this post!

After FINALLY finishing my Zürich Album yesterday, I saw a repeating loop theme in my 3 days of walking around: from the hotel I would walk to the Swiss National Museum, the Hauptbahnhof (train station), then St. Peter's Kirche, the Fraumünster, cross the Limmat River to the Grossmünster, then the Predigerkirche and back to the hotel. A loop. On one day I walked to the Zürichsee (Lake Zürich) in between the Frau and the Gross.

So, here's the loop:

1. The Swiss National Museum
As a rule, I never go inside the museums I pass unless I have oodles of time...like weeks and weeks. But I sure do like to capture the outside architecture from every which angle. I was an architect in one of my past lives...I'm sure of it!

(One of the things you'll notice with almost all my photos in the Photo Album is that there's no sun...because there wasn't!)



2. The Hauptbahnhof (train station)
After crossing the street from the Swiss National Museum, you're at Zürich's main train station. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the big train stations of Europe and this one is no exception. For one thing, you may remember that one of my soulful passions is the art work of Niki de St. Phalle, which I first saw in Hannover, Germany. It so happens that her Guardian Angel is flying overhead inside the station, reminding one and all (who notice) that she is there to protect our comings and goings.



3. St. Peters Kirche
With the largest clock face in the world (on a tower), a diameter of 28 ft (8.7 m), how could you possibly miss it...or get to work late! It was built in the 8th or 9th century and since 1706 has been under Protestant rule. Interestingly, the steeple is owned by the city of Zürich and the nave by the parish of St. Peter.



4. The Fraumünster Abbey (our lady's minster)
I chose this image to show the proximity of the the abbey next to St. Peter's. CLOSE. Just a hop, skip and a jump away. She was founded in 853 and today is one of Zürich's 34 Reformed churches. The stained glass windows in the choir are by Marc Chagall (but no photos allowed).





5. Zürichsee (Lake Zürich)
Take a break now from the churches and go along the Limmat River on the St. Peter's and Fraumünster side to the end where the lake is. Actually, the Limmat River that you see in so many of the pictures in my Photo Album is an overflow through the city from the lake. One day I broke out of the loop and spent a couple of wonderful, gray hours there.



6. The Grossmünster ("great minster")
From Lake Zürich it's time to cross over the Limmat River to the opposite side from St. Peter's and Fraumünster to see the "twin towers." If you were at the Fraumünster, you would just cross the bridge from there, where this picture is taken. This church was built in 1100, vying for precedence with the Fraumünster across the river from it in plain view. It's one of the most recognized landmarks in Zürich.



7. Predigerkirche (preacher's church)
Last but not least, on our loop back to the hotel, is this lovely church built in 1230. It's one that you can see quite well from a distance, as in this image from the bridge over the Limmat River at our hotel. But once you come upon it up close and personal, it almost jumps out at you from in between the trees. It was one of my favorite stops before going back to the hotel each day. Sometimes the back towers of the churches are more soulful for me than the bigger front towers!



So, that's it. A slice of Zürich that probably no one else will show you exactly the same way. It's just the way I saw it, especially since the landmarks for me in Europe are almost always the churches.

OH, and I must give credit where credit is due! I did NOT take my tripod with me on this trip, so all the night photos are with Donica's assistance...things from her purse that had to be added to prop up the camera exactly right for the time-lapsed shots. So THANK YOU, Donica!

As a Gemini (whose reputation is to never finish things), I am glad to say I did indeed finish Zürich and can now start to finish the Sedona trip. :)