Around Leuven

A couple of days in Leuven were enough to bring back all the nice memories of one year that I spent here 16 years ago. I remembered the streets, my walk to the university, found the shop where I did my grocery shopping, even the hospital where I went when I hurt my eye, thought about my friends and teachers, and shared all of this with my husband. It was so great to be back in the city with him. We had dinner in the restaurant that I couldn't afford during my studies and it was even better than expected - worth all of these years of waiting 😊

Today, I would like to show you around the city that I used to call my home and that helped to steer my life in the direction that I'm enjoying now. I'm so grateful for the time that I could spend in Leuven.

Let's go!

There are a few long streets that lead you from the train station to the main square. This is the widest street in the city, and there are plenty of boutiques here, so you can enjoy shopping as much as you wish. We visited Leuven on Sunday, and all shops were closed and it was very quiet, but during the week this street is buzzing with life, and I personally prefer to walk on a quieter street next to it.

It takes about 15 minutes to walk from the train station to the Grote Markt. It's the largest square in the city with guild houses dating back to the 14th century. The most beautiful construction here is the Stadhuis or the city hall. It's the building that I admired from the day one.

I must admit that I have never been inside even though the city services were still held in this building because all the administration for me was done directly at the university. Today, it has a ceremonial function and there are guided tours available, so I'll show you around next time because we'll be in Leuven again in December.

I think it is impossible to grasp all the detail on the façade. There are 236 statues which were added in the 19th century. They represents sins and punishments from the bible. Every time I see something like this I wonder why it always has to be about sins, punishment, or pain, and why couldn't they have picked positive aspects from the bible? Don't get me wrong, I love this decoration, but it does make you think...

Each statue is dressed in the style of the period in which they lived. I could spot some aristocracy, bishops, peasants and soldiers.

The Stadhuis reminds me of the city hall in Brussels, it's only a bit smaller.

Another landmark on the Grote Markt is the Sint-Pieterskerk or St. Peter's Church. You can see from afar that it's not a (what I would call) standard church. Why? It doesn't really have a belltower and it's not so tall. Let's come closer...

The church was built in the 15th century in the place where previously stood an old Romanesque church. It took 2 centuries to complete it and at that time there was a tower (even though not really high) which collapsed, and was never rebuilt.

Leuven was badly damaged during both World Wars, and the church wasn't an exception. It was bombed during the World War II, and reconstructed later.

When I came here for the first time I struggled to find the main entrance because I was not so sure where is the front of the church 😊 It would have been much easier with the tower!

Here it is...

You can visit the church outside of the ceremonies. The opening hours are short, so make sure to check them in advance of your visit.

Let's go inside!

I like visiting churches because this is where you can see what we are capable of building. These vaults many meters above the ground level, large windows with stained glass or other decoration, so much details that required countless hours of planning, amazing craftmanship, and the ability to build something with ever present serenity that makes you feel at peace.

I also liked the modern touch of the lights

You can visit the church free of charge, and enjoy many artworks placed around the aisles. There are guided tours or you can simply download an app and follow the signs to get more information.

From the church we walked to my favourite Oude Markt, or the Old square. When you're like to party this is the place to be. Leuven has about 30000 students who love to go out, so there are plenty of bars along the square. I think that there is literally no building at the square without some sort of a bar in it.

It's probably not the best place to stay over as you won't be able to sleep at night.

We also saw a lady inviting visitors to take a photo with her...

Did you know that Leuven is home of Stella Artois beer? I could see the brewery from my windows 😊 I don't think that we had small beers in Slovakia (or I have never seen one), so when I found small Stella Artois bottle in Leuven I had to bring a few of them to my family.

The poster says: Buy local. Stella! Good for the environment.

We saw some squares, but streets of Leuven are beautiful too, so let's walk around a bit...

It was Sunday before lunch, so the streets were almost empty. You don't want to wake up so early after a long night of partying...

As usually while travelling, we were dreaming of buying a property here until one of our colleagues who lives in Belgium told us that the houses here are one of the most expensive in Belgium and it is better to buy a property outside of the city and commute. Apparently, there are a few castles waiting for their new owners 😊