Leuven in winter

First of all I would like to wish you all a happy new year even though I'm more than one week late. The year didn't start very well for us which is also the reason of my two weeks long absence here. I got some stomach virus which my husband got two days later as well. I have no idea what it was, but it kept us in bed for one week, and I don't remember when I was feeling this bad in the past. I couldn't keep any food or drinks in my stomach for more than a few minutes, so I ended up getting an infusion at the hospital to get some fluids. And I think this is all the details that I can share here (it was nasty).

I'm not fully recovered yet, but I finally feel a bit more like myself, so I decided to share our pre-Christmas trip to Leuven with you. I know it's a bit late for this kind of a post, and I hope that you will enjoy it nonetheless.

We started our holidays almost one week before Christmas because we planned to spend three days in Leuven doing our year end recap. Every year, we pick a place where we spend a few days and talk about what we experienced in the last twelve months. Time flies by so fast, and we find it important to take a moment and 'go back in time' to reflect on what we did. We also plan for another twelve months at the same time. It's our tradition that goes on for some years already.

We visited Leuven after many years in October again. This is when my husband suggested to come back in December for our reflection exercise and I couldn't be happier. I have never experienced Leuven during Christmas time before, and I've heard that it has a lovely atmosphere, so I couldn't wait to experience it. However, if you expect some snowy photos you might be disappointed as it was raining constantly during those three days.

We booked a room at a hotel close to The Grote Markt from where you can quickly reach all important landmarks. Honestly, the main reason why we chose that location was its close proximity to all the restaurants where we wanted to eat 😊 We arrived before lunch, so we couldn't check in yet, and went for a walk instead. First, we walked towards The Grote Markt where we found a beautiful artistic installation.

The main feature were the animals created out of wood. There was a lot of grass which reminded me of the Belgian/Dutch coast. It looked more like an autumn installation though.

This was the most popular piece and we had to wait for a while to be able to take a photo...

There was also a handmade nativity scene next to The Saint Peter's Church. It was before Christmas, so there is no baby Jesus in there yet 😊

I looked up when I was standing next to the nativity scene and I noticed the Jacquemart for the very fist time! It might not sound strange to you, but I used to pass by this church every day for one year.

Only a few meters away we found our first K-dolls. There are many of them scattered across the town. It's a project that raises money for hospitalized children. There are various sizes of K-dolls, and these that you can see on the photo cost 4500 EUR each. I wonder how many of them really sell as I just can't see a house where they would fit into.

The Christmas market in Leuven has a long tradition and it occupies the biggest square in the city. There were so many nice attractions even though not many people were using them because it was cold and it just wouldn't stop raining...

This wooden thing in the back caught my attention and I had to come closer...

It's a Christmas pyramid which I've never heard of before, but which is apparently very popular in Belgium (originated in Germany). It's a huge thing with nativity scenes and Christmas figures inside. At first, we were not sure what was its purpose, and we thought that we might be able to go inside, but then we realized that it's only decorative. Every day is a school day!

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around and enjoying the city...

After dinner we walked back to The Grote Markt again, and I couldn't stop looking at the old City Hall. I have no idea how they manage to put all those lights on it. It looks like A LOT of works, doesn't it?

Let's get a bit closer...

It's so impressive!

Just a short side note - the day after we walked there again and the lights were different!

We spent some time at the square because there were so many things to look at...

And more K-dolls...

I was planning to go on an excursion of the old city hall the next day, but we saw many people queuing in front of it, so we decided to have a look. I don't remember what time it was, but at some point the door opened and we couldn't enter the building. There were a few benches and an installation with an umbrella. We didn't know what would happen, so we just waited...

Suddenly a song started to play and the umbrellas started to open and close in the rhythm of the song. There was a certain 'choreography', and it might sound silly, but it was really impressive...

From there we moved one floor up where we found a hall with many small robots creating sounds like we were in rainforest. The light was changing too, so it was a bit overwhelming with all that buzzing. However, I could stand there for hours watching it as it was somehow mesmerizing...

That night we also had our favourite dinner during our stay. It might look simple, but the flavours were spot on. We enjoyed beetroot tartar with pistachio, fried dumplings with forest mushrooms, smoked sweet potato with pickled onion, and fried eggplant with avocado sauce and capers. I will try to recreate that eggplant as it was amazing.

You can't leave Belgium without trying some of their beers. Luckily, they have many beers without alcohol too, so I could enjoy them as well. My favourite was this fruity beer which honestly didn't taste like beer at all (this is probably why it was my favourite).