Tuesday, May 22nd 2018 - Bokrijk

On Tuesday we spent a very interesting time in Bokrijk in the region of Genk. It is Belgium's largest open-air museum devoted to the origins of current habits and traditions. There is a great collection of historical buildings and objects, a number of traditional animal breeds, some craftsmen at their work and a priest giving a sermon - in Dutch of course. It is divided into sections - East and West Flanders, Kempen, Haspengouw and The Sixties. East and EWest Flanders is devoted to the silence and beauty of the landscape with a view over the lakes in the surrounding area. The Kempen section focuses on  craftsmanship of today, yesterday and tomorrow. Haspengouw takes visitors back to the atmosphere of 1913 and on special days actors play the parts of Flemish villagers caught up in the events on the eve of the First World War.

There was quite a walk to The sixties area and all the time we were expecting a real thunderstorm but we got there dry.

A sixties Delhaize - a Dutch supermarket.

The Sixties has lifelike settings of a living room, petrol pumps and a cafe that take you back in time. This room looks at the musical legacy of the 1960s through iconic album covers, video recordings and other collections.

I took a trip into Yvette's hair salon. I didn't look much better after it!

We got back to Flanders and still no thunderstorm though it felt imminent. We had just got to a small cafe where we were going to get a sparkling water when we heard the beginning of the thunder and then the skies opened. Fortunately we were under huge patio umbrellas and we remained there, dry, until it had passed.

The priest in full flight!

This is a lovely big castle-like house at the entrance of Bokrijk.

Monday May 21st 2018 - Botanic Gardens Leuven; St. Anthony's Chapel; Keizersberg Abbey.

Our first destination on Monday 21st was the Botanic Gardens (De Kruidtuin in Dutch). It is the oldest botanic garden in Belgium. It has a neo-classical orangery, tropical greenhouse, a sunken garden, a pond, some nice sculptures and lots of plants and flowers.

A rooster and hens.

An insect hotel.

Really big fish

On our way home for lunch we saw this sculpture. This is Renee who is meant to represent the active female students in Leuven, built near Atrecht College, the first to offer university degrees in teaching to women. It was named after Rene Depret, head of the Merchants Association of Leuven and the Friends of Leuven Museums.

We then paid a visit to St. Anthony's Chapel which seems to be dedicated to Fr. Damien, apostle of the lepers in Molokai. A modern crypt lies under the chapel with the remains of Fr. Damien who was beatified in 1995 and became a saint in 2009.

We obviously had lots of energy because we spent the afternoon walking to Keizersberg Abbey, a Benedictine Abbey built on Keizersberg Hill or Mont Cesar. A long wall encloses the building and surrounding grounds. The garden is a public park with fantastic views of the city. It was quite a challenging climb up but worth it.

We liked this sign!

This statue of the Virgin and Child is up at the Abbey looking over the city.

We went in to the Chapel for a look round. I got a text from the book group ladies about book group that night and sent them a photo trying to persuade them that I was on retreat in Leuven - they didn't believe me!

Alfred Hitchcock?

On the way down we visited the Vaartkom district which is part of the urban renewal of Leuven. It is near the Dyle river.

This is a sculpture of the Canal Diggers.

Back home while I was making dinner Jim took photos of some interesting decor in Jan and Dominique's apartment. This represents Dominique's love of knitting, especially socks.

Nice kitchen clock - I would like one of those.










We slept well after all our exertions on Monday.