Netherlands & Belgium 2022 - Day 8 / Leuven

Steps today : 26 222 / 17.04km

I never even heard of this city before planning our trip.  When researching day trips, the extent of my inquiries were "Is Leuven worth visiting?" answer: yes. Ok, good enough for me!

As is our habit, we headed straight for the Old Town when we got off the train and our minds were blown away when we saw the Town Hall. 

SO INTRICATE and every single statue is different from the next. From the tiny sculptures meant to be seen from below, to the seemingly random staircase on the roof, it's astoundingly packed with details.

Next was St Peter's Church, yet another impressive interior.

I especially liked the light fixture that looked like the sun.

We wandered around a bit after, looking for a place to have a drink and escape the drizzle.

...and we stumbled upon Brasserie Gambrinus which was a real treat on the inside - complete with rude and frowny waiters.

I am not a beer drinker, but I am glad at least Frank had a Stella in the city of it's origin! I had a sherry.

Lunch was ok, I think we settled on this place because we just wanted out from the wet weather because it doesn't look that charming. It was good, but nothing outstanding... I think I was sick of Italian food yet again.

The rain stopped by now and so we walked around town 

... and ended up at St Michael's Church

Trompe l'Oeil really only works from a very specific angle!

And then... a hail storm!

We dodged it by crab walking along some buildings, and after about 10 minutes the sun came out.

Loved this "Beetle Totem" 

Time for a drink stop to charge our phones a bit; Espresso Martini O'clock for me - this one was not as elegant, but just as delicious.

And then onwards to cross off the final dots on my map like this funny statue of a jester, (or Bird Rest)

And then Lord knows WHAT I was looking for down here! I learned a lesson. Don't put a dot on a map thinking you'll get back to is later to label it better... Lord knows what the original plan was.

Next we the Keizersberg Abbey which I was no longer interested in visiting by the time we got there, just fed up by now. Plus, I was annoyed because the walking path through the park was not clear on my map so I activated the Google real time Sateliitle map hoping it would work, but within seconds I got a warning that I used 80% of my data pass so I shut that down.

We still enjoyed the walk through the park.

And then a longer walk along the outskirts to get back to the train station, passing the Stella Artois breweries and warehouses long the way.

Back in Antwerp, I decided to buy a SIM card to last the rest of the trip instead of risking draining my travel data pass and having to renew that. I am kicking myself for now doing it in the first place. The travel data pass (which was 80% used up by now) was a whopping 80$ for 2G, while a tourist SIM was 15€ for 5G, plus texts, plus minutes. I really paid for my laziness. Plus, stupid me, it took me days to realize my phone number was written in big black bold letters right on the front of the package!

Supper was... yet again... you guessed it! Italian, but this one was better than most - plus, they were generous with their servings of Grand Marnier!

Today's maps:

Leuven

Antwerp