Thursday, October 14, 2010

Lovin' Leuven

I'm happy to say that I made it here, to Leuven, Belgium without any problems.

When I left Dublin yesterday, it was a dreary, dismal day--which matched my mood. I was not happy about leaving Ireland and saying goodbye to Jarlath.

It was crazy how once the plane rose above the clouds, the view turned from downright depressing into this...

Gorgeous!

I spent the plane ride reflecting on my time in Ireland, and also gearing up to meet my friend, Ashlee...

I'm staying at her apartment and hanging out with her whenever she's not busy studying. (She's working on her doctorate in comparative theology.)

This was the view that greeted me from the train station, when I first arrived. (Except that it was dark out.) I knew right away that I liked this place. It's cute and quaint! :)

Ashlee took me on a walk around the city this afternoon, and here are a few photos I snapped during the tour...

Cobblestone streeets! (Hence, the new name of this blog. I'll get to the chocolate treats part a little later...)

This is called "the beetle on the needle." Ashlee and I agree that it's pretty ugly. (More ugly than pretty! haha)

In addition to the beetle, there are several "weird statues" (Ashlee's words) around the city, too. This is one of about five or six that I've seen so far.

I've also noticed lots of bikes around here...

...and LOTS of tables & chairs outside cafes. Ashlee said that in the warm evenings, it's hard to find a seat--which is hard to believe since there are sooo many seats!

Another one of the "weird statues."

Lovely architecture. :)


We walked through an area that used to be a convent. (See the little nun statue on the top right?) Now, it's an area where professors and students live.

After the walk, we went out for dinner (I had delicious lasagna) and then to a super cute cafe for my first official Belgian chocolate...

Hot frothed milk, served with a chocolate on a stick (used to swirl in the milk) and a chocolate truffle. So. Lovely.

I'm looking forward to more lovely chocolate treats in the very near future... :)

3 comments:

Lauren said...

Daaayna,

I am so glad that you made it safely! Looks like you have seen a lot of neat things! We need to catch up soon! I have so much to tell you as you probably do the same!!!

Kate said...

Hey Dana! Loving your pictures from Europe! Have fun roaming around up there, I'm down here in Istanbul if you ever make it this far you are welcome to stay!!!

Jarasu said...

Bonjour ma chère,

Loving the belgian pics and having been your blog fan for so long, I just realised I was a 'peeping blogger' (sounds British for something terrible), so I am rectifing the situation by joining your follwers list and leaving this comment :)

The streets look amazing...imagine talking a bike ride on the coooobbbb...>BIG BUMP<...bbbbbblllllleeeedddd ssssttttrrrreeetttssssss!

I look forward to more...encore, encoreeeee s'il tu plaît - sacre bleu, j'ai perdu ma clef...mama mia, I'm a gonna stick my head out da wiendoow ;)