Oh the Places You'll Go

I just couldn't help thinking of this title of the Dr. Seuss book while I was on the train on my way back from Liege. The name of the town in Dutch is Luik, which is important when you're trying to find the train on the kiosk. Yet another adventure in lovely old churches; this time however, I had some language difficulties since no one was willing to speak english or dutch, so I had to rely on my french, and they folks there speak a notoriously oblique dialect of french. So they looked quite puzzled as I asked for the bus to get me to city center, but eventually I found the bus there, then got directions to the cathedral, and what is a little more miraculous, found my way back to the station on a different bus. Then I had to switch buses, and the last driver looked particularly pained and puzzled when I asked him if the bus went to the station. However, he acknowledged that it did.

Liege was more of a challenge, partially because of the language, partially because it isn't really a tourist town, although it certainly has its store of lovely buildings and churches. I found my way to the cathedral - St. Paul, and it is quite well restored, with lots of tremendously ornate art and furnishings.

My next stop was the University of Liege - well, why not. It was certainly a lovely building, but I couldn't really figure out what was happening inside - education I suppose, but I think I was in the administration building at lunch break. Liege is east of Leuven, almost to the German border. It is an industrial town, and very active center of commerce. It has one of the largest inland ports in Europe. (I read the guide book.)

I also had a real treat on my bus ride back to the station - it surely wasn't the most direct route, but I went past many of the major sites, and crossed the river three times (or maybe four). Thankfully, I had a good look at the church steeple near the train station, and as long as it kept coming in view, I was fairly confident of finding my way back.

It was a nice break, now back to the books tomorrow, I think. Then I'm planning one more excursion to Aachen on Saturday. I have maps for that already, and I won't even try German. Oh, I also found a cool belgium travel guide at the second hand shop - it has maps of the main town centers, along with little histories and 'curiosities'. It's in french, but I think I can make out the main points of interest. It is helpful since most towns don't provide free maps, and the ones they sell are expensive, and often not helpful to a tourist.

Peace,
Amy