Spring

Here is a photo of Sint Pieter - the main church here in Leuven. I did have to roll in the street to get it, but it shows the flowers and what a lovely day it has been. So after church, I decided to head out for a day trip to Gent. I finished the first draft of my thesis on Saturday, so I was ready for a little break.

Gent has a charming city center. These folks dancing on the facade of a building on the square. There are lots of churches in close proximity; I just kept going from one BEAUTIFUL place to another.

I walked for about a mile and a half to the city center. And wandered around from place to place - there were LOTS of people out because the weather was so beautiful. We also had lots of international visitors.

I caught the tram back to the station after my travels, and caught the train home. It's just be a really beautiful day. They had a 'choir retreat' at my parish, which I had to miss. But you can listen to a little clip on youtube.

Peace,
Amy

Sunset 8:39

Our days are already MUCH longer - sunset yesterday was 8:39 and it was still a little light at 9:30. The longer days make it a bit harder to get to bed at a decent hour, because it's still so light. It is however still quite cold. We're getting down near freezing every night, but the days may get up as high as 50. Notwithstanding the temperatures, spring is in the air, so some people are wearing shorts. Brrrr.....

I got my plane ticket last evening (when it was still light at 8:30). My itinerary is as follows:

Tue, Jul 1, 2008 Depart 10:10am Arrive 5:10 pm
British Airways 391 / 295
United Airlines 8039
Operated by: UNITED EXPRESS/TRANS STATES
Brussels, Belgium to St Louis, MO
Wed, Sep 10, 2008 Depart 2:37pm arrive 11:00am (Sept 11)
United Airlines 8017
Operated by: UNITED EXPRESS/TRANS STATES
British Airways 296 / 392
St Louis, MO to Brussels, Belgium

This week and next, I have extra classes, so I'm pretty busy. I've gotten most of my thesis written in first draft, and just need to write the conclusion. Once that is done, I'll send it off to people who have agreed to read and comment. If any blog readers are willing to do that for me, let me know. Hopefully I'll get the conclusion done this weekend, and then it's off on the review circuit and I can concentrate on classes for a bit. I think I might have mentioned that it seems I'm quite a bit busier. Which is in fact true, with more classes and the thesis. But I still have my head above water. I keep meeting interesting people at school and/or at church. Folks from everywhere who have settled here in Leuven for some degree or other. That is always a treat. I just met a sister from Ireland who is here on sabbatical. She just retired as head teacher and now wants to do something meaningful.

News on the home front is mixed, of course I rejoice with Sarah, and I'm reading the news from Rita's journey and the Uganda project. My newest nieces and nephews are cute as they can be, and I get a steady supply of pictures. I'll look forward to seeing them when I get back so I can say - My how you've grown... and all those 'auntie' lines. But my nephew Graham is in the hospital again, so please him in your prayers. He is in his early 20s and has been battling cancer. He and my brother and family would appreciate the prayers.
Peace,
Amy

Aachen - CentCom for Charlemagne

You might have to tip your head for some of these pictures. I still have to learn how to flip them on my camera. But in any case, my last trip for spring break was just over the German border (about 1:15 hr by train) to the town of Aachen. It is all you might expect of a German tourist town. The buildings were super beautiful. The first one here is just a church I happened on when I was getting oriented - Holy Ghost church. I arrived in town and they were very well organized to help tourists find their way around. For those of you who take buses, they were AWESOME!!! I had found my bus from the extensive online information. So I knew I needed the #13 bus. And further, I learned to say that in German just in case. But when I arrived, they had a marquis listing the buses arriving at the stop, and exactly how long you would have to wait for each one (GPS on the buses I guess) - I've seen it for trains before, but not for buses. I bused up to my stop - and saw this church first.

I have to say that it rained pretty much the whole time I was in Aachen, but the insides of the churches were beautiful anyway. I took the bus to the farthest point of my planned trek, then walked back to the station, visiting sites along the way.
I happened into one church where a choir was practicing baroque type music - very cool. Lots of folks would come in and listen for a bit, then move on. I tried to get a little video, but it didn't really come out.

Then I went to Charlemagne's church - WOW - it is quite beautiful, very ornate and very cool looking. Very tall. I couldn't get anything in the view if I didn't turn the camera, so I think you may just have to tilt your head. It is TALL! There is an amazing amount of stained glass that just goes up and up and up!

The next picture is from the courtyard of some place next door, I'm not sure what it was, but I suppose it was some convent or monastery attached or associated with the church (sorry for the lack of detail).

I got some of the Aachener Prinzen which is the local pastry, sort of a crunchy gingerbread - but all the information made sure to say that it wasn't gingerbread - but you get the idea. Quite good. The shop had oom-pah music on and the lady said Auf Wiedersehen, when I left. Actually, I said a few German things, but I'm not sure they were the right things - however, I got my Prinzen.

I also got a picture of the local german vietnamese restaurant - kind of funny to see Vietnamische Haus. Also, I have to report on german street crossing procedure - at least as I observed it. When you come to cross the street, you look across the street at the traffic light, NOT at the traffic. Then when the light changes, you march right out into the street, again without checking for traffic, because after all, this is Germany - the lights WILL work, and the cars WILL stop. I observed this several times.

I think I cut a guy off in line at one shop - there were lots of people and I'm sure I got cut off, so I figured you just jump in when the lady is free. So anyway some guy said something to me in german - he didn't sound upset or anything. Come to think of it, he might have said something like "Can you believe all this rain we're having?" - I'm just not sure.

On the way home, I met a guy from my dutch class (which I finished if February). Rudolpho is from Mexico, studying some type of electrical engineering. He is taking the second level of Dutch, and he caught me up with who else from our class had continued on. Not many. Anyway he had placed second in some tennis tournament and I met him at the station where I changed trains. It's funny how often I meet people I know on the trains or at the station.

I'm back in classes this week. I got a good start on my thesis, but will put it away for a bit. There is a student trip to Holland to see the tulips - I can't make it for the group trip - but I've been told that is really the one trip not to miss. So I may see if I can make my way up there on another weekend. They say there are flowers for miles. (Actually what they really say is that there are flowers for kilometers....) I also started to look for tickets home - I need to double check at the faculty when classes are over so I know when I can book for. Sometime in early July, I think.

Tschüs! (Bye!)
Amy

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