Belgium On My Own: First Mechelen Visit

Ela wanted to go into Mechelen to get T-shirts for herself and a few extra goodies for Natalie’s birthday present. She and Natalie are going to Tuscany, Italy in a few weeks time.

Belgian’s drive on the right-hand side of the road. I thought it’d really mess with me, but I’ve become quite used to it. I think the bicycling helps since you ride in the same direction as cars do and have to follow the road signs that the cars do too. When I come back for that short stop-over to pick you up in SA, you’re going to have to drive because I don’t think I’d be able to!

Most of the larger towns and cities like Mechelen have a “ring road”. It’s a main road, not a freeway, that circumvents the town and from which all other roads into town lead off of.

As odd as this may sound, the rule of yielding to traffic turning into the road from the right works. It doesn’t apply to all roads, and junctions exempt from this rule are clearly marked.

This is a typical church tower here in Belgium with the “onion” type of top. To me it looks very Turkish, but it seems to be a Belgian thing.

We visited here when we came on holiday and drove past the last bit of the city wall that was still standing, the gate. Ela parked close to it and I got to see how the parking meters worked. In the cities there’s a limited amount of time you can buy. We managed to get 2.5 hours. What you do is pay the fare at the paypoint and it issues you with a slip of paper that you leave on your dashboard for the “politie” to see.

The entrance must have been very grand in the day and I’m assuming the richer towns or cities had the more elaborate gates and walls.

This is a small snapshot of the apartments near the gate.

We walked past the gate and into some back alleys that Ela’s so good at doing. Mechelen is very pretty and has this reoccurring theme of these flowerpots brimming over with flowers in summer. They’re everywhere, on the sidewalks, the bridges and in the alleys and squares.

The Mechelen Tower sounds like another failed attempt at the Tower of Babel. It either is or was going to be the highest church tower in Europe but it was never finished. Its a fantastic landmark when I’m travelling by train. As soon as I spot it in the window I know to watch for my stop in Mechelen.

What would Belgium be without cafes? I’m not too sure but I can’t separate the two anymore. Cafés are everywhere and in summer everyone’s sitting outside. They’re completely empty of customers and dark inside. You can still sit inside but they really wonder what you’re about if you do.

I have no idea what Beethoven would have to do with Belgium but here’s a statue of him as a child in the middle of this square of cafes.

There’s a canal that runs through Mechelen and there are many of these bridges throughout the city to cross over it.

This was the fish market district in Mechelen now home to seafood restaurants. From what I can gather, every town had a fish market district or at least the bigger towns. It brings to mind Unhygenix from Asterix and Obelix.

Ela suggested we take a break for some coffee. When this happens I know we’ve come to a place she considers worthy to stop at for coffee. I’ve wanted to offer a coffee a couple of times but I usually hold my tongue because I know the places I’d like to have a coffee at are ordinary and run of the mill. When Ela suggests coffee, it’ll be a special stop.

Here’s where we stopped in Mechelen. It’s an organic café where they make superb breads and have other organic products for sale. Like most cafes it’s a little bit of a deli too where you can buy some of the stuff they use in their food they serve.The coffee cup was like a small soup bowl in that it didn’t have a handle. Ela suggested the cheesecake and for a baked cheesecake it was very, very good.

I’ve noted that the portion sizes are far smaller than I’m used to from South Africa. I believe the thing here in Belgium is quality and taste experience over quantity. It’s something I’m beginning to get used to but in the beginning it was a little difficult but if you chew your food properly and savor the flavors it goes a long way.

All along the canal are these beautiful apartments. It’s all so pretty and peaceful.

Ela then showed me a great place to purchase oils and vinegars. The shop was called Mezze. The principle is that you buy your glass bottle for the purchase of your choice and bring it back to be refilled by decanting from their big jars of stuff.

The Mechelen Tower again. I learnt you can pay to climb the stairs inside to the top and that its quite a view from up there.

The main church is also off the square. It boggles me why they would need the church attached to the tower AND another church for good measure.

Opposite the Mechelen Tower over the town square is the Town Hall which I understand to also house the gemeente huis.

In the shopping alley we saw this piece of urban art (that means graffiti) but to me it was definitely worthy of being called art. It was a damn good rat in my humble opinion.

Ela then led me to a wooden alley that floats on the canal. It’s a quick and convenient way to get to the next bridge or square without the interference of shoppers, bicycles, scooters or cars.