Bikes Wine and Leuven.

European Culture Class.

Last Thursday, so a whole long week ago, my European Class professor- Dr. Hedwig Schwall, yes Hedwig like Harry Potter- took us on a fieldtrip to Leuven, Belgium. The train ride was only about 30 minutes away so it wasn’t a long trip by any means.

Hedwig is an Irish History/Art/Literature professor at the university in Leuven, she also lives there with her husband who is the head librarian at the university.

Once we were off the train, Hedwig escorted us to a nearby bicycle rental shop where we then rented 20 or so bikes.

To say we looked like fools is an understatement. 20 Americans riding through a college town would look ridiculous anywhere...but to do it in Europe...yeah we were pretty much asking for the ridicule that was inflicted on us the entire journey.

See, I told you, Ridiculous.

Total American idiots.



Our professor took us to the university’s library where we were given special access to the bell towers. We had to climb what seemed like 100 steps up the tower on a small spiral staircase that was supposed to only allow 5 people on it at a time. Once we were at the highest point of the bell tower, the view really made the trip up the stairs worth it. We could see basically all of Leuven.




The university library.

 

Inside the library.

The actual library itself was like something out of a Harry Potter movie. Mizzou’s library looks like a pathetic attempt at a library compared to this one. Everything was either made of rich wood or cold stone, it was a beautiful combination. Of course, being the obnoxious people that we always seem to be, we were given a guided tour on the last day of finals. Let’s just say we were not warmly received by the university students.

After completing our tour of the library we then hopped back on our bikes and rode over to our professor’s home. Hedwig is a very sweet lady- when we arrived at her house we were greeted with a perfect mix of chips, snacks and of course wine.

Once we were all thoroughly tipsy, we once again, hopped back on our bikes and rode around the different colleges and schools associated with the main university. Hedwig also showed us the beautiful church she was married in.



Mizzou Students outside of the church Hedwig was married in.



Leuven's version of the "quad"

A college at  Leuven Univeristy

By the end of our bike tour we were all starving, Hedwig brought us to a very nice restaurant that she claimed other students liked to hang out at. After seeing the prices on the menu, I’m not sure it’s exactly what I would call "college friendly" but it was still a really nice gesture.

Resturant where we had dinner.

The city was beautiful- so clean, great landscaping, fresh air... it was definitely very different from Brussels and I really wish we could’ve had more time to spend there. Honestly, I would not have mind if the program was moved from Brussels to Leuven- I’d almost recommend it.



Leuven.