TRAVEL AND LIFESTYLE DIARIES

Mechelen, a city of 80,000 inhabitants in the Flemish region is a feast during Saturdays. I was so happy when I strolled down Ijzerenleen and saw the lively outdoor market in the middle of the street extending to the Grote Markt (main market square). Dutch is the official language in Mechelen. Their Dutch though is purer and they use different words. I have to listen carefully in order to understand them. Mechelen Saturday Market I am always after for a nice food market visit. I like to sample local stuff when travelling. In Mechelen I found out that ‘witlof’ (chicory) is a local forte. They have many recipes for this vegetable and one stand was selling witlof soup. I must admit that I was tempted to try the specialty but that morning I was hankering for some waffles. Witlof though is a leafy vegetable that I always generously use for my salads, and I prefer to eat them raw. There were many waffle stands and it was a bit difficult to choose from which to buy. Eventually I end...

Because of my Fine Arts degree (I secretly wished I finished Economics or Business Management) I am appreciative of art and architecture. I love creativity. During my elementary and high school years I used to be the artist of the class but nowadays I dabble in IT sales-marketing-promotion-incentive types of creativity for work. Not really the same but creativity is in the mind, in the personality and character of the person. One cannot argue that it’s in the DNA. A creative person will make creativity happen. So anyway, while walking around Mechelen, I quickly noticed the lovely guild buildings on Ijzerenleen. They really stand out and I must take pictures of them. Belgian (and Dutch) architecture is based on Gothic Renaissance architectural character. Belgian architecture though has more Baroque influence than the Dutch and one can see it clearly on its facade details. Later, I found out that the locals dubbed Ijzerenleen street as the ‘Champs Elysees of Mechelen’. Hah cool!...

The Dyle Path crossing under the Grootbrug on the Dijle/Dyle River. In November last year I was in Mechelen, Belgium for a weekend. I was in Brussels for work that week and thought it would be nice to spend the weekend in another town since I am already in Belgium. Mechelen came to mind as it is near Brussels and when I googled pictures of the city I was sold out. I stayed in a church—Martin’s Patershof , a beautiful old church that has been converted into a hotel. While there, I discovered the ‘Dyle Path’ (Dijle in Dutch), a walkway along the River Dyle. When I am travelling alone, I walk a lot, and I really mean—I walk a lot. What I like about the Dyle Path are the views to the historical houses and stone buildings along the river banks, as well as being able to pass through the residential areas. It allows some catching a glimpse of the local daily life which for me is very pleasing. I like to be able to see beyond the usual touristy and on-the-surface type of sights when trav...

For our last day in Paris last October, Blondine and I we went to the Richard Lenoir Market aka Bastille Market. We wanted a different kind of lunch that day so we bought wine and food in the market and brought it to the out-of-the-ordinary park called ‘Promenade Plantee’ which is located a few blocks away. We sat down on a bench, opened the wine and ate our lunch—pain saucissons. I have my dried sausages as well, while Blondine, her crepes. The wine was okay. It was a different kind of lunch indeed, open-air and public, a very interesting breather from the usual Parisian city scenery. The Promenade Plantee, also called as the Coulée verte in French, is a viaduct that follows the Vincennes railway line that is now abandoned and transformed into an elevated walkway green park. It is 4.7 kilometres long and is located near Place de la Bastille in the 12th arrondissement. While lunching, we saw many people running and exercising here. Others came with friends and families for a...