For the past year I have been living in Leuven, Belgium. And first, before I go any further, just to clear up any confusion for non-Europeans: Belgium is a country, not a town in Germany, or France. I have encountered quite a bit of confusion over this as I told people "I'm moving to Belgium." The general responses were "Ah, spreche sie Deutsch?" which means "Do you speak German?" which is really not relevant. Or "Ah cool, so when do you leave for Germany?" It is in fact it's own country, a pretty cool little country too. Also, not everyone in Belgium speaks French, actually about 59% of Belgium is Flemish-speaking, leaving 40% speaking French and 1% speaking German (still not relevant to ask if I speak German, since very few people are aware of this fact).
Now that that has been cleared up, I will continue. As I said, I have been living in Leuven for about a year now. Leuven is a rather small town about 25 kilometers from Brussels, a 20 minute train ride from the center of Brussels, or a 15 minute train ride from the airport. Leuven is a university town, home to K.U. Leuven, one of the oldest Catholic Universities in Europe. The population basically doubles during the school year, but it also means there is a vitality and life to the city that you can't always find. It's got a lot of great restaurants, places you might not expect, and of course, great bars, necessary in every student town.
Outside of Belgium it doesn't seem that many people have heard of Leuven, every once in a while you'll find someone. But generally the cities people know are Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp and maybe Gent, the bigger or more touristy cities.
One one hand it's nice, it means Leuven is rather un-touristy, which I love. It's not packed every weekend with people coming to sight see, and the prices aren't outrageous in an attempt to rip off tourists. But I do think the city is a bit underrated. It is a small city, but definitely worth a visit. There are great places to eat, shop, and hang out.
So, over the next few posts I'll highlight some of the best restaurants to go to, things to do, bars to check out and anything else that comes to mind.
Now that that has been cleared up, I will continue. As I said, I have been living in Leuven for about a year now. Leuven is a rather small town about 25 kilometers from Brussels, a 20 minute train ride from the center of Brussels, or a 15 minute train ride from the airport. Leuven is a university town, home to K.U. Leuven, one of the oldest Catholic Universities in Europe. The population basically doubles during the school year, but it also means there is a vitality and life to the city that you can't always find. It's got a lot of great restaurants, places you might not expect, and of course, great bars, necessary in every student town.
(center of town, St. Pieter's church, photo credit: me)
Outside of Belgium it doesn't seem that many people have heard of Leuven, every once in a while you'll find someone. But generally the cities people know are Brussels, Bruges, Antwerp and maybe Gent, the bigger or more touristy cities.
One one hand it's nice, it means Leuven is rather un-touristy, which I love. It's not packed every weekend with people coming to sight see, and the prices aren't outrageous in an attempt to rip off tourists. But I do think the city is a bit underrated. It is a small city, but definitely worth a visit. There are great places to eat, shop, and hang out.
So, over the next few posts I'll highlight some of the best restaurants to go to, things to do, bars to check out and anything else that comes to mind.
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