Leuven day 1 - in da Begijnhof

Lesson one: Flying to Brussels takes 1.5 hr; bussing to Amsterdam takes 15 hr. Next time, fly to amsterdam.

Lesson two: Steve and Sue (Curran Hughes' parents) are the hosts with the mosts! It was sooooo awesome to stay with them in Leuven.

Here are some notes from day one in Leuven (I know, all this in one freaking day???)

• We got to stay in a UNESCO world heritage site?!?
• Steve and Sue live in the Groot Begijnhof (pronounced Bay-gheen-hof) in Leuven. This compound is located on an island in the Dijle (pronoucned Dee lah) river, with two small footbridges connecting to the main land. 
• Women formed Begijnhofs throughout Flanders as men left for war during the crusades of the 1200s (and never returned). The Begijnhof in Leuven started in the 1200s and the stone buildings there today date back to the 15th century. The women banded together to work trades and raise children and become one of the first self-sustaining female-only communities. They were called lay-nuns, because they didn't have to permanently be nuns, but were religious.
• One of the coolest things is seeing the old wooden beams inside of Sue and Steve's place that have been holding up the walls and the roof for over 550 years.
• There's even this wooden beam that's a screw-type contraption in the attic that can wind up a cable to lift grain, furniture, and stores into their attic (pretty ingenious middle age innovation).
• Leuven is somewhat a college town. Something like 50% of the people that live in Leuven are associated with the Catholic university (KU Leuven).
• InBev is also there. Yes, they own Budweiser, but I think they also brew Stella Artois - one of the world's best pilseners.
• In the center of town there's a beautiful old cathedral and stadhuis. The stadhuis is like city hall, and it's got famous figures from throughout Leuven's history.

Here are some pictures to go with these bullets!

Jess standing on one of the bridges into the Begijnhoff over the river.

Jess standing in the "Spanish Quarter" (just outside the Begijhnhof, no one is exactly sure why it's a spanish quarter)

A picture of inside the Begijnhof. Lots of stone... old stone. One tree. For some reason there are letters in some of the cobblestones. There is a reason why, but Sue and Steve have forgotten.

A view of the Dijle river from the footbridge. Pretty cool how everything is built right up to the river.

Me looking ready for a run with some hot orange shorts.

Instead of addresses, the lay nuns used to name houses for saints. Here's us outside St. Ignacious house.

Here's Jess and I outside Sue and Steve's place.

Here's the church just outside the Begijnhof on a beutiful, snowy day (actually taken on the day into Brugge)

The Stadhuis all lit up at night, and Sue Steve and Jess below it

A great view of the stadhuis