Weekend in Belgium with Sofie, March 2-5

Last weekend I went to Leuven, Belgium, to visit my former roommate from Toronto, Sofie. It was really cool to see her in her natural habitat, and after living in Amsterdam I understand some of the things I thought were strange about her in Toronto (why on earth did Sofie carry an umbrella on a perfectly sunny day? now I know.)

We stayed at her parents house, a big and beautiful home in the old centre of Leuven... Sofie actually lives with giants.













The backyard











The Begijnhof; back in the day it was inappropriate for single women to live alone. If they weren't living with a husband or parents, they lived here. I'd prefer the well.























Luckily, it was Carnaval in Leuven! This one wasn't as random as Maastricht, and I really enjoyed the community vibes around the homemade floats.











Leuven's city hall, a beautifully ornate building.


























While in Leuven we also hung about town, doing what the locals do. We went to the movies where Sofie worked, as well as a gig to see a Belgian band Treize Mille. The next day we took a train to Antwerp.




















In front of a castle and the statue of the giant the Belgians use to scare their kids with. He's a friendly giant that plucks you from your bed, and is named appropriately something like the Big Whopper.










I had a great time, even though the bus driver forgot to stop in Leuven when I was going back to Amsterdam! It wasn't that bad though, the company apologized, put me on a train to Brussels, and I caught a bus from there. Only in the Lowlands...