This is the Southern part of Mechelen, where we live. John's
school is marked, as is the Brusselpoort (in the past there were 12 gates
into the walled city, today this is the only one still standing). Our
house is in here somewhere, probably near the B or the ss in Brusselpoort.
The tall funny looking thing is a water tower - we can see that from
our back terrace, and we had wondered for quite a while exactly what it
was! We don't know quite why it is shaped the way it is though...
Another view of Southern Mechelen, but if you look just
on the horizon, you can see the Atomium in Brussels, probably 20 miles away!
Our tour guide was quite pleased to point this out - it is a rare
day that you can see quite so far from Mechelen.
Looking down on the Grote Markt in Mechelen - the real
city center. This used to be a parking lot (and thus not a very attractive
city center), but the city has just built an underground parking garage
here and is now laying stones out to make a quite attractive, open air market
space. This should be a wonderful location to hold the Saturday morning
market (takes place every Saturday, rain or shine, summer or winter, selling
everything from vegetables to cheese to snacks to clothes, bicycles, and
even the occasional live chicken!) and should also make the city center a
much nicer place to stroll and pass the time.
This is part of an ongoing effort to make Mechelen a more attractive and
pededstrian friendly town - the parking lot in the nearby Veemarkt (old
Cattle market) is similarly being put underground to make another open air
square, pedestrian walkways are being added along the Dijle (the river through
town), modern hotels and shopping centers are being built - a rare example
of a city wisely spending taxpayer Euros!
The building on the other side of the square is the Gemeentehuis (City
Hall) - it dates from the 1500s or so and is still in active use. [[[
It occasionally feels like the bookkeeping methods of the town are also from
this era... ]]]
Now we're looking the exact other direction, off towards
Antwerp to the North. Unfortunately, we can't see far enough to make
out the spire of the main cathedral in Antwerp! But we can see where
Mark bikes to every morning...
