Leuven, Belgium
April 21, 2011

Distance Traveled Today:  40 miles

Distance So Far:  7376

Bah.  Lots of downtime today because of a nasty keylogging Trojan that attached itself to my profile like a facecrab in an Alien movie. 

Tonight, they guys are taking me to Leuben, the small and historic Flemish town where Jan, the IT boss, lives.  Looking forward to that!

Last night I got my Mexican Food on.  It was just Chi Chi’s, but it was acceptable.  I’m sure there is better Mexican here in the city somewhere, but it’s not easy to find.

Must remember to get to a movie next week!  I’m hoping some new things open tomorrow, as every English film showing here is one I’ve already seen.

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Pulpit in the abbey church

Excursion to Leuven

Our excursion to Leuben was relaxing, entertaining, and informative.   It’s always best to get a tour of a place from a native, and my tour guide Jan is not merely a native, but a pillar of the community.  His family has lived in Leuven for nine generations.

Jan is a great raconteur and bon vivant, and he is attached to his home town by his very chromosomes.  He first took us through a set of old abbey buildings that date from the seventeenth century.  He sings in a Gregorian choir there, and in fact was missing rehearsal for our tour.

One of the most interesting artifacts in the abbey was near one corner of the cloister.  At first glance it looked like a series of coats-of-arms, but it actually was a history of every abbot that had presided over the abbey since its founding.  The line of abbots was unbroken since inception, with the single exception of the period of time during the French Revolution.  (Jan knew the most recent three abbots on the display.)

Leuven is home to Catholic University, an enormous institution that was founded in 1425.  It is very much a university town, crawling with students and youthful energy.

You gotta ring them bells!

Jan’s Notorious Family

Jan comes from a family of seven children, all of whom currently live in the Leuven area with their families.  While the family’s history in the community gives it prominence, their reputation is not untarnished.  This is largely because of the actions of Jan’s father and uncle, Henrik and Joseph.

During WWII, Joseph, an impetuous hothead, ran away to join the Royal Air Force.  He became a bomber pilot. 

As we walked through the center of town, Jan pointed out a beautiful red brick tower.  “That’s the post office.  It was bombed during the war.”

By his uncle. 

Oopsie.

Actually the bombing was deliberate.  You see, the headquarters of the Gestapo was in that building, and Joseph knew it.  The problem with his decision to bomb, however, was that he did it on his own volition – he had received no orders to consider it a target.  And while the bombing was certainly disruptive to the Gestapo, there were local people in the building at the time he dropped his bomb as well.  What’s worse, in reprisal for the bombings, the Nazis rounded up a dozen or so random locals and executed them by firing squad in the middle of town.

Jan’s father Joseph was still living in Leuven during this time of Nazi occupation.  He was a respected surgeon, but like his brother was a bit on the rash side.  And so when he formed an anti-Fascist political group – not the smartest thing to do in occupied Belgium in 1944 – he was sent to Buchenwald. 

Lucky for Joseph, it was late in the war and he survived the death camp.  Barely.  When the Americans liberated the camp, he weighed 36 kilos.

After his liberation, Joseph was taken in by a rich Swiss dude who was working out a little of the guilt many Swiss felt when they realized how much their neutral stance during the war ended up helping the Nazis.  He took care of a number of survivors of the camps.  He was fond of Joseph, and when Joseph was well enough to attempt to resume his former life he sent him packing with a little gift:  A small Rembrandt etching. 

Jan grins broadly at this point in the tale.  “And who owns that Rembrandt now?  Me!”  Wow.  A Rembrandt. 

Joseph was so shattered by his experience in the camp that he felt he could no longer continue his work as a surgeon, so the rest of his career he spent as a local family doctor.  The artistic gift he received had a lasting impact:  He became a lifelong collector of fine art.

“Yes, I have the Rembrandt, ” says Jan with a sigh.  “But two of my siblings got the Breugel and the Cezanne.”

Our tour of Leuven went until late in the evening.  Nights like this are exactly why I wanted to come to Europe.

Memorable Personal Tour Guides I Have Had

• The docent who gave me a private tour of the Library of Congress, 2010
• Rob Gibb’s peripatetic survey of Tokyo, 2007
• My cousin John Domas and his wife Milana:  Mosel River drive, Germany, 2006