I fell in love with Mechelen at first sight. This year, 2001, we went back there to explore it a little more fully. The trip was a significant contrast to our first visit. Then, we were at the end of a touring holiday by car and we picked Mechelen as an example of the towns of the area. We found a hotel from the Rough Guide and almost immediately wished we had more time. This time, we planned in advance. A priority was to get a better photograph of Saint Rombout's church to make up for the rather sad one on the other page. Hopefully, this is a better advert for the town.
We went first class by Eurostar - we've been on the train a few times, including for a morris gig, but I've always ended up manhandling suitcases or queueing for drinks. Booking Apex and staying two nights including a Saturday, the ticket price was reasonable, especially when you consider that there's a decent quality meal thrown in each way. There's also a significant cachet to complimentary champagne without having to wait for seat-belt sign to go off. A flawless ride saw us replete and slightly tipsy at Brussels Suid/Midi (they're the same place, confusingly enough), with a fifteen minute connection for the ride out to Mechelen. The local train tickets cost less than a return bus ride down from our house to the centre of Southampton - no wonder our busses aren't too popular.
We'd booked the delightfully unpretentious Egmont hotel in advance. Since we couldn't find the copy of the Rough Guide from last time, I had to work it out from the internet using the maps at mappy.com to deduce where it was in relation to the station and then find the details relating to the name. When we come back, we'll hopefully stay there again. I can heartily recommend it - right in the thick of things - a good selection of Flemish eateries in the Grote Markt, and foreign food closer to the station. They'll even loan you an umbrella if it rains. If you book a room, tell them I sent you.
Our main reason for returning to Mechelen was actually to visit the Begijnhofs and two other local ones, at Lier and Dendermonde. But there was still plenty of time to explore a little more - wandering up and down the Vismarkt as well as the Hanswijk church, currently under scaffolding but still beautiful. Time also to enjoy a couple of local meals. The Eurostar meal was substantial enough that on the first night we just headed for a local bar, but there's a wealth of eateries in the main square as well as Italian, Morroccan and Chinese food nearer to the station.
We almost visited Lier the first time and now wanted to see it. I knew of the Begijnhof at Dendermonde, had corresponded with a few of the inhabiitants after posting my previous pages on the Begijns, and was anxious to see a little of the place. The visits to these places took us out into the countryside and were well worthwhile.
We also discovered that there are river trips to be had at Mechelen - sadly we didn't have time, and it was probably a bit cold. There won't be time next time - we're just going for the day for the Hanswijk procession - but I'm sure we'll come back some time one summer. There are plenty of reasons to do so, but for today it was time to bid farewell to 't Op-Signoorke (above) being tossed up in his blanket, and make our weary, but happy, way home.