notes from Leuven

That's where I am.

Leuven.

At least one person admitted to me that s/he had no idea where Leuven was. For the rest of you who don't know - whether or not you'll admit it: it's in Belgium. It's gorgeous. A very cool town - a university town that does not appear to share the sheer excess of whatever-it-is that students seem to imbibe so much of in so many other university towns.

Granted, there's a fair amount of bier trinken that goes on (this very town is the home of Stella Artois, after all), but there's also a goodly amount of serious attention to scholarly matters. Not to mention evidence of attention to some serious building and design projects over the years: you should see the Town Hall!

My favorite is Fonske - a statue of a gnomish student reading and pouring a glass of liquid into his head. I understand his full name is Fons Sapientiae, Latin for "fountain of wisdom", but I'll just bet you that that's beer we're talkin' about, here. . . .

All right, all right. I don't have a camera with me, but here's a picture of him I snagged off the internet.

Here's a close-up of the lad.What do you think - bier? or wisdom?

In any event, he's very cool.

This, from a country that also has one Mannequin Pis. But that's another story. (By the way, that's the Town Hall in the background of the first Fonske picture - oops, no it isn't! That's the Cathedral. I'll see if I can't find a picture of the Town Hall, which stands just next to the Cathedral, for next time. If you don't want to wait, click on the Leuven link above. As I recall, there is a picture of the Town Hall there, on Wikipedia.)

Till next time!