Leuven Living: Going to Mass

As I get used to living in Leuven, one thing I have been able to do from the start is to continue my daily habit of going to mass. There are two churches I go to. The first one, St Peter’s (Sint-Pieterskirk), is the main church located in the town center. This is where I go to mass on Saturdays and Sundays, since this is the closest to my apartment.

On weekdays, I go to St Gertrude’s (Sint-Gertrui), a Benedictine abbey, which has the town’s earliest mass at 8am. Fortunately for me, it is exactly on the way to the office.

The mass is in Dutch, and I don’t understand a word, although of course if you know how the mass goes, you can follow. What strikes me attending mass here is there is the absence of kneeling. In fact, there are no kneelers. Most of the mass is spent sitting down, with the people only standing up during the gospel, the consecration, and the Our Father.  

Not surprisingly, most of the people who attend mass are old people; the young people are nowhere in sight. Surprise! No Filipinos to be found either.

 Half a euro to light a candle.

 

 

Detail of gargoyles at the side of St. Peter’s. Nothing more than nice downspouts hehe.

 

 

Interior of St. Peter’s. No kneelers, and heaters instead of electric fans.

 

 

 

Leuven Living: Going to Work

I’ve been here in Leuven for about a week now. I’m staying in an apartment at Dekenstraat, unit A28. It’s a small unit, with the bedroom on the mezzanine, and a kitchen with complete utilities. It’s a serviced apartment with once a week cleaning and change of towels and linen.

It takes about 30 minutes to go to the office; the distance is around 3 km. I would have wanted to go by bike, but I still have to find a bike rental shop.  Anyway, the walking is quite enjoyable once you get used to it. Not sure about the girls, though, with their heels. The clip-clop of heels is actually quite a distinct sound you hear while walking. I wonder if their heels ever get stuck in the cobblestones. Well, one thing I can say, these bombshells actually walk faster than me.

There are actually 2 routes to the office. One goes along Leuven’s peripheral road. The other route cuts through the old town center, and it’s a much more pleasant walk.

The office I go to is Inbev, the world’s largest brewery. This is Inbev’s GHQ building. The building across it reads Stella Artois, one of their flagship beer brands.

I actually work in the building across called Hungaria, in the 5th floor. This is where all the IT people are dumped.