26 May ’04, Wednesday. We had an early appointment at the Abbey this morning. Now I understand 10am is just about half way through the day for some of you but for us…it’s early enough. It took us just about 15 minutes to walk there and when we arrived it very quiet and no one was around. Now I know that we had been told that we would be joining a large group When we walked into the large reception area outside the chapel and we were the only one to arrive, I was wondering who may have made a mistake. As it was, the guide was just around the corner and the rest of the tour wouldn’t show for another 20 minutes. We had a great chance to get some one on one with the guide. The rest of the tour he would be speaking in Flemish so this time with him really helped us.
The Abbey is called the Averbode Abbey and was established in 1137. It still boggles my mind when we hear and see the dates that we are being introduced too. This is history with a “H”. The stories of the Abbey. The people, wars, how they lived, ate, taught, traveled and why….I wish we could record for you all we have seen and will see. One thing that we have found, Louise’s dad was put into a boarding school as a young man and the school was one of two that was established and run by the Norbertines. This Abbey was founded by St. Norbert in the 12th century. This Abbey is the oldest in Belgium and 35 priests still make their residence here on some very large and beautiful grounds. There is some restoration going on in the chapel but otherwise it was in wonderful condition. After our tour we walked to our newly found “ice cream wagon” and enjoyed a wonderful treat. The Belgium’s have the best ice cream…. We enjoyed this treat for the 2nd day in a row. A double scoop in a sugar cone was $1. Then on to the van and a short drive into Diest for the afternoon of lunch, internet café to catch up on email, and wondering the streets. Diest has a beautiful church that is really in need of restoration. It is the worst we have seen but we understand that there is going to be a big restoration coming soon. We hope so. The town owes it to it’s self to get behind this project. As we were arriving back to our pitch we had a very nice motor home pull into the pitch next to us. We had a chance to meet Cees (Case) and Els. They are expecting their family to join them for the weekend. They live just across the border into the Netherlands. With all their experiences camping Europe we were able to glean some good places to look for during our journey. We also received a wonderful gift of a Delft painted ceramic Dutch Wooden Shoe from Cees and Els. Thank you again!! Tomorrow… Dinant, Belgium.
The Abbey is called the Averbode Abbey and was established in 1137. It still boggles my mind when we hear and see the dates that we are being introduced too. This is history with a “H”. The stories of the Abbey. The people, wars, how they lived, ate, taught, traveled and why….I wish we could record for you all we have seen and will see. One thing that we have found, Louise’s dad was put into a boarding school as a young man and the school was one of two that was established and run by the Norbertines. This Abbey was founded by St. Norbert in the 12th century. This Abbey is the oldest in Belgium and 35 priests still make their residence here on some very large and beautiful grounds. There is some restoration going on in the chapel but otherwise it was in wonderful condition. After our tour we walked to our newly found “ice cream wagon” and enjoyed a wonderful treat. The Belgium’s have the best ice cream…. We enjoyed this treat for the 2nd day in a row. A double scoop in a sugar cone was $1. Then on to the van and a short drive into Diest for the afternoon of lunch, internet café to catch up on email, and wondering the streets. Diest has a beautiful church that is really in need of restoration. It is the worst we have seen but we understand that there is going to be a big restoration coming soon. We hope so. The town owes it to it’s self to get behind this project. As we were arriving back to our pitch we had a very nice motor home pull into the pitch next to us. We had a chance to meet Cees (Case) and Els. They are expecting their family to join them for the weekend. They live just across the border into the Netherlands. With all their experiences camping Europe we were able to glean some good places to look for during our journey. We also received a wonderful gift of a Delft painted ceramic Dutch Wooden Shoe from Cees and Els. Thank you again!! Tomorrow… Dinant, Belgium.