21 April 09 - 13:13A weekend in a Leuven hotel
Saturday in a hotel in Leuven. Or Louvain, if you prefer. You see, this difference is very important. It is all about imagined geographies. To the Dutch speaking Flemish, Leuven is in Flanders. To the Francophone Walloons it is in Belgium. I am not about to launch into the intimacies of Belgian politics and the history that lead to this (which is very interesting but not a field I would exactly call myself an expert in!). Suffice to say, the problem in sensitive enough that the Catholic University in Leuven (dating back to 1425) split in the 60s, and the Francophones upped sticks and moved to Louvain-la-Neuf.This is my second visit to this little town just outside of the region of Brussels, and 45 minutes away on the slow train. ... (more)
