Thomas Crook writes: I'd thoroughly endorse m'learned friend's comments in her(!
) original post and highly recommend a visit to Leuven.
As a group of City fans we were all suffering severe withdrawal symptoms from missing out on our European trips so we thought a visit to watch our King Power owned comrades Oud-Heverlee Leuven in the Belgian Pro League was as good a substitute we could get for the time being.
It's very easy to get there - two hours on the civilised Eurostar from St. Pancras (it cost us £108 return and it's a bit cheaper than that if booked well in advance) to Brussels and regular local trains from there taking 30 mins to Leuven itself. We'd booked hotels in the nice square opposite the station (£80 a night for my husband and I) and off we went to explore.
As LG has said it's a very picturesque city with a large student population (Oxford-like rather than Cambridge: ahem). The bastard Germans did their worst to try and fuck it up in both World Wars but a lot of the original architecture (circa 15th Century) still stands. We did a bit of culture (a walk up the main student library tower with a panoramic views from the top) and found the statue 'Fonske' celebrating the mathematical formula for happiness (a fair few on here should look it up!) but mainly concentrated on sampling the local falling down waters in the many bars. There's no shortage of decent eating emporia either - we sort of watched the Swansea game on LG's iPad in a resto but the food, drink and banter were a lot more interesting: a good game to swerve by all accounts.
The Oude Markt (the 'Old Market' accurately translated from the Flemish) is claimed to be the longest bar in Europe with its array of drinking establishments. It was pretty quiet when we were there (no beach volleyball on either) but you can easily imagine it buzzing in warmer al fresco months. If you're a Stella drinker (I confess I had a few) you'd be in heaven as their huge brewery is there but there's plenty of other more interesting brews available. CityFox of this parish is a serious Luevenophile and had given me plenty of good advice about the boozers and the trip in general.
To the match experience: you have to register on the OH Leuven website to be able to get match tickets. It was a relatively straightforward process and we got ourselves excellent front row seats in the upper tier for €25. The ground ('compact' rather than 'cute' in my Flemish phrase book - think AFC Bournemouth) is a 20 minute walk (or a free David_Nish Uber ride
) from the centre. From what I remember of the evening we had a fucking great time. We'd all got City/Vichai stuff with us and I'd taken the original Vichai big banner (available any time for weddings, bar mitzvahs, funerals and temperance meetings pop pickers - just ask: seriously) too - we became minor celebrities as a result: all the locals we saw were mightily impressed a bunch of ageing raving Leicester nutters had come to watch their team. Winning 2-1 was an extra bonus. We met a guy who was a huge LCFC fan (major City tattoos and a friend of 'Thirsty Hursty' from his visits to games over here) who insisted we go back to his 'secret pub'. His bar bill was as long as your arm but he was adamant he would pay. He also got down on his knee and proposed to his long-term partner using a bit of string from the Vichai flag as a ring substitute (hello Joe!) in front of us! A crazy fun night!
Hopefully OHL will stay up this season - our drunken LCFC fairy dust inspired them to a 3-0 away win yesterday, so they've moved out of the relegation zone. If we don't win the FA Cup this year I can't think of a better way of renewing our acquaintance with a European tour than a return to Leuven early next season. Judith Chalmers gives it five stars: "It's fucking brilliant me duck!!".
COME ON YOU LEUVEN SLICKERS!!!!
The Fonske (‘Fons Sapientiae”, “Source of Wisdom”)- ‘Fonske’ is the symbol of students in Leuven. The Fonske is a statue in the center of the university city of Leuven, on the Rector De Somerplein, front of Grote Markt.
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