A weekend in Mechelen

Last weekend, I travelled to Mechelen in order to visit Saskia, Peter and their twins, Amélie and Joaquín. The children are now 2,5 years old and they have really changed since my previous time there (in October).The first thing that surprised me took place during the preparations of the trip. Deutsche Bahn had changed the time schedules of the trains from Frankfurt to Brussels, which, on top of that, had more stops and, consequently, needed 15 minutes more to reach Brussels North station. I was quite puzzled but I guess there are good reasons for this change.

Arriving to Brussels with the train from Frankfurt is rather depressing. The area around Brussels North station is not so attractive for the visitor. Yeah, I know that normally, those areas surrounding train stations (with the exception of Berlin Hauptbahnhof) are not precisely the most appealing ones in any city, but in the case of Brussels, I think the contrast is extremely hard: everything is old, dirty, abandoned,... I would say that this area has not been renewed in the last 30 years. From the train, one can even see prostitutes in their windows waiting for clients.

Fortunately, Belgium has also a nice face and Mechelen is a good example of it. The works in its city centre are now close to conclusion and, thanks to them, it is a real pleasure to walk around the Cathedral or the Town Hall. Mechelen's cathedral, although incomplete in its tower, is really impressive, when compared with the buildings surrounding it (see picture below). There are a lot of restaurants and bars around the channel in Mechelen and cars are almost fully outlaw there. Going for a walk is a real pleasure.
Next visit to Mechelen, keep your fingers crossed, is scheduled for September or October. Maybe, by then, Deutsche Bahn has changed, again, the time schedule of trains to Brussels, je, je, je.