Hasselt - Surprise Destination

Ever heard of Hasselt, Belgium? I've seen the signs when I drove to the Brussels airport but never really heard or read anything about the town. It is never mentioned in travel brochures, at least I have never seen it in one. But I went for a long (for me) bike ride from Lanaken to Hasselt along the Albert Canal a couple days ago and got a quick look around the city.

 

 You can look at my pictures from the ride at this LINK.Ignore me in the photos. These pictures were for my family.

Hasselt approx. 1771-1775

Hasselt was founded in approximately the 7th century on the Helbeek, a small tributary of the Demer river. The name Hasselt came from Hasaluth, which means hazel wood. During the Middle Ages, it became one of the bigger towns of the county of Loon, which had borders approximately the same as the current province of Limburg. Hasselt was first named in a document in 1165 and shortly thereafter received the much sought-after city charter. In 1232 this status was officially confirmed by count Arnold IV. Even though the city of Borgloon was the original official capital of Loon, Hasselt was to become the biggest city thanks to its favourable setting and to the proximity of the count’s castle and the Herkenrode Abbey in Kuringen. In 1366 the county of Loon became part of the Bishopric of Liège and remained so until the annexation by France in 1794.

During the First French Empire, after the French revolution, Maastricht became the capital of the area that was then called the French Department of the Lower Meuse. This included both modern Belgian Limburg, and also neighboring Dutch Limburg. After the defeat of Napoleon, in 1815, this whole area became part of a new United Kingdom of the Netherlands, and it was at this time that the name Limburg was adopted. King William wanted to keep the name of the old Duchy of Limburg alive although it had been centered in Limburg on the Vesdre, and had never encompassed Hasselt. Even when Belgium gained its independence from the Netherlands in 1830, and the province of Limburg was definitively split between the Netherlands and Belgium in 1839, this name was retained and the name Loon disappeared. After the split, Hasselt became the provisional capital of the Belgian province of Limburg. When Maastricht stayed Dutch in 1839, it became the permanent seat of its provincial government within the Netherlands, also called Limburg. In 1967, Belgian Limburg was detached from the Diocese of Liège and Hasselt became the seat of the Diocese of Hasselt.

Hassault is in the Dutch speaking half of Belgium. Not to bad-mouth the other half but you will quickly figure out that the lower half of Belgium, (the French speaking "Walloons"), is run down, dingy, dirty, and poorly maintained. It is unfortunate but you cannot deny the facts. Hassault is a very clean and well-maintained city. It has a large, pedestrian friendly shopping district. Most of the streets are closed to vehicles during the shopping hours.

I couldn't imagine ever needing to use public transportation, the city isn't huge, but if you do you might find this interesting: Hasselt made Public transport by bus zero-fare from 1 July 1997.  The transport network here is mainly by bus. All buses leave from the station. The town lines (called H-lijn) have been free for everyone including tourists since Tuesday 1 July 1997. Other bus lines are free for the inhabitants of Hasselt while traveling in the territory of Hassault.

The local H-lijn buses on the town lines carry an H on their number on the electronic destination sign above the windshield. The regional transport services, or so-called Red lines, are free for residents of Hasselt, who can travel without fare as long as they show their identity card to the driver of the bus. Red regional route bus stops are marked with signs indicating the beginning or end of the Hasselt bus network. Non-residents of Hasselt pay the usual area tariff, except for children under 12 who have zero-fare travel. "Blue" regional lines incur a fare in the normal way.

I walked, pushing my bike, and was easily able to see the entire shopping district within the ring road on foot. There is a train line from Maastricht to Hasselt if you wanted to avoid the drive and parking fees and in that case jumping on a bus would be convenient.

I only walked around for about 30-40 minutes because I had a long ride back to where I started from. I was very impressed with what I saw. The shopping district was larger than I expected. I went in the one church and it was really nice. The stores were closed, it was Sunday, but most of the cafes and restaurants were open and busy. The place was clean and I have to think it is very safe since there are surveillance cameras everywhere.

Do you like Gin (the drink, not the card game)? Hasselt hosts "The National Jenever (gin) Museum". 

Hasselt and gin... inseperable. Discover the secrets of this strong-bodied drink in the National Genever Museum. See how this celebrated liquor is prepared in this authentic 19th century distillery. And taste the final result. Bet you'll find it delicious...

Opening hours
- Open from the 1st April  until 31st October: Tuesday to Sunday from 10.00 to 17.00
- Open from the 1st November until 31st March: Tuesday to Friday from 10.00 to 17.00. Saturday and Sunday from 13.00 to 17.00
- Closed: every Monday, the 1st January, from 9th until 31st January, the 24th, 25th and 31st December 2012.

Price
individual visitors:                 € 4,50 p.p. (including a drink)
12 to 26 years:                     € 1 p.p.
children under 12 years:       free
groups (at least 15 people)  € 3,50 p.p.

Useful to know
Dogs are not allowed

Tip
Heading along your route just for the gin called 'jenever'? Combine a visit to the National Jenever Museum with a city walk. You can obtain the jenever museum brochure at Tourism Hasselt for € 5 p.p., entrance to the museum and a drink included.

National Genever Museum
Witte Nonnenstraat 19
3500 Hasselt

Do you like clothes and fashion?  Are you a dedicated follower of fashion? Then the Fashion Museum in Hasselt is something for you! Come and visit the exhibitions around fashion – then, now and in the future.

OPENING HOURS
Open every day from 10 AM to 5 PM, except on Mondays and:
• Sunday January 1st, 2012;
• Monday the 24th, Tuesday the 25th and Monday the 31st of December 2012;
• from Monday January 9 to Friday February 3, 2012 and from Monday May 28 to Friday June 22, 2012 (preparation of the exhibition).

PRICE
€ 5 p.p.
€ 2 p.p. students from 13 to 18 (children under 12 years free)
€ 4 p.p. for groups of at least 15 people.

Fashion Museum of Hasselt 
Gasthuisstraat 11
BE-3500 Hasselt

Carillon Tower:
You'll find the carillon right in the city centre, high in the tower of the Sint-Quintinus Cathedral. It takes a little effort to climb the stairs, but the breathtaking view from the top is really worth it. It's the ideal place to learn everything about clocks, bells and carillons. It will forever change the way you'll listen to the bells playing during carillon concerts.
 
OPENING HOURS
Opening days and hours: see the website www.hetstadsmus.be


PRICE
€ 1.50 p.p. for individuals and groups of 15 people and more
€ 1 p.p. for schools (> 12 years old), children < 12 years ,free.

GUIDED VISIT
VALID: all year round
DURATION: 1.5 hours
PRICE: € 1.50 p.p. for groups of 15 people and more, < 12 years free
PRICE FOR THE GUIDE: € 60 (2 hours maximum) one guide per 15 people.
RESERVATION: Tourism Hasselt, T +32 11 23 95 42, groepsbezoeken@hasselt.be
Don't forget to reserve at least one month in advance!

TIP
The Carillon is featured regularly with special carillon concerts. More information about these concerts at Tourism Hasselt and on the website www.uitinhasselt.be
 
Carillon tower of the Saint Quinten Cathedral
Vismarkt n/n
BE-3500 Hasselt

Would you like to combine the (historical) beauty of a museum with the natural magnificence of the Japanese Garden? Then the combined card is what you need: for a single low price, you get the best of both worlds!

Four in one!
• The National Genever Museum (including drink)
• The Hasselt Fashion Museum
• The Japanese Garden
• Het Stadsmus (Municipal Museum)

Opening hours
Valid in 2012 during the opening hours of the museums and the Japanese Garden.

Price
€ 12 p.p.

InformationAvailable at Tourism Hasselt, the museums, the Japanese Garden and in many hotels.

* Good to knowIn the closed period of the Japanese Garden (from 1st November until 31 March) the entrance ticket of the garden is replaced by a leaflet with the outlined historical city walk accompanied by a coffee served at the pub Het Tuincafé, next to the municipal museum 'Het Stadsmus'.

Hasselt is only about 40 minutes away from Schinnen and well worth the trip. Give yourself a full day or go back another day to see what you missed. Use this LINK to visit the official website in English.

Oude Ambachten (Old Fashioned Folk/Craft Festival) Einighausen, NL

Op Zondag 5 Augustus 2012 vindt voor de 32e keer Oude Ambachten plaats te Einighausen. 

On Sunday, 5 August, 2012, is the 32nd annual Folk (or Crafts) Festival takes place in Einighausen.
Van 13.00 tot 18.00 uur kunt u een kijkje nemen in het boerenleven van 50 tot 100 jaar geleden. 

From 1300 to 1800 hours (1:00 to 6:00 o'clock)  can you see how farm life was 50 - 100 years ago.

Entree: € 5,00 (kinderen tot 12 jaar gratis)

Entrance: €5.00 (children up to 12 years old are free)

Parkeren is gratis op de aangegeven parkeerplaatsen.

Parking is free at the designated parking area.

 I went to this fest last year and spent about five hours there and had a good time. Last year it was hot and sunny. Click this LINK to see my posting from last year. Einighausen is near Sittard and is easy to get to from A2.

I plan on going this year again unless the weather is really bad. I suggest you take your own snacks and cold drinks. Food is available but the cost of drinks is ridiculous. I'm not all that fond of Dutch festival food, except for a piece of vlaai, so I'll take my own lunch.

So put it on your calendar and go to learn something about the Dutch Limburgs culture.

 

Floriade 2012 Horticultural Show

I highly recommend you make a trip to see the Floriade 2012, the once every ten years horticultural show near Venlo, The Netherlands.There are 66 hectares (163 acres) of exhibits, open areas, and woods to walk through. I have no idea how many countries are participating but there are a lot.

I am very impressed with the show. The grounds were immaculate; there was not a piece of trash, graffiti, or vandalism at the park. Many of the pavilions were strictly money-making ventures with wares from their country on sale. But I don't mind that at all and some of the stuff for sale was interesting. I bought two polished stone eggs (€3 for both) in the Pakistan pavilion and a small olive wood bowl (€5) in the Tunisian pavilion.There were a lot of semi-precious stone jewelry, silver, figurines, leather wares, etc.

There are many places to eat a meal, get a quick snack or drink, and a few dessert stands as well. I ate lunch at the Bulgarian cafe and had a chicken pita sandwich (apparently a traditional Bulgarian fast food item). It was delicious and cheap at €3.75. For supper I had an Indian Chicken Curry panini. That was excellent as well and was only €5.50. As I usually do, I took my own drinks to reduce my dining costs.

There were many musical activities at the show. The Floriade had several stages for their own shows and a few of the pavilions had their own musicians. Of note were the two musicians/singer at the Indonesian pavilion and the solo musician and singer at the Andes/Amazon pavilion. They were both outstanding and had unbelievable voices.

I took quite a few pictures and you can see them at this LINK. Just click on the link and then on the first picture in the album.

I spent eight hours at the show and only saw three of the five main areas and did not even see everything in each of them. The two-day pass costs only ten Euros more and is probably the way to go. The Floriade show grounds are only 50 minutes away from my home. Take A2 north and then exit onto A73 toward Venlo. You will see signs for the Floriade; follow them. Parking is at an off-site area with shuttle buses. You MUST buy a €10 parking ticket at the same time you buy your tickets or before you leave the show grounds. You need the ticket to get out of the parking area.

14 July 12

Made an easier day so everyone could recover a bit. After a leisurely morning and lunch I took the crew to the Roman Bath house (Thermen) in Heerlen. It is a really nice exhibit of a Roman Bath house that operated there 1800 years ago. Heerlen was a Roman army garrison town located on the Roman supply route (via Belgica) that went from the coast of France to Cologne, Germany. After a north-south road was built, which crossed the via Belgica at Heerlen, it became a center of commerce and recreation. The whole region around where I live was Roman farmland with villas and temples. You have seen evidence of this in my prior postings.

On the way I stopped at the church in Klimmen. I have talked about this church before as well. The church tower was built on a former Roman watch tower that was used to overwatch the via Belgica, which ran across the valley floor to the immediate south. The inside of the church is designed to look like the interior of a Roman villa. It is a unique church in many ways.

The bath house was discovered in 1940 during the German occupation when residents were clearing fallow ground to plant crops. Scholars were brought in to study the site but they had only limited means to do so at this time so they reburied the site. It wasn't until 1970 that there was the time and funding (and recovery after the war) to do a full investigative dig. They then decided to build a structure over the ruins and create a museum. There is a 15 minute introductory film to orient you to what and where (in time and place) the bath house and the Roman occupation in general was all about. Then there is a walk-thru museum with items found mostly in the immediate area. Everything in the museum is authentic unless the placard says otherwise.

Set your GPS to:

Coriovallumstraat 9
6411 CA Heerlen
Nederland

• Opening hours
Tuesday to Friday: 10:00 - 17:00 hours Saturday, Sunday and holidays: 12:00 - 17:00 hour Closed on Monday Closed on the following dates: January 1st, carnival, 24th, 25th and the 31st December

This is the fourth time I have been here; once with my oldest son in 2001, my youngest son in 2010, and my wife in 2011. The museum has been different every time. Truthfully, I think it was far better and more complete in 2001 but it is still a nice museum. I forgot my Dutch - English dictionary in the car so there were a few things I couldn't translate but I knew most of what was there. We spent about 90 minutes there. You can still enjoy the museum even if you don't read Dutch but it certainly makes it more interesting if you do. For the introductory film make sure you ask the front desk to play the English version. Also, the description of the bath house itself can be done in several languages so ask for what is easiest for you. Take a Dutch-English dictionary if you have one. Most of the item descriptions are very short.

There is no parking right at the museum but plenty of paid parking in the vicinity. Where I parked it was €1.80 an hour. They have a cloak room and lockers if you want to get rid of a few items. I don't think you are allowed to take packs or bags into the museum. They often have special exhibits there as well. When I took my wife they were exhibiting the via Belgica and Roman road building in general. That was really interesting. There are vending machines but otherwise no food or drink there.

It is a good way to start your exploration of the Roman occupation if you have an interest in this part of the local history. There are many other places to go to see and study the Roman period.

Trip to Bastogne, Belgium

The day's mission was to see the sites related to the "Battle of the Bulge" as Americans call it. Or the "Ardennes Offensive" as it is often called here. It was a cold and rainy day but that can be the perfect day to see a battlefield site. December 1944 was one of the coldest and snowiest winters in several decades. So we had a small touch of the misery the Soldiers endured during the eight week battle.

I already posted my photos on Facebook so just click on and follow this LINK to see them.

We left at 0900 hrs and headed south going through Maastricht (traffic jam) then on to Liege and south through the countryside. My GPS often comes up with some crazy routes and today was no exception. We found ourselves driving down gravel roads and small lanes. I guess that is part of the adventure. In any case, this route took us by some lesser known towns and villages involved in the battle. We passed through Foy for example and came across the monument to Easy Company, 506th PIR (Band of Brothers fame). If you remember the series, this is the location where they went forward to establish a blocking position. They were pushed back to their former positions. In the series episode, Garnier complained that "...someone took a shit in my foxhole...".

We also came across other historical markers and part of a driving tour trail. There is a bike path in the area but I don't know if it is set up to link historical sites or not. Some of the markers had before and after photos so you could see the amount of damage that occurred.

We eventually got to Bastogne (three plus hours for what Google Maps said was a 95 minute drive) and headed through town to see the Mardasson Monument built by the Belgians as a thank you and commemoration of the US sacrifice to free their country. The monument is massive and moving but is in sore need of upkeep and renovation (not something Belgium (the French speaking area anyway) is known for unfortunately). It was raining, windy, and cold but none of us was in a hurry to leave. Unfortunately the museum was closed for expansion. From what I have read the collection was moved to Brussels, strangely, until the mew museum is completed and opened in March 2013. (Note: It was supposed to open in 2012 so who knows how far behind schedule they are. There was a fire in the old museum and that might cause a further delay while they repair/rebuild that.) The new one will be at least 3-4 times larger. This created a dilemma, I needed to find a good museum for my brother-in-law Dave who was looking forward to this trip.

We drove into Bastogne for lunch and parked in what I initially thought was a free parking area. There were no signs indicating you needed a parking ticket. We walked almost all the way to McAuliffe Place (or Square) before we found a place to eat. It was a one-woman cafe and the food was edible but nothing to recommend although my sister's fried chicken wrap (or "warp" as it was on the menu) looked tasty.After we ordered I trotted back to the car suspecting that it must be paid parking and I just missed it. Sure enough it was. Parking was only €1.00 an hour so no big deal.

(Language was a challenge on this trip. We (me mostly) dealt with four languages; German, Dutch, French, and Luxembourgish (in written form). Sometimes I was using two or three languages at the same time. I speak no French (outside a few useful words) but understand some and several times I had to speak in German and they were replying in French. I have to say it was a fun challenge and we were successful.)

After lunch my sister and I had an ice cream cone at the former Australian Ice Cream Company near Mcauliffe's Square. My oldest son and I had ice cream there in December 2000 and as he often says, "it was the best ice cream in the world." The new company's ice cream was fine but not as good as the former company's.  Normally that would be enough of a dessert but we walked into a bakery and I could not resist buying us eclairs. They were delicious; I could have eaten a dozen.

We attempted to find a new museum called, "I was 20 in 44" but couldn't until after I had given up. By then I was ready to move on. So we drove to another small museum outside of town. We talked to the curator after we walked through and he told us it was overflow from another of their museums located in La Roche. This was a nice but small museum. They are in the process of building a complete battlefield scene in the basement, which will be interesting when complete. He said it was too cold this past winter to work on it so they are behind schedule. Your GPS will not take you to this museum, there is a problem with the address. Just follow the map on their web site.

After this we headed towards Diekirch, Luxembourg. I have been planning to see this museum for two years as part of my camping tour of the Duchy but I always got rained out. It was a longer drive than what Google said, again, since we followed a twisting, winding road through the mountains. Other than the delay it caused though I didn't mind at all. It was a beautiful drive. Of course as the driver I couldn't see much because of the nature of the road (narrow, winding, blind curves) but I did pull over at a picnic overlook spot. That picture is on my Facebook page.

We came into Diekirch at ten minutes before five and I was hoping I remembered correctly that the museum was open until six. Luckily that was the case.  This museum, The National War Museum, is fantastic. We only had an hour but you could easily spend three hours in there reading all the information and studying the weapons and dioramas. This is a very well maintained place and we all enjoyed it.

Afterwards we parked in town and looked for a place to eat. After a 40 minutes walk we weren't impressed with any of the offerings and I figured we could find a place on the road. I passed a couple dozen places and trusted my intuition to pick a good spot. I finally stopped at a restaurant attached to a gas station. The first waitress started talking to my sister in Luxembourgish and she asked if the waitress spoke English. "No" was the reply. I asked if she spoke Nederlands and she said "Nein, Deutsch". Ok, so I switched to German to order our drinks. The next waitress only spoke French but she understood German so we did that. The third waitress spoke German but obviously understood some English. The menu was written in French and Luxembourgish. What a situation!

From here it was a 80 minute ride home. The best time to go to Bastogne is the Christmas week when all the re-enactors are doing their thing. Look in the Stars & Stripes or online in late November. It does get crowded and everytime I have been there then it was really cold. But it is wonderful to see how the Belgians commemorate the battle.