The tour group broke apart on Monday morning, and we all went our separate ways. Because Poperinge is the last stop on a local rail line, all of us rode together to Kortrijk before dispersing. Diana and I made for Mechelen, a city of 82,000 located north of Brussels, between the capital and Antwerp.
I visited Mechelen for the first time in 2008, and was intrigued. It is an ideal place for beginning or ending a trip to Belgium. It is interesting in and of itself, and less touristed than Brussels or Antwerp. A relatively new rail line connects Mechelen with the Brussels Airport in ten minutes flat, easily the most economical way to go there. There's a very good brewery in Mechelen called Het Anker, which brews the Gouden Carolus line.
And, as we learned on Monday evening, there is superb Moroccan food at the Ronda restaurant on the Vismarkt, where transcendent tagines and couscous are offered.
Below, the statue and story of the Opsinjoorke. Stay tuned for the hotel tale.
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