The 2017 ode to Poperinge and Haarlem actually begins in Mechelen.

It's a process, but the Baylors are improving at packing light. The objective for one's baggage is to carry all of it onto the plane, not check items. Upon arrival, you can start moving.

An uneventful arrival in Brussels came early on Friday morning. After clearing passport control and customs, we proceeded to the airport's underground train station, bought tickets and made the brief 10-minute ride to Mechelen.

Mechelen is located north of Brussels, situated roughly equidistant between the capital and Antwerp. It is an interesting, historic city of 82,000 occupying flat ground astride the Dijle River.

Our room at the St. Martin's Patershof Hotel, a former church, wouldn't be ready until 15.00, leaving us more than five hours to wander. Hotel reception placed our bags in a lock-up, and strolled over to the Vismarkt (fish market) in hope of coffee.

The Vismarkt is a small square by the river, where the fishmongers once congregated. One remains in business, but otherwise the storefronts now are filled with bars and restaurants.

One of them is Ronda, a Moroccan restaurant where we enjoyed transcendent tagines and couscous on our previous visit in 2014. History was repeated for lunch in 2017, because by the time we'd finished coffee, the doors were being unlocked at the eatery.

It took a while to finish. There's an outpost of the Mercure hotel chain just steps away on the Vismarkt. We may have to make it our base of operations next time.

Just across the Dijle from the Vismarkt is an interesting example of adaptive reuse and modern construction, a former brewery (Lamot) transformed into a conference center and offices.

After lunch, it was time to walk off the Couscous Royale. We set northeasterly course for the Grote Markt (main market square).

The striking 320-feet tall cathedral tower of St. Rumbold's is central Mechelen's omnipresent landmark.

After another coffee, the walk resumed, this time to the west of center. There was delightful sculpture along the way through residential neighborhoods bordered by the remnants of a vast beguinage.

The reward for this 15-minute hike was being tapped at the Het Anker brewery's brasserie. As the lunch crowd thinned, we sipped some of my favorite Belgian ales, including Gouden Carolus and Ambrio.

A semi-modern, almost suburban shopping estate is situated across the road from Het Anker. After a couple of belts, we found this toddler supply vendor's interface a tad amusing.

At this juncture, we could return to the hotel and check in. Once the formalities were finished, a nap was in order.

Literally for decades, I refused to consider the value of such a break on European arrival day. I'd rely on adrenaline and what I imagined was heroic fortitude. Then I got old, and finally I listened to Diana's patient explanations about the merits of one or two hours of sleep.

By 17.30, we were refreshed and ready to find a dinner spot, prefaced by another enjoyable walk in crisp autumn weather.

Back finally at the Grote Markt, we were enchanted by the scene, and decided to dine somewhere on the perimeter. There was a larger, younger crowd at an Irish pub; most seemed to be drinking, not eating.

However, next to the pub was a restaurant filled with older locals sedately dining and chatting ... and a chalkboard sign touting the mussels. Brasserie De Keizerin proved to be an excellent choice with a perfect view.

My plump, fresh mussels were served in a Scotch whisky cream sauce. The first time I ever ate a pot of mussels 22 years ago in Antwerp, the server instructed me to use a shell as a fork. Right or wrong, I've done it this way ever since.

The beers were yummy, too. It wasn't an extensive list, but Dubbels and Tripels work fine with mussels.

As dusk arrived, the views kept getting better. By night, the Grote Markt was rendered positively magical.

Mechelen was the ideal start to the trip. We've enjoyed the city so much these past two times that I'd love to spend more than an evening there. Let's hope this is possible some day soon.

Previously: 

TRAVEL PRELUDES: Mechelen, with a side of Gouden Carolus.

2014 Euro Reunion Tour, Day 13: A final Belgian evening in Mechelen, with Opsinjoorke.

TRAVEL PRELUDES: Mechelen, with a side of Gouden Carolus.

2014.

Mechelen is located north of Brussels, situated roughly equidistant between the capital and Antwerp.

This historic city of 82,000 lies on flat ground astride the Dijle River, with the 320-feet tall cathedral tower of St. Rumbold's visible from the nearby countryside amid fields of endive, asparagus and cauliflower.

In September of 2008, six of us went bicycling through Belgium, occasionally hopping a train between destinations. We began in Haarlem, Netherlands, where we rented bikes, then took the railroad to Mechelen.

From the train station, a short ride brought us to the Het Anker brewery, with an onsite hotel and fully equipped café for our sampling pleasure.
 
Het Anker’s flagship Gouden Carolus Classic remains a great favorite of mine, and in 2008 I was at the peak of my powers, since largely ceded, to cajole favors from importers and wholesalers. In this case it was a guided brewery tour for the group.

The brewery's adaptive late-20th century survival strategies might be more interesting than the previous 400 years of brewing history on the site, a former beguinage.

In 2008, we rode around, walked a bit and explored the city. I found it intriguing; as though with a bit of a civic inferiority complex (everyone fixates on Brussels and Antwerp), though right on the cusp of something more.

It took a while to make it back, but Diana and I spent a final night on the continent in Mechelen in 2014 before flying home from nearby Brussels airport (ten minutes away by direct train), and a significant amount of municipal groove seemed to have been reclaimed.

It’s been three years, and I can still taste the superb Moroccan food at the Ronda restaurant on the Vismarkt, where transcendent tagines and couscous stand ready for the tasting. In 2017, Mechelen’s the first night of the trip, not the last, and I bet I already know where we'll be eating ... after a few beers at Het Anker.

I've never written about the 2008 trip, and some day it finally will get done. When photos of 2017 are available, you'll find them here.

2014 Euro Reunion Tour, Day 13: A final Belgian evening in Mechelen, with Opsinjoorke.

2014 Euro Reunion Tour, Day 14: The unkindest cut of all ...

 ... is having to come home, especially when you have to vacate a room like this one.

In Mechelen, we spent the trip's final night at the Martin's Patershof, a hotel in a former church. I'd come across it while researching less expensive options, and concluded that a splurge could be justified for the evening preceding a transatlantic flight. Consequently, I reserved a "great" room for €179 ($220). It would have been noce to stay in one of the rooms with stained glass windows, but those were a bit too "great" for my blood at €499.

When we checked into the hotel on Monday, the desk clerk informed us that we'd been upgraded to a suite for the same price. This didn't register until we opened the door.

Okay, so they're stained glass reproductions. Still, it's a fifth-floor room and the top of the church. Impressive, indeed.

Wait -- what's that?

It's our first-ever, in-room espresso machine. Gads. Not only that, but the bar downstairs had draft Gouden Carolus and Ename Tripel on draft.

This concludes my account of the 2014 trip. When's next?

2014 Euro Reunion Tour, Day 13: A final Belgian evening in Mechelen, with Opsinjoorke.

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.