Just another Sunday afternoon

On our most recent Sunday afternoon drive we toured the grounds of the 16th century Alden Biesen Castle. It's about a 20 minute drive from our house.

Most all the trees have their Fall colors and leaves are everywhere. It's really beautiful.

These gardens were really manicured. Check out that hedge along the back.

As with any respectable castle, there is a moat and turrets.

Here's a close-up of that little topiary garden.

The castle was built by the Teutonic Knights, a German Catholic religious order. This religious order was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy land and to establish hospitals to care for the sick and injured.

The castle burned in 1971 and the property was acquired by the government and restored.

The castle is not open to visitors except for conferences or special events, but the chapel is.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that's a Mary shrine in the distance.

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We then drove to Leuven where Ross lives. We walked around town a bit. Everything always look different at night.

Construction of a new roadway in downtown Leuven reveals the little city underneath. We've seen this before when there is road construction in downtown areas. It appears they just covered up the old town and built another one on top. It's hard to tell from this picture, but you can see thick brick walls, tile flooring, little window openings.

This is the library just a block from Ross's apartment. I took this photo.

And Ross took this one. I think I should just let him hang on to the camera!

The Ladeuzeplein, the largest plein in Leuven, is in front of this library. In the center is this - artwork. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but it's a big 75-foot steel needle with a beetle on top.

In 2005, Katholieke Universeteit Leuven (where Ross attends school) celebrated its 575th anniversary. To thank the city of Leuven for its hospitality, renowned artist Jan Fabre was asked to create a fitting sculpture as a gift to the city. It's called the Totem. I think it is supposed to capture the view of modern art in front of a neo-classical library.

This same artist is famous for his Bic-art (ballpoint drawings). He's also known for creating this ceiling, called Heaven of Delight, in the Royal Palace in Brussels. We got to see this when we visited the Royal Palace. It is made up entirely of 1.6 million of . . .

these - Buprestidae beetles!

His great-grandfather was a famous entomologist. Guess that's where the inspiration comes from.

Oh, and the sunset was spectacular that day.