I didn’t have any intention of stumbling on a fascinating new place. I was visiting my long-time college friend Anne, who had been living in Belgium intermittently for two decades. My husband, David, wanted to go to Antwerp for the day, just for something to do (and taste some Belgian beer), but Anne felt it was too far and hectic. “Let’s go to Mechelen,” she said. “It’s like a mini Bruges, with no tourists.” I was intrigued.
Mechelen lies just 30 minutes from both Brussels and Antwerp in the heart of Flanders, Belgium’s Dutch-speaking northern realm. We took the quick train ride from Anne’s house in a village…
