In the two and a half years since micro-roastery Mok opened its doors in Leuven, they surely have left their mark on the city’s coffee culture. They started out as a roastery with an espresso machine to offer their customers a taste of their product. Since then, owner Jens Crabbé had to move the roastery to a bigger venue. At the original location you can now find a shop and a coffee bar, where you can try all the different varieties. (Or you can enjoy their product in the many places that have the delicious Mok coffee on their menu, like Bar Stan.)
Mok is located close to the railway station of Leuven (although you can argue that everything is close to the station in this tiny city), which makes it the ideal spot to start or end a visit to Leuven with. Their terrace, looking over the more quiet part of one of Leuven’s main shopping streets, is perfect for a sunny afternoon of people watching, or you can head inside for a cozy coffee break in their welcoming interior. Or, give Mok a go for after work drinks, because these busy bees recently launched their very own Mok Ale!
UPDATE: Mok’s interior has been completely redone by none other than Wøti, whose home you’ve seen here. Have a look at Mok’s instagram to catch a peek and make sure to visit Mok Brussels, designed by Wøti, Gijs Van Vaerenbergh and Nono & het Staal, who have all been featured on the blog before. Au pays des merveilles approved!
Mok Micro-Roastery, Diestsestraat 175, 3000 Leuven - website - facebook
- instagram
For this first edition of insights (besides the one covering my own bedroom), I’m offering you a peek into my dear friend Paulien Herbots’ home in Antwerp. Whenever I set foot in her apartment, I feel just a tiny bit jealous, and I know I’m not the only one. She managed to find herself an affordable apartment with lots of light and space, in a quiet street in the city center and with a green view. Paulien has a knack for interior design and turned this apartment into a lovely home. But that’s not the only reason why we love to visit her: she always treats her guests to the most delicious food and drinks. This girl might be working as an architect, her real passion is food. She not only loves to cook herself, but she also enjoys watching cooking shows, strolling through food markets, going out for coffee or treating herself to a delicious egg breakfast.
If you’ve ever lived or studied in Leuven, you’re bound to know De Werf. This babbel en knabbelcafé (“babble and nibble café”) is every student’s favorite. With its quirky interior, filled with construction tools (referring to their name, which translates as “the construction site”) and retro knick-knacks, combined with the huge terrace where everybody gets their own blanket, it’s hard not to love this place. On top of that, their menu and the presentation of the dishes matches perfectly with the quirkiness of the interior. The food at De Werf is served in lunch boxes, plastic children’s cups or paper bags and their coffee comes in a giant thermos flask, perfect to share with friends. If you ask for freshly squeezed orange juice, you get oranges, a glass and your very own juicer: do it yourself at it’s finest! De Werf offers the choice between “tomato soup with meat balls” and “meat balls with tomato soup”, depending on which ingredient you like the most. Also recommended are their their delicious desserts and their tasty herb bread with feta cheese, my personal favorite. It’s nearly impossible to leave this place unhappy, so if you’re in Leuven and in need of a little pick-me-up, you know where to go!
De Werf, Hogeschoolplein 5, 3000 Leuven - website - facebook
View my pinterest board on diy’s here.
When I visited Barcelona for the third time, I did something I’ve never done before: prepare for a trip. Usually, I prefer traveling without a to do list and I like to be surprised by unsuspected discoveries, but now that I have a smart phone, a well prepared trip seemed a lot less of a hassle than before. So for the first time ever, I searched blogs (Sir Magazine, Why Not Monday, The Epic Guide and 12hrs) and asked friends (Lise, Lien, Hanna and Mariona) for tips and gathered all of them in one helpful guide. (When I do research, I do it well!) Because we had so much fun with this list of Barcelona tips, I decided to gather every place I’ve tested and approved in one blog post. In the list below, you’ll only find the places that have been approved by yours truly, while on the google map at the end of this post, you can find all the recommendations I found, including the ones I haven’t tested myself. I trust my friends and fellow blogger’s opinion, so these are still on my to do list for my next visit. I do think you cannot visit Barcelona without seeing some of Gaudi’s work, so I’ve included some of his buildings and some other touristic must do’s in this list as well. I’ll warn you: tickets to see these don’t come cheap and it’ll probably be crowded with tourists, but it’s worth it anyway in my opinion.
In November I made a trip to Barcelona, where I spent a couple of days with a friend and two days on my own. My friend had to head back sooner than me but I preferred to have more time off from my busy schedule in Belgium. With “Fiets & the city – Barcelona” in hand, I took the metro to Poblenou to check out their recommendations on modern architecture. Herzog and de Meuron’s Museu Blau, the natural history museum, was my favorite discovery, with it’s interesting textures and reflections. Next to Museu Blau, you can also find the Diagonal 00 Telefonica Tower (by Enric Massip-Bosch_EMBA), with its graphic lines. My last stop was Can Framis, Jodi Badia’s concrete museum which houses a collection of contemporary Catalan art. As it was Monday, both museums were closed so unfortunately my architectural field trip was limited to outside views only, but worth it anyway.
In November I made a short trip to Barcelona to escape all the graduation and internship stress. My travel companion had to head back sooner than me, so I spent a couple of days on my own in this Spanish city. On my last day in Barcelona, I hiked my way up to the bunkers of El Carmel. These old remains of an air raid civil war bunker offer the most amazing view over the city of Barcelona and are the perfect spot for a picnic.
Four locals were convinced that Leuven was still missing something, so they decided to fill the gap themselves. And they were right, as Bar Stan was an immediate success! I regret that this place only emerged in Leuven after I moved to Antwerp, but whenever I’m in Leuven, I try to stop by to enjoy their living room atmosphere. Bar Stan is located in a more residential area of the city and makes you feel at home right away with their picture perfect interior, filled with artwork by locals. You can come here any time of the day, as they offer breakfast, coffee, lunch, after work drinks and dinner, and you can even borrow a picnic basket and blanket to enjoy your order on the grass on the other side of the street. What’s not to love?
Constantin Meunierstraat 2, 3000 Leuven - website - facebook
Find more beautiful stationery on my pinterest board.