Week 7: Ascent of St Rombold’s Tower

It was a cold, sunny winter day. Perfect for an ascent of St Rombold’s Tower in Mechelen I thought. This wasn’t the first time I’ve climbed it but that was a long time (back in 2007), and since then a skywalk has been built on top of it. Therefore I thought it would still make a nice date.

I arrived as soon as it opened, on a weekday and in low season, so I hoped it would’t be too crowded. The tower has a height of 93 meters, and more than 500 stairs have to be climbed to get to the top. The good thing is that there are several floors, so they gave me plenty of time for resting and reading about the history. I was the first to make the ascent, and was alone on the different floors. On the top floor, you can press a button to start a carillon sound. I knew the song, and completely got immersed in the moment. Alone, oldness, sounds… it all contributed to bringing me in the here and now.

I then had to climb one more set of stairs to get to the very top. I was happy to notice I was still alone, and spent quite some time overlooking the surroundings. I could see the churches and historical buildings of Mechelen. I could see Bonheiden, my hometown. I could even see Brussels, with its atomium.

How did I experience it as a date? Well, it was an easy, close by, and relatively cheap activity. It brought me back to previous times, to sounds, to physical effort, to a broad view, to coldness touching my skin. My inner artist was addressed in several, very different ways. And she was very pleased with that!

If you are in the neighbourhood, all the information can be found here, even in English for once:

https://visit.mechelen.be/ascent-of-st-rumbolds-tower