A béguinage, what is that? Well, let’s begin with a béguine (come on, that was funny…) A béguine is, or rather was, a woman who dedicated her life to her god – but didn’t necessarily want to take a vow, or withdraw from the world. Who were these women? According to one theory, wars and […]
Belgian Belfries
We’ve covered many serial world heritage sites here on Sophie’s World. Some are within the same country, such as the mining landscapes of Cornwall and Devon, while others are transnational: Struve’s Geodetic Arc, Europe’s ancient beech forests, and even transcontinental, like le Corbusier’s buildings. Today, we’re in Belgium, taking a look at a transnational property, comprising 56 belfries scattered throughout this […]
Plantin-Moretus publishing house: a 16th century amazon.com.
In Belgium’s second city, you’ll find the Plantin-Moretus Museum, a fascinating 16th century printing shop, publishing house and residence. Antwerp, then a city of 100 000 residents, was one of Europe’s leading cities for printing and typography, with 140 bookshops, printers and publishers. Among these, Christophe Plantin was the most famous – a 16th century Amazon.com, you might […]
De Koninck: Antwerp in a Bottle
As you may recall, we really like Antwerp here at Sophie’s World. So we just had to return! Earlier, we’ve talked about the city’s three World Heritage sites (three!). This time, I’ll tell you about an unusual Antwerp brewery. Sounds, well, not that exciting? That’s what I thought, too. In fact, when I learned we […]
One day in Antwerp – a snapshot
One of the most famous novels in Norway is called Gift (meaning Poison. Oddly, it also means ‘married’). It was written in 1883 by Alexander Kielland and is a deeply critical social commentary on the educational system. Cramming and memorising was the order of the day, and not necessarily topics relevant to real life. Students […]
Welcome! I'm Sophie - writer, dreamer, negotiator, wanderer, mum - in search of the world's curious places. Mostly with my daughters, sometimes solo. The girls share their take on it, too.
- Chasing shadows in Czechia
- A Tale of Two Villas
- Gori: birthplace of the world’s most infamous dictator
- City of Luxembourg: more than money
- An afternoon at the Palazzo Parisio – in which Alexandra becomes insufferably colonial
- Marian’s Guesthouse: An Oasis in Dushanbe
- (Almost) 48 hours in Osh
- Astana
- Baalbek, Anjar and wine: 3 highlights of the Bekaa Valley
- World at a Glance: Petroglyphs in Tamgaly Gorge
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Jonny Blair: A nice article Anne-Sophie and great to see you vi...
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Rahul: Can’t believe I haven’t been before! Thanks fo...
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Katrin: What a bizzare experience to have! Maybe the citiz...
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Anne-Sophie Redisch: Love unusual finds like this plantation. Thanks fo...
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Jeanette Brunet: I was in Edinburgh in August of 2015 for 9 days. W...
