The Navity Play on Lea's Neerhof in Mol, Belgium

Lea’s Neerhof is always in the Christmas spirit in the month December. People can visit the crib and it is wonderful to see some animals in the Christmas crib, for example a donkey. Lea’s Neerfhof is situated along the Molse Nethe and an enjoyable place for a snack and a drink. The nature is really beautiful and you can see ducks swimming in the water.

It is tradition to organize a “kerstspel” (The Nativity Play) around Christmas. Through weather circumstances, this Nativity play was delayed with one week and took place on 27th of December 2009. It is the story of Joseph and Maria who come to Bethlehem with Christmas and don’t find a place to sleep. They arrive at a stable and they choose a crib for the birth of their son Jesus. Shepherds come to visit them and we also see some angles. Suddenly three wise men (king Caspar, Melchior and king Balthasar) came to visit Jesus.

It was wonderful to see how these people played this Nativity play and three women sung a few songs related to the Nativity story. Most snow we got previous week was gone but we can still remember 2009 as the first year of a White Christmas in Belgium since 1986. I can only recommend people who weren’t there this year to visit this place surely next year and to enjoy the Nativity Play.

Will we have a White Christmas in Belgium?

It is almost Christmas and we all hope for a White Christmas. It happens either rarely that we have a White Christmas in Belgium. The last week many people could enjoy watching the beautiful landscape. The shops were open on Sunday and people could do their last Christmas shopping.

We noticed a beautiful snow carpet in every city of Belgium. I made a walk in the environment of the Nethe in Mol and the winter landscape was really beautiful. Ducks were swimming on the water and it was really wonderful to see also a Christmas tree covered with snow.
Chances are smaller now that we can still have this snow on Christmas but hopefully not all the snow will be gone.

Let us hope for a White Christmas in Belgium; it is still possible.

The Christmas market of Ghent 2009, Belgium

December is traditionally the month when you can find a Christmas market in every city of Belgium. These are likely not so popular as these in Germany but everyone can enjoy these markets. It is a wonderful tradition and most of them were previous weekend (11 and 12 December). Cities like Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Brussels and some others have Christmas markets which you can visit almost the entire month of December.

I visited this year the one of Ghent which started the 11th of December and will end on the end of December. It is already the 15th edition of the Christmas market of Ghent. The attractive historical center of this beautiful city is attractive decorated and enlightened and you can easily reach the Christmas market if you take a bus or the metro from the station to the Gravensteen.



The Christmas market of Ghent is one of the Belgian Christmas markets which enjoy great fame abroad and is located close to the St Baafscathedral, the Belfrey and the Gravensteen. The reason of its popularity is likely the strong rules for traders who want to participate. They may only sell typical Christmas or holiday products.

You can find stands with gift articles, artisan products, fantasy jewels, candles, food supplies, beverages and stands for a snack or the typical “Gluhwein”. The Christmas market of Ghent has also a skating rink for people who want to skate. It is wonderful to see how people and even children enjoy this sportive activity. After such sportive event, they will likely enjoy a mug of hot chocolate milk or a glass of Gluhwein.

There were also some musical events and people may enjoy shopping in the shopping streets (Veldstraat-Lange Munt, Mageleinestraat and Koestraat). It is also a good occasion to visit some of the famous historical buildings, for example the Gravensteen, St.Baafskathedral, the Belfrey and some museums.

Ghent is a wonderful city to visit in winter and the Christmas market of Ghent is surely one of the most beautiful ones in Belgium.

Day of the horse 2009 on The Zilvermeer- Mol in Belgium

The day of the horse is an annual event organized in the month Oktober on “Het Zilvermeer (the Silverlake) in Mol. The Lions Geel-Mol are the organizers of this show and they care for a variety of different acts during this day. You might think it is only a show of horse acts but you could see also birds and two acts with dogs. The profit of the day of the horse goes to charity “Mens in Nood, Den Brand and De Schakel”.

There were also some events for children. Some people painted their faces and they had fun with such colorful faces. Everyone had the possibility to eat a snack or to drink something. Regrettable the weather was not real good but there was only a short time of rain and most people stayed most of the time to enjoy the show.

The show started with a musical act (hunting horn blowers) and followed through a horse dressage act while music was playing. There was also a presentation of different horse breeds of different kinds of the world. It was the first time I saw the Lippizano horse in reality but also the other horse breeds were worthwhile to see. Parelli natural riding was also a beautiful act and shows the difficulty of riding.

I liked the doggy dancing and also the comic act of Ivan Peters with a horse. The triple B hunt with horses and dogs was really amazing and you could see how fast these dogs were running. The show ended like usual with the hunting horn blowers, the same ones who opened the show.

Everyone enjoyed the show and we will see them probably next year again.

Pictures of the Olmense Zoo, Olmen-Balen in Belgium