night-time city senses

see

People spilling from the sidewalks into the streets; crisp, colorful bunting against the night sky; couples walking arm-in-arm; streetlights casting a pallid wreath of light on the pavement

hear

Street musicians--accordion, bass, conga drum--spinning notes into liquid gold; footsteps clicking quickly through cobblestone side streets; the tinkling of silverware on plates; the metal clanging of the clock in the old church striking the hour

smell

Pots of mussels bathed in thick tomato sauce; noodle dishes; pommes frites; that old-stone-city smell; the faint smell of exhaust from cars and buses; damp late-summer air

feel

The uneven rhythm of your footsteps on crooked streets; the slight breeze blowing on your face; full of life, blissful, adventurous, lacking nothing, awe-inspired, nostalgic, alive

A late summer evening spent in Leuven a few weeks ago. I could get used to the city at night.