Cafe Manger

During my wonderful experience in Leuven, there was one place which had a special meaning for me. I would visit it every single week. There were a lot of us coming there regularly, but at the same time, it was kind of a secret.

Why?

The place seemed like any other restaurant/ bar located in Oude Markt, also known as "the longest bar in Europe". So during the day, people would come for lunch or a drink and during the weekend it was a decent party place. Not many of them knew, though, that something special was happening on Mondays and Wednesdays (now also Thursdays).

Let me explain this to you. Each of those days from 10 PM one of the resident DJs starts playing... but it's not the typical pop or electronic music. The only thing you will hear on these nights is salsa, bachata and kizomba. The only thing you will see is couples dancing salsa, bachata and kizomba.

The moment you see it you will be hooked on. You will ask everybody what that is and how did they learn it. Most likely you will let someone ask you to dance, even though you have no idea about the steps. The thing is that during that night steps won't matter and soon you will probably sign up for a dance class.

Source

How do I know? Well, that is exactly my story. A few years ago I had no idea that kizomba exists and I thought bachata is some sort of martial art. Everything changed the moment I stepped into Cafe Manger. One night was enough to change my life. 3 years later I have more than 100 hours of classes behind me and many more hours on a the dancefloor. I danced in many different countries and took part in festivals. But none of that would happen without this little bar at the very end of Oude Markt. So if you want to experience something more during your Erasmus, you know where to go and I guarantee - you won't regret it.