President of the International Lyceum Club of Brussels
Thérèse de Jamblinne, president of the Brussels Lyceum Club, and her team prepared a wonderfully rich cultural programme for us from 26th to 30th May 2026. It all started with a very productive day-long meeting of the ICB, which is the executive team of the IALC, headed by our international president, Madeleine van der Vlist, and all the federation presidents of the world wide Lyceum Clubs. A number of organisational matters were discussed and a special workshop took place focussing on the recruitment of new members.
By the evening, Lyceum members from around the world had arrived in Brussels and were treated to a welcome cocktail at the Maison Grande Place 19. Time to re-connect with friends from far away whom we hadn’t seen for a very long time!
The following day was spent exploring the historical towns of Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent in various groups with the travelogs following below:
By Ana Preočanin, London Gent, one of Belgium’s oldest cities and the historic capital of Flanders was one of the optional destinations for us during the Cultural week. It owes its origin to the economic developments that occurred in Flanders …
By Ana Preočanin, London One tour that offered us a delightful cultural feast of history, culture and heritage, not to mention picturesque waterways and medieval buildings was the beautiful city of Bruges. In the Middle Ages this Belgian gem was …
By Janet Blümli, Basle We had a most interesting excursion to Antwerp, Belgium’s second biggest city and one of the world’s most important ports. Our visit started at the Antwerp Central Station, an unbelievably grandiose building colloquially named the ‘railway …
On the second day, we had a choice of tours within the city of Brussels … there was so much to see that we all realized we have to come for a return visit!
By Lauriane Bradford, London Very little remains of Brussels’ medieval past. Founded in the 10th century on the banks of the River Zenne, the city became the capital of Belgium when the country gained its independence in 1830. Following independence, the newly established capital underwent major transformations to become a …
by Katharina Schlup-Emch, Basle Our guided tour began on the Grand Place with Philippe Dubois, a gifted tour guide. He brought the history of Brussels to life for us with cleverly chosen examples and, through his enthusiastic descriptions, made the historical figures come alive. As if in a film, he …
The second day concluded with a sumptuous gala dinner in the Palais d’Egmont, which is used mainly by the Foreign Office for official receptions. In this beautiful décor we were treated to a delicious meal and had ample time to deepen our ties of friendship with so many members from other countries. We were excited to learn that the next International Cultural Days will be held in Cyprus in April 2027, thanks to the invitation of Valentina and Maria Thomaides.
