Mechelen and Lier

Mechelen welcomed us with a couple of surprises. After a 90 km tour we arrived in Mechelen in the early evening. We decided to moor at the Jachthaven Dijlestreek. This little harbour offers not more than fresh water and electricity, but is nicely located and very close to the center.
The part of the Dijle which can be navigated by sportsboats ends in the center of Mechelen, and the moorings are just in front of a low bridge. We could see the bridge in a distance of about 150 m and decided to take one of the moorings directly at the head of the little harbour. We were just sitting for dinner when another boat crew came and one of them fussed at us that we would moor in the wrong place - our place would be for members of the yacht club. He even called us criminal since we took electricity! 
We went along the moorings to check the situation, and indeed, a couple of meters away from the bridge, well hidden behind another ship mooring there, we found a litlle sign which explained for visitors how and where to moor. No chance to see it from the water... Obviously the harbour master expects new visitors to have second sight.

Restrictive orders for Mechelen visitors

We wondered about the strict orders, but decided not to be annoyed about that too much but rather to go and enjoy the city.
And Mechelen indeed is well worth to be seen. Although much smaller than Bruges or Ghent, it has several wonderful places with over 300 historic buildings which are nicely illuminated at night, and wonderful bars and restaurants.

Center of Mechelen

Vismarkt

Bars and restaurants at Vismarkt

Historical buildings in Mechelen

We had to pass the tidal lock again to leave Mechelen, and so we left Mechelen in the afternoon for a short trip to Lier where we had our next overnight stop. Close to Lier there were some new moorings at the Netekanaal, but we were afraid of swell from the commercial barges, and so we decided to moor at Jachtclub Emblem were we were nicely welcomed. We had electricity and fresh water there, and also some funny sanitary equipment in an old ship. The WC room was smaller than ours in Fiona!

Entrance of Jachtclub Emblem close to Lier

Center of Lier

Night Life in Lier

We did not really plan to visit Lier, since Emblem is some kilometers apart from the center, but then we decided to make a nice evening walk and ended up in Lier for some icecream. Again, we were surprised about all the pretty buildings which can be found in almost every city that we visited.