Better than Catching a Foot

Well it’s been pointed out to me (because I hadn’t noticed) that there are several things that I have yet to write about.  But if you are anything like me, if you have to write about something, you usually don’t want to.  So I was putting it off.  But because I knew I had to write about it, I didn’t write anything.  Until eventually, once I assumed enough time had passed, I just completely forgot about it and never wrote about it.

Well I’m going to fix all that.  On the weekends (or whenever I feel like it,) when I’m playing catch up anyway with the rest of my life, I’m going to catch up on this blog.  With stories that I hinted at but never actually told you about.  I could come up with a name and make a nice picture for it…maybe I will.  I like those…they distract me from actually writing. :-P  But not today.

For this first one we’re going back…way back to July when Nina was visiting…WHOA!

So Nina and I decided to take a little weekend trip down to Belgium for the weekend.  We started it off with a quick stop in Den Haag and ended it with an outrageous crowd of Orange in Amsterdam.  But between those two things, we did manage to make it down to another country.

Since I had already been to Brussels, and Brugge is apparently the city for lovers, Antwerp seemed like the obvious choice in this situation.  Antwep is an artsy, multi cultural town in the north of Belgium.  Here they speak Flemish, no French, which came in handy until the locals actually heard me and then said in English “oh you must be Dutch.”  Which I guess is a compliment to my Dutch, but I don’t think they meant it that way.

Anyway, our first night there we indulged in some Belgium fries…mmm mmm mmm.  And by first night, I mean, first night, the following lunch, accompanying dinner, and a late night snack.  What can I say? They were cheap.

But other than that, we didn’t do much our first night…just made friends in the Hostel and discussed all our world traveling plans before going to bed in a ridiculously hot room only to be woken up by sirens outside the window and the itching of a bunch of mosquito (at least I hope) bites.

Anyway, it was time to wander the city.  It’s a fairly small city, so I planned out our own personal walking tour and we set out.  First we stopped here…

The towns first bakery, over 100 years old and home to some DELICIOUS pastries.

Then we continued to the Old Church...

Because every European city has an “old” church even if there isn’t also a “new” one.  This one had a clock tower…

We also visited the City Party Hall where they have epitomized the word “boujie” by creating a Champagne Bar…shaped like a Champagne glass…

Fancy huh?

We also got lost in the shops, not only name brand stores, but also fun thrift stores down allies.  We also saw some street art…

And some statues…

And what is soon to be the entrance to China Town…

Then we went and saw the major tourist thing…the town hall…

And in front of it is this…

Yes that is a man with a hand.  Not just any man though – Brabo.  Because the legend of Brabo, based on a Dutch fairy tale, is how Antwerp got its name.  There was a tyrant giant who was ruling over them who would cut off the hands of men who wouldn’t pay the toll.  So in a delicious act of irony, the hero Brabo cut off the Giant’s hand and threw it into the river.  And the giant went on his way…I’m assuming… Anyway, Antwerp in Dutch (yes Dutch, not Flemish) can be derived from “hand werpen” – Antwerp…see?

Well, it was getting late and we were getting hungry (fries not being a suitable form of sustenance surprisingly) and we made our way to a little sidewalk café for the traditional Belgium sea food – mussels…

Nina stuck with soup…with fries of course.  And I introduced Nina to the wonders of Belgium beer – Kriek Cherry Beer – or as I like to call it, Candy Beer.  Seriously…tastes like candy.  Anyway, she liked it...

But then it started raining…no not raining…pouring.  And while we were quite fine under our umbrellas, I was not fine when people decided that standing under our umbrellas right next to us (and I mean RIGHT NEXT TO US) to escape the rain while we ate was a socially acceptable thing based on the current state of the weather.  But eventually, we were escorted inside.  Not because we were wet, but because they couldn’t be held responsible if an umbrella fell down and killed us.  But it was fine! We had our own little balcony with one other table where we enjoyed some hot drinks and listened to the rain fall.

And then it was time to go back to the hostel.  But not after dancing in the rain…

The next day (dressed in our Dutch colors) we headed back to the train station (the third prettiest train station in the world apparently…)

And squished onto an already packed train car full of people dressed in Nederlands colors heading to the city…just like we were.

Antwerp was a cute little city.  It wasn’t the coolest city I’ve been to, but I’m glad to have one more culture stop to cross of my list...oh and also we ate chocolate...lots and lots of chocolate!

Word of the Day: hand werpen – throw a hand