Crowne Plaza Hotel Antwerp

... the Chocolate Museum, which made me ridiculously excited. We timed it so we arrived right before lunch, and so we were able to get a bunch of samples during the chocolate-making presentation. Then we were able to sample different types of chocolate chips, from milk to super dark chocolate. I had to practice ridiculous self-control here, because I figured that grabbing the entire bowl of chocolate chips and dumping it into my mouth would not be socially ...

... Long story short: we were going to spend the day in Antwerp and go to Brussels tomorrow, but I am having a problem with my braces and the only orthodontist appointment I could get was this morning, so we decided to just switch our plans...) We ended up walking over to the town square, which is the first one in Europe. I must admit that I was auite surprised to hear that... I even bought some Belgian lace! I couldn't afford anything much of course, but I got a very ...

... for dinner to a very impressive establishment called Rooden Hoed. They serve very exquisite culinary delights all starting with Foie Gras through Sweetbreads and saddle of Veal chops much ...

... out. Tony, of course, called out: 'Hey, mate, fancy a beer?' 'Sure, I'll be up in 5 minutes' was the answer.' We already knew 3 things: this is our neighbor, he is a pilot (recognized his uniform) and his mother tongue is English. What we did not know then, was how many beers, bottles of wine AND champagne we are going to have together in the coming 3 years. We ...

... to Antwerpians, it's obvious that their city is the centre of the world." "Always exaggerate, and use the word 'kei' (pronounced like 'care') all the time. It means something like 'very.'" "Always talk very loudly, and have an opinion on everything. In Antwerp, this is considered normal. In the rest of Belgium, it is considered very annoying." "Bad news for the Brits and Danes: Antwerpians never stand in line when waiting for a bus. The strongest ...

Hey from another country. Finally made it over here yesterday afternoon, but what a bloody chore to get here. You'd think it wouldn't take all day to get somewhere when I am just across the channel really. Plane ride was alright, it just felt like it took a long time. Then when I finally arrived here I had to wait for a bus into the city center from the airport which dropped me at central station. Not having any sort of map with me I eventually found the metro ...

... how all of Belgium is, who knows [and who really wants to?]. Searched everywhere for Jean-Claude Van Damme, but no sign of his giant biceps anywhere. We even went through the town of Damme, but he wasn't visiting relatives there either. Went to an Irish pub to watch the football, Australia v Japan. Almost cried when we went down 1-0, came even closer when we equalized in the 84th minute. Andrew's goal celebrations were almost certainly more impressive ...

... had some collection of some Japanese Artist (famous but I cant remember the name). It wasnt really what I had imagined, I was thinking more of some historical clothe pieces, but it end up having one whole floor for this Jap Artist + a few clothes from the students of the college in the same building. Anyway, the Museum of Fine Art was much better. Plus, it also had this Jan Fabre's exhibition too, so it was a mixture of modern art among the old art. Across the museum was a ...

... but it isn't. Apparently many buildings in Belgium (and probably Europe generally) were destroyed during various wars and were reconstructed after the wars using the original bricks (early recycling!). So, whereas we had always assumed that a building made of really old materials was a really old building, it turns out that many of these buildings are actually from the 1920s. Chris knew this all along (it is possible to tell from the ...