Prinse Antwerp

... went happened to be absolutely gorgeous.

Irina and I have been having some trouble in the hood. We were already feeling unsure about people in the neighborhood ever since we were egged. But now, apparently, little boys love to harass us. One little boy pretended to shoot me through our living room window (all Dutch houses seem to have large windows right on the street) and then ...

... ended up wandering around all day, which was nice. As the place I stayed at here was a hotel, I didn't much encounter others to hang out with. I've didn't experience the locals as being outgoing and friendly when traveling here. Except for the restaurant owners on the little side streets who would come out and give you their business card when you were looking at their menu. And the woman who worked at the internet café, but she wasn't a local, she was Portuguese!

... typical chain stores, it could be a main shopping street in any city around the world. The most lavish buildings seemed to be the banks; other old buildings probably served a grandiose purpose once, but are now relegated to being an Esprit or a Zara. I even spotted a Ben & Jerry's. We walked up to the Rubenshuis next and spent over an hour taking the audio-guided tour of the museum and house where the famous painter (and Antwerp resident and ...

... Of the numpty tourist. The only thing that could make me any more of a wonk is a baseball cap. Which I have. But haven't been wearing, because I forgot to put it on. But I don't care. I have seen the European buildings. They are very impressive huge glass-faced constructions. Lots of shiny stainless steel about. I had fun snapping these little brown statues that were lining the street by one of the buildings. Being Saturday - I guess ...

... the break down of Vesalius College. It is an American style liberal arts school of about 300 students in total. It is affiliated with the Vrijit Universiteit Brussel (I that is how you spell it) or more commonly known as VUB. VeCo has its own mini campus which consists of a whole 1 building with a total of 4 tutorial size classrooms, 2 computer rooms, and a few offices. If our classes are not in one of these 4 classrooms, they are on ...

... of Europe this was one of the cheapest places we have been which surprised me a little. We didn't really do a great deal as only had 1 day so went to many pubs and spent the night chilling at a local Jazz and blues bar in the main town square which was pretty cool. It was then onto meet in Amsterdam Adams mates Tom, Lenny and Troy and also James, Alis friend we where with in Spain. Let the party begin

... Place Royale. Another reason to love Brussels - free music. We got there in time to hear Babylon Circus, a Belgian ska band that was phenomenal and the headlining act, Fun Loving Criminals, a band that cannot be categorized, from NYC. I realized how much I missed going to music festivals in Austin and how great new music can be. After the sun went down, you could see all of the smoke of various kinds and kicked-up dirt floating through ...

It's twenty-four hours back to Brussels, train passing nameless cities through the night. At some early point the Euro police come on and check us out, but after that it’s just cruise and snooze. Finally we get in to Brussels, from which I’ll catch a cheap bus north across the sea, but that’s tomorrow. I go check out the biggest Muslim area ...

... of course. After finishing up our royal lesson, we walked through Brussells Park and past the capital building? Before long we were at the "Grand Place" where we paid our 2.00E for two pieces of Belgian Godiva chocolate. Next stop, a cherry beer (Belle-Vue) to drink in the square and go with the chocolate while we admired the gothic buildings with roofs like were shaped like zig-zags. There is also a 'torture museum' and someone dressed like the ...

... from the distance, the castle had been under restoration for a few years and was actually in real good condition. The castle was built in periods of the 11th-century, 12th-century, and 14th-century (see Pics 3-13). Although it was still drizzling, visiting the castle was fun and gave us a chance to see La Roche from another vantage point. Following the castle, we walked along the main street of town (see Pic 14) to the Battle of the Bulge museum (EUR 11 total). We were the ...