B-day trips to Belgium
Trip Start
Apr 06, 2003
1
36
69
Trip End
Ongoing
Ardennes and Antwerp,
Belgium
Monday, March 1, 2004
Long time no talk. As always, we've been pretty busy. We were in Chicago a few weeks ago where we got to see a bunch of our friends. Julie spent a few days in Madison with her folks (and Chloe) while I went to the office for some meetings. It was a GREAT trip, both personally and professionally. Following Chicago, we went to Florida where we met up with my mom, bro, aunt, uncle, cousin Mal, and Nana and G-pa for my Nana's 80th b-day (I mean 70th b-day?). We went on a cruise to the Bahamas to celebrate. It was great. And before heading back to A'dam, we got to spend the day with my G-pa Stanley and Elaine too. Again, it was a great trip and a wonderful stay in the US. And last weekend we went to Maastricht for Carnival. It was a really fun weekend! I'm sure you will hear about this soon.
But finally, after much procrastination, here is our trip to the Ardennes for my b-day and to Antwerp for Julie's b-day..
01. Our 1st view of La Roche, the castle at night
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BELGIUM FOR SBK'S B-DAY
It was my b-day weekend and we decided that following work on Fri. we would grab a car and head to Belgium. We decided that we would investigate the mountainous region in the southeastern part of Belgium called the Ardennes.
So we grabbed the car and aimed to head out of town before traffic hit. It didn't work...Fri. happened to have been Sinterklaas Day (as referred to in a previous t-pod). On Sinterklaas, people exchange small gag gifts with one another. It is a big party evening for all ages. So it seemed as if almost everyone was on his or her way to a Sinterklaas celebration. This created a major obstacle which could not be overcome...it took over an hour to get to the Ringroad (8.5 KMs from our apartment) and out of A'dam.
Once we were out of town, we made good timing - the entire drive took 5 hours including the hour spent in A'dam. We listened to some good music...Bruce Springsteen and my b-day present, the "Kill Bill" soundtrack, as well as the worst CD I've ever heard, Julie's "Love Actually" soundtrack - I knew it was a chick-flick but had no clue there was even a such thing as a chick-disc
02. Tank from the Battle of the Bulge
.Along the way, we stopped at a roadside restaurant where we had some soup, I had fish and chips, and Julie had a big salad (EUR 30 total). These places are all over the country. These roadside restaurants are not like the ones in the US (ie. McDonalds) but are actually halfway decent options - although I do find it a tad odd that they sell beer there...I mean, it is a roadside restaurant...the only way to access it is by exiting the highway and the only way to leave the restaurant by entering the highway. Hello drinking and driving!
From dinner we continued through Maastricht, the southern most city in the Netherlands and temporary home for Mini's drunken exploits, and into Liege. This is when things got confusing. For some reason, there was not a single sign that made sense in Belgium. We drove around until we were sufficiently lost, then turned around and tried again. Eventually, we stumbled our way into the correct direction. And about an hour later, we exited the highway and followed the very dark, fog-covered hills of the Ardennes.
We slowly descended the mountain until we saw the most beautiful view - a decaying castle high atop the town washed in white/yellowish light (see Pic 1)
03. Clock tower of 11th-century La Roche Castle
. In the background was fog, which added to the magical scene. We drove though the silent town and it seemed way too mellow for a Friday evening. But after a long night of driving, we were looking forward to finding the B&B and relaxing over a nice Belgian beer.The problem was we could not find the B&B. How was this possible? The town only has a population of 4300 people! On a sidenote, it's weird but there's something attractive about spending the weekend in a town with only 4300 people however, I don't know how interested I would be in staying in some 4300-person town in the US. One has the image of quaintness and the other sounds a bit too white-trash to me. But then again, I suppose this is a stereotype but it does help to have a decaying castle in your town instead of a decaying RV.
Anyways, we followed the directions that we got from the B&B but couldn't find it. So we went back to the entrance of town and tried again. But no. After about 30 minutes of searching, we finally found it!
We stayed at Les Olivettes (EUR 56 / night). The B&B also offers horseback riding so as we exited the car, we had to dodge a few horse biscuits
04. Pretty purple wildflowers in wall of castle
. Luckily, we made it to the door unscathed.The room was nice but the lobby was what I was looking forward to...I drove for 5 hours and I was eager to have a few beers while relaxing in front of the fireplace. The B&B staff hooked me up with a beer but no dice on the fire, oh well. We listened to some very chill French music, had a beer or two, relaxed, did a bit of postcarding, and then headed to bed.
The next morning we headed for breakfast, which was the typical spread with some really great hard rolls and Nutella...yummy! From there we grabbed the car and drove 2 minutes into town. It was as cute in the light as it looked under the cover of night. Just outside the parking lot was a tank left from the Battle of the Bulge (see Pic 2). We stopped into the tourist office to see what some of the attractions of the region are but didn't get much help. Most of the local attractions happen to be outdoor activities like hiking, biking, and rafting but since it was cold and raining, we took a pass on that - maybe we'll go back in the summer.
Following the tourist office, we walked around town and looked around. It was a very cute little town. We decided to head to the castle with the thought that we would walk around once the weather cleared up.
So we headed toward the castle (EUR 5 total). The castle is atop a hill, which overlooks the town. While it looked to be deteriorating from the distance, the castle had been under restoration for a few years and was actually in real good condition
05. Castle and view from windows
. 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 only ones in the museum. There was some teenage kid playing some war computer game and he didn't seem to be too interested in stopping to help us. But eventually he did, turned on some period music to set the mood, and let us enter.
The museum was a bit weird, almost like a bunch of strange WWII-related collections. Some of the exhibits included photos of La Roche just following the Battle of the Bulge and the town's liberation which included pics of the bombed-out and destroyed buildings along the main street which we had just walked down (see Pic 17). It was pretty cool. Also displayed were uniforms, collections of cigarettes and gum and the like from the time, propaganda posters, and abandoned weapons, which had been found in the forest by a localman after the war (see Pics 15 and 16). It was pretty cool museum.
As we exited the museum, I picked up a travelguide of Belgium when I realized something...it was called "Fuhrer"...I never realized that Hitler's nickname meant 'guide'. Kinda weird, what was he guiding? I also thought about something else - being completely surrounded by a museum and town that focuses on how the American saved and liberated the town from the clutches of a dictator made me think that maybe sometime in the future, the lies of finding 'weapons of mass destruction' will be forgotten and there could someday be a museum in Baghdad commemorating when the Americans came to Iraq to liberate the people from the clutches of another dictator
06. View from the castle
.Anyways, we had become hungry so we stopped into small café (Brasserie Ardennaise) where we grabbed a couple beers, a quick bite, and a warm place to rest. We had some soup, really good omeletes fried in a skillet, hot chocolate, and of course, a couple Belgian waffles with ice cream, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream (see Pic 18). It was soooo good (EUR 30 total). We played backgammon for a bit until Julie had beaten me too many times and we were rejuvenated and ready to head outside again.
At this point, the weather was a bit nicer so we walked along the main street, looked out over the River Ourthe (see Pic 19), and stopped for a moment to check out the memorial for those who perished during WWI (see Pic 21). Apparently every town in Belgium has a memorial with the names listed of those townspeople who died during The Great War (WWI) - on a later trip we saw the memorial in Antwerp which is at the main train station. It is a really nice thought.
From the memorial, we walked up main street (see Pics 20 and 22) and stopped into a small beer shop to pick up some souvenirs - a few beers which we gave to Julie's bro in our trip to the US and a cool new hat for me (McChouffe with a little troll on it).
At this point, we had seen our fill of La Roch and decided that we would grab the car and head out to explore the area (see Pic 23). We went to a town about 20 minutes away where an x-mas market was being held. We were a bit sick of x-mas markets after our time in Germany weeks before but we were pleasantly surprised...this market was amazing
07. Town below the castle
!The market was in Durbury, a really cute town known as "the smallest town in the world". I suppose this is a technicality since it is slightly larger than what can be called a "village" but who am I to argue.
Anyways, the town was really cute with beautiful buildings (see Pic 24) but the market was the real attraction here. Unlike the heavy meats and sausages that were being sold at the German market, the Belgian market offered "sophisticated" delicacies like oysters, sautéed mushrooms, smoked salmon, and fine cheeses (see Pics 25-27). There were even small huts/garages set up to accommodate those looking for champaign (see Pic 28). Everything looked so great and the locals really seemed to be enjoying themselves (see Pic 29). Although we didn't eat anything since we were going to be eating back in La Roche in just a few hours, the smells were satisfying enough. Julie did buy some really wonderful jams though (see Pic 30).
We found this market to be absolutely amazing. The two markets, Belgium and Germany, were so different from one another. The German market was something that would be seen at a Wisconsin State Fair, complete with bratwursts, beer, deep-fried anything, and crappy crafts
08. Julie hiding from the rain
. The Belgian market was something that we would see in the northshore of Chicago, with champaign, sautéed mushrooms, and original artwork and wares. It was easy to tell which market was geographically closer to France. We are much bigger fans of the Belgian market. Plus, there were tons of really cute dogs with sissy sweaters (like Chloe's) at the Belgian market.Aside from the jams Julie bought, she also found a really cool 1950's kitch serving piece. It's really nice and I'm sure Crate and Barrel will be offering knock-offs shortly so stay tuned.
After the market, we headed back to La Roche. We drove down a very dark 2-lane road when we came upon an accident. I was not surprised to see this as many cars zipped by us at speeds that seemed to be a bit too fast. But we made it back to the hotel safely because I'm an excellent driver.
When we got back to the hotel, we were greeted by an open sky highlighted by a beautiful full moon. We went up to the room where Julie gave me my b-day present, a sea-monkey kit (see Pic 31). It was really cute considering I have been telling Julie for many years that I want a salt-water fish tank...not exactly what I was looking for but the thought was nice
09. View from castle
. I wonder what happened to my b-day chocolate-covered almonds that I get from the bank...I'm sure Chris ate them!Afterwards, we headed downstairs for dinner. The hotel required that we eat at the hotel restaurant at least once in our stay so this was it for us (4-courses for EUR22 per person). I was a bit disappointed that we would have to "waste" a dinner at the hotel but it ended up being a really great meal. I started with a salad and Julie, a pate. Next we had soup followed by salmon for me and veal for Julie. We finished up with chocolate mouse (my fav) and some sort of tart for Julie.
The night was nearly perfect...the only problem was the 2 couples of absolutely obliterated Dutch assholes at the table next to us. I tried not to notice them but with one of the guys falling off his chair, the other spilling his beer, and one of the couples making out to the point where they were almost having sex, it was difficult not to notice them. But the meal was so nice, it had little impact on our night. Plus, finally the fireplace was lit.
The following morning we woke up and saw the most amazing landscape from our bedroom window (see Pic 32)
10. Stephen with town in background
. There were endless trees in every direction. It was quite a sight.We ate breakfast and were shocked to see the 2 drunken couples from the night before. I could not believe that they were up this early but they were. Following breakfast, we headed to the car to see it completely iced over. I scraped down the windows while Julie helped out from inside the heated car...what a b-day present that was. Although I did get to control the radio all day - which was nice!
We headed out of La Roche by taking small country roads for about an hour until we got to Bastogne, the place where thousands of servicemen and civilians died during the Battle of the Bulge during the winter of 1944-45. Bastogne seemed like a pretty big town with not a whole lot of charm or interesting things to offer so we stopped at the tourist office for some ideas and headed out to see what we could find.
The first site that we saw was a memorial garden for General Patton (see Pics 33 and 34). Julie thought it was too cold outside (-3C which is like 25F) so I went solo. I am not a huge history buff but one interesting fact I learned on the plaque in the park was Patton died in a car accident a few days before he was going to be heading back to the US after the war
11. View of main street and castle
. Pretty sad.Overall, the site was fairly unimpressive but still, I felt like I should see it considering I was already there. The site was along a busy road in town and did not seem special in anyway. This was further enforced when I saw a local bring his little dog (complete with a doggy sweater) to the park so that it could take a shit. There was something disturbing about seeing some asshole lead his dog to shit on Patton...I don't know.
After the Patton memorial, we drove to Mardasson (see Pics 35 and 37), a huge 5-pointed star-shaped memorial to the US servicemen lost during the Battle of the Bulge. It was huge and pretty impressive. Inscribed at the top of the memorial are all 48 states (who cares about Hawaii and Alaska anyways). Along the way, we passed many tanks left from the war and some weird marker called the Liberty Road (see Pic 36) that I never did figure out the significance of - although I believe it commemorates the end of the march to freedom, which began at Utah Beach.
After these 2 Battle of the Bulge memorials, we decided that we were just about done with this and headed toward the highway and back towards A'dam
12. Fog covering the catle top
. However, we were soon distracted again and on a short exploration. As we were driving home, we passed the town of Ciney and decided to investigate.Ciney is the name of one of Julie's favorite beers. We were hoping that we would be able to find the brewery and take a look around. As we made our way into town, many of the streets were closed. Ciney was also having an x-mas market.
We parked the car and made our way towards the center of town. In the distance was the Ciney church, which is also the logo of the beer (see Pic 38 and 39). We did not have any luck in finding anything Ciney beer-related but still had a nice look around town and at the x-mas market (see Pic 40).
The x-mas market was pretty boring with mostly swap-meet-like stalls selling crappy clothes and x-mas gifts so we didn't spend much time wandering. We did stumble upon a group of kids riding skateboards which I thought was kinda funny (see Pic 41).
We found a really nice restaurant for lunch (Le Provencal EUR 38) where we found a very helpful waiter
13. Julie investigating a castle hallway
. We sat at the table and tried to figure out the menu. Usually we are able to figure out enough to get by but for some reason, we had a tougher time at this restaurant. So the waiter asked us what we were in the mood for, if there were any foods we didn't eat, and told us that he would take care of us. Julie ended up mussels and I ended up with a really great fish dish. Of course we each had a sample of the local brew.Following lunch, we got back in the car and finished up our trip. One thing I noticed as we drove was there were many highway stops advertising "frites" in case we were fixin' for 1 last fries before leaving. I also noticed that again, people don't drive in the left lane. Kinda weird but again, very efficient and keeps the roads moving.
We made our way past many tiny villages and through the rolling hills of Belgium until we made it to the flatlands of the Netherlands. It was another great trip - nearly 800 KMs in total full of Orvals, Cineys, and McChauffs!
BELGIUM FOR JBK'S B-DAY
We decided that we would go away for Julie's b-day, belated. As you might be able to tell, we are both big fans of Belgium - great chocolate, great beer, great food...how could you not love the place. Chris and Melanie decided to join us. So, Chris set an 8:30 departure time on Saturday morning. This was a bit earlier than the rest of us would have suggested but he was driving so 8:30 it was. Although it was really no surprise, when we arrived at their apartment at 8:30, everyone was ready to go except for Chris - he was still chimping around upstairs
14. Rue Chamont, main street La Roche
. So after a 30-minute delay, we were ready to head out.We walked over to Central Station where we took the free ferry across the IJ River to an area in the north of A'dam that offers free parking. Melanie is a much more important person to the bank than I am so she gets a free car, but parking is not covered by the bank. It's only about a 10-minute walk/ferry total which is definitely worth it when you think about the roughly EUR30 it costs to park in the center of town for a day.
As we loaded up all the bags into the car, I proved to everyone that in fact, it was way too early - I told Chris to hold on a moment before he got in the car so that I could enter the backseat from his door. I messed around with the seat for a moment, trying to figure out how to move the seat forward so that I could slide into the back when everyone kinda started laughing. It took me a moment to realize that they have a 4-door. Ok, I'm an idiot.
From there, we headed out of town to Antwerp. Antwerp is about 2 hours away. Along the way, we decided to go on a quick search for some beer store that Chris and Melanie's friend told them about just over the Belgian border. We wandered aimlessly (or as they like to call it, we went on a "hunt for Red October"). After coming up empty, we made it back to the highway and about 30 minutes later, into Antwerp.
We navigated our way around town until we found the B&B which we were staying at (Marnix Bed and Breakfast for EUR60/night). It was a very cute place in an area of town just outside of center...about 10 minutes walk to the main square
15. Display at the Battle of the Bulge Museum
. It was a small traditional house which had 3 rooms for rent. We were the only ones staying that night.After dropping off our luggage, we took a walk towards town. Chris had one of these high-tech GPS gadgets (see Pic 57) that he tried using to navigate towards town, I used the map. Mine worked better. We stopped at a really nice soup place for lunch where we all whoofed down our lunch. Julie had the cream of mushroom and I had some tomato soup. It was yummy.
We continued walking for another 5 minutes until was reached the magnificent Onze Lieve Vrouwkathedraal (Cathedral of Our Lady). It is the largest church in Belgium and has 4 Peter Paul Reubens (the painter, not the actor known as Pee-Wee Herman). The exterior is worth seeing (see Pics 49 and 54) but I also really like the interior (see Pics 42-45). There were really pretty details on the ceiling that showed the shields of Belgium as well as paintings of some rather religious looking heads. The colors in the church were very different from what we had seen in other churches which made the place look more like a museum than a religious house to me.
After the Cathedral, we walked around the Grote Markt and looked at the magnificent gabled homes (see Pics 47 and 48)
16. Another display at the museum
. It looked so surreal, more like a Hollywood façade than actual buildings. We stopped into a small chocolaterie to get a few energy tablets...my favorite are the truffles.Julie, Melanie, and I stopped into a small café decorated in religious statues called Elfde Gebod (The Eleventh Commandment). From the outside, it looks like a antique store but on the inside, it is a very different but relaxing room filled with church statues (see Pic 46). Where was Chris? Well, Chris is aptly (and lovingly) called Ritalin Boy by his friends. On the walk, we had passed a B&B and it proved to be too much for Chris to sit and enjoy his beer without knowing how much that B&B costs. So after receiving a quote, he joined us. Oh wait, not yet. First he had to check out some of the wares that were being sold at the market.
Chris is a collector of rare military timepieces so he saw a man who was selling compasses. The man saw that Chris was eyeing a compass so he approached Chris by saying "Stanley of London" (apparently a really nice piece), to which Chris said "Stanley of India". The man knew that Chris was no dummie and could spot a cheap fake so he left him alone. Pretty funny.
Anyways, after a beer, we left the café and walked around town and did a little shopping
17. Display of war-torn photos
. Antwerp supposedly has some really great shopping. Unfortunately, everything was too expensive for us (phew). The shops were really nice though.While Julie checked out one last store (for some stupid reason I let her go unsupervised), I snuck away to the market to get some fries with sauce, peppercorn...delicious! After building a thirst with that salty snack, we peaked into another little café called Oude Arsenaal. This is a really local place with a great selection of Belgian brews. I ordered the Ename, a beer I had tried at the Belgian Beer Paradise event we went to in Brussels with Chris and Melanie during the summer. Julie tried the Karmelite, another favorite from our summer trip to Brussels. For the second round, I tried the Bush Noel, a special x-mas beer with a ton of alcohol in it. By the time we left the Oude Arsenaal, I was feeling pretty good.
We had been having a great time enjoying the best of Belgium thusfar (beer and chocolate). Now it was time to get serious with some dinner. We were given a suggestion by the lady at Oude Arsenaal - Restaurant Otero. And it was a wonderful suggestion.
We entered the small restaurant with about 10 tables
18. Julie with her Belgian waffle, ice cream, etc.
. We were greeted by a really nice man who spoke wonderful English. He gave us our menus and apologized for not having English menus but promised to translate anything we needed. As we settled in and began ordering our meals, we had a few questions. There was one word that he was having trouble translating when a man at a table on the other side of the room shouted out his suggestion. Another table heard the translation and entered their guess. It was really funny. It almost was like a game - who could come up with the most accurate translation for the Americans.Once we finally figured everything out, I had a white fish in melted butter and a brewski, Julie had Belgian beef stew. She liked hers as well. The food was very good and not very expensive (I think about EUR50 but I don't remember).
After dinner we went to a really awesome bar called the Kulminator. This bar is apparently world famous for having among the best beer lists. The list comes in a binder with over 500 different beers, mostly Belgian. The Kulminator has beers from as far back as the 80s. Think about that, a 20 year old beer. Chris and Melanie are very knowledgeable about beer so they educated us a bit. And the best way to learn is through experience so I ordered a Chimay from 1986 (see Pics 50 and 51). It cost EUR 8 but it was so good. The beer ferments and ages, almost like wine ages. It was good good good.
While most people think that a beer is a beer, that was proven to be not so at this amazing place. And not only is there a distinction between brands of beers but apparently, the year it was brewed and how long it has been fermenting
19. Town overlooks Ourthe River, castle in back
. I did not know this. I am not the biggest beer expert but I can certainly tell the difference between a EUR 2 beer and an EUR 8 beer. I can also certainly tell the difference between a good beer and a bad beer. Luckily, almost all Belgian beers are good!During the night, we met 2 Belgian guys at the bar that were pretty cool. We talked about all sorts of things including the usual topic, American politics. We talked to them for a while until we were interrupted by some unscheduled entertainment. You see, people are allowed (and encouraged) to come into restaurants and bars throughout Europe to sell things to the bar/restaurant customers. Things from Polaroid pics to roses to cigarettes, they come in and ask you right at the table. Often times, the person says hello to the bar/restaurant help and they say hi back. It's almost viewed as a service. It's very odd because in the US, that would never happen. So at the Kulminator, when the guitarist walked into the bar, the people at the bar turned off the music so that he could sing and play. I think he is homeless but I don't know for sure but he definitely looked it, not really what I would think a bar would want pestering their patrons. It's weird but he was actually good and people ended up singing with him, gave him money, and the guys we were talking to even bought him a beer. It was a fun night!
20. Julie on the main street of town
The next morning, over our normal breakfast of bread, cheese, and a very special delicacy - Nutella - I told Chris the bars from last night were really great and asked how he had heard about them. He told me that he talked to some people on beer chatrooms or something like that. While we had a great time, it made me laugh - both Oude Arsenaal and Kulminator were in Lonely Planet.
After breakfast, we headed to see the Central Station where Chris was meeting some French guy there to sell him a watch - as I said before, Chris is a rare watch collector/dealer. With the combination of a major language barrier and having to deal in cash in a car outside of the train station, it looked awfully shady. But the deal was legit and it went down.
While Chris was negotiating, Julie and I walked around the diamond district - oh boy! The night before, the Belgian guys at the Kulminator told us not to buy from the "Palestinians" outside of the train station but a few blocks away where the Jews are. It's amazing that the Jews and Palestinians can't stand each other in the Middle East so much so that they destroy one another and yet, in Belgium (and many other places for that matter) they choose to live and work on the same street. What's the matter with these people? Anyways, as we walked around the "Palestinian" jewelry district, I noticed that almost every store had a mezuzah on the door. So either the Palestinians were using this Jewish religious piece as a marketing tool (as tacky as that might be) or the Jews and Palestinians were working amongst one another - what a novel idea that is.
After scouting out the "Palestinian" jewelry district, we headed back to Central Station to collect Chris and Melanie
21. Typical memorial for local WWI victims
. Unfortunately, they agreed to accompany us to the Jewish part of the diamond district so we had to go. The "Palestinian" part was crap and Julie was ready to get down and dirty. According to the Belgians from the Kulminator the prior night, the Jewish section was car-bombed in the 80s and as a result, is not open to cars anymore. I suppose anti-Semitism is not a new thing in Europe or a result of the latest uprising by the Palestinians, huh?We walked to a nice looking place run by 2 black hats (religious Jews), buzzed, and were invited inside. The 2 guys were both helping 2 couples who looked like they were members of the store's frequent shopper program. I watched as one man peeled off a couple thousand Euros in cash. The salesman was in for something when Julie and I stepped up.
He was nice enough to pretend that we were heavy hitters by asking us if we would like something to drink. I took a water. Julie told the man what she was looking for and I sat back and waited to get hit in the stomach.
She saw a few pieces that she liked but luckily, when she asked him what they cost, she was smart enough to know that they were WAY out of our price range. She told the man that she would like to have the ring with half the diamonds removed (about 7 removed) and the man repriced the ring...still about EUR 500 too much...what an expensive bizo I married. Luckily, we left empty handed.
While Chris and Melanie sat back looking at a magazine, the other dude, who was now available, approached them and asked them if he could help them
22. Another view of the main town street
. Chris said no thanks to which the Jew dude said "can I show you a watch?" Damn, these guys are good! Chris took the bait but it wasn't really the sort of thing he's into.We ended up taking the guys business card and making up some excuse as to why we didn't buy...I felt like "are you fucking nuts?" wasn't the best way to tell him we weren't interested. At the end of the event, after he put everything away, I said to him "you're closed on Shabbat, right?" Ok, that might have been the dumbest thing I could've said as if they are dressed that way because black suits and unkept beards are fashionable but I was hoping that throwing out my Jew-clue would help us but I'm sure it only gave them something else to laugh about after we left the store.
From the diamond district, we went to the Ruebenhaus, Reuben's house and museum. It was nice but the most interesting part was the huge garden in the center of the home that had plants and a few statues (see Pic 52). Chris seemed to be insecure about having nude statues around (see Pic 53).
After the museum, we walked around a bird market. This is a weekly market that sells live birds...and not just parakeets, they sold pigeons, ducks, and turkeys. It was weird. I have no clue who would buy a pigeon or why but they were selling em.
We continued walking around when we found a nice restaurant (De Groote Witte Arend) to grab some lunch. We all had cheese fondue and a beer. Afterwards, we tried to make it back to the beer shop before it closed so that we could load up on some Belgian beer to bring back with us
23. View of town and castle at dusk
. Unfortunately, we didn't make it.But we did get to have a bit more fun, again at Chris' expense. As I mentioned before, Chris sometimes has difficulty focusing. So when we were ready to head back to the B&B to collect our things to leave for A'dam, Chris didn't follow. I thought it would be fun to hide behind a building and watch Chris look for us. The only problem was he never seemed to be bothered that he couldn't find us. In fact, he didn't even seem to be looking for us. He just walked and walked. We watched him get to an intersection and instead of pausing to look for us, he just continued on. This happened at numerous intersections. Finally, he turned for a moment. Was he looking for us? Nope, he saw a bike that looked like something he used to have before it was stolen, a subject which is discussed somewhat often. Finally, he saw us as we were walking about 25 feet behind him (see Pic 55). But instead of acting as if he finally found us, he just continued past us to get a cup of coffee. He said he was never nervous, knew where to find us, and if you ask me, I don't think he even minded that we were missing.
Once we had Chris somewhat under control, we grabbed one last Belgian sweet - a crepe-type of thing with syrup (see Pic 56) - and headed back to A'dam
24. Cool looking building in Durbuy
.It was a really great weekend - and I don't just say this because Chris and Melanie subscribe to this t-pod. We had a great time and I'm sure we'll be traveling to Belgium a few more times (and more than likely, we will be going with Chris and Melanie a few of those times).
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Well, that was Belgium. We have still never said anything about our trip to Spain (only 5 month ago) or my parent's trip to A'dam (only 6 months old) so I kinda doubt you will hear much about this but I still hope to muster the energy (and memory) to share about our pre-T-giving party. Hopefully soon.
Anyways, we hope all is well with you all.
-Stephen
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