mission to find waffles…so we wandered around until we noticed nothing
really opens until 10am…and they wanted to catch the 10am train. So I
left them and got lost in Antwerp for a bit (which was fine cause I
had a few hours to kill anyway) but eventually found my way back to
the ship. The ship was parked in a pretty cool location so I walked up
and took some pictures, and then sat by the water and read my book. (I
just finished the second Hunger Games book…oh my I understand why
people are so addicted, they are so intense!) Then around 11 I walked
back down by the gangway to wait for Auntie Bernadette and Guy (my
aunt (Berno)-lives in Canada and Guy is her boyfriend who lives just
outside Antwerp! She happens to be visiting him now so it couldn't
have worked out more perfectly!) We finally found eachother just
before noon and headed off the train station. Guy had to work so Berno
and I hopped on the train to Brugge. I slept for the whole train ride
(shocking…I know) but quickly woke up when we arrived. We walked into
the main square and conquered our first mission of getting a canal
boat ride! The boat ride was about 30min and drove us through a big
portion of the town. In the center of the town is a big bell tower, so
after the boat ride we walked into there and looked at a small art
gallery that was set up inside. After all our walked we were a little
thirsty so we sat down and had a beer and some Belgian fries (YUM).
After a bit more wandering it was time to catch the train back to
Antwerp. When we got back to the train station in Antwerp (which by
the way is such a beautiful building!) I ran into some SAS kids on
their way to Brugge so I chatted with them a bit and then Berno and I
headed off to the bus station to catch out bus to Brecht. After a
45min bus ride (which I think I also slept through) we made back to
Brecht; which luckily Guys house is about a minute walk from the bus
stop. We wandered around to see if there were any restaurants open in
Brecht, but there wasn't so we went back to Guys and ate everything we
found in the fridge, which was quite a lot! After dinner Guy got home
from work and we all went to bed shortly after that.
Day 2:On day 2 we headed into Antwerp! We woke up around 9am and ate
breakfast at Guy's house and then got ready for the day. Guy drove us
into Antwerp and we started wandering around. All of the architecture
in Belgium is amazing so I spent a lot of time taking pictures of
beautiful buildings. Then after walking for a while we sat and had a
coffee in the main square of Antwerp and people-watched. Then we got
into some serious shopping! We both bought a few things to add to our
wardrobe. We stopped at a waffle stand and shared a waffle covered in
warm chocolate sauce…it was one of the most delicious things I have
ever eaten. There were also a lot of street performers in the shopping
area so it was really cool to watch them with all their different
weird talents. We also went into the huge beautiful Cathedral in the
center of Antwerp. The inside (and outside) of this Cathedral was
incredible. Inside they had a bunch of huge paintings hanging down the
sides that were all extraordinary. Then after some more shopping it
was time to relax and have a beer. We happily sipped our beers and
chatted in one of the bars. We shopped a bit more but then it was time
to take the bus back to Brecht.
Once we were back in Brecht we took some bikes out and rode around
Brecht. Brecht has a bunch of canals in and around it so we rode our
bikes down one. It was perfect weather out so it was a lovely ride!
The canal had boats all parked on the sides of it and people actually
live on these boats and just travel from canal to canal around Belgium/
Holland, (new life goal to live on a boat in a canal…maybe). We biked
for a long time and then we stopped at a bar to take a break and had a
beer. After a lovely break we rode back up and dropped the bikes off
at their owners house (a friend on Guy's) and then walked back to the
city centre hoping there would be a restaurant open. None of the
restaurants were open so we went into the night market (keep in mind
its only like 7pm or something, places close really early!) and bought
some soup and then walked back home. We had another array of food from
whatever we could find in the fridge but again it ended up being
delicious. Then we ended the night with watching The Devil Wears Prada
and relaxing until we were all exhausted.
Day3: On day 3 we woke up a little earlier and started our drive to
Amsterdam. I half slept and half read my Hunger Games book for the
whole drive there. After turning down a couple wrong streets we
finally found our hotel and checked in, then headed right back out to
explore the city. We looked into getting a canal boat tour but it was
expensive and we only had so much time to do as much as we could with
our day in Amsterdam so we decided against it (and Berno and I went on
one in Brugge).. Instead we bought tickets to the Heineken Brewery,
which was a great choice. The Heineken Brewery was awesome and huge!
We learned all about its history and took lots of pictures inside. We
learned how to properly pour and drink beer (and learned that the US
does not do it right haha For example, the foam should be two fingers
in width to keep the carbon dioxide in to keep the beer fresh and the
foam is the most bitter part so you have to tip your head back while
drinking so you get no foam!) Then at the end of the tour you get 2
tabs to use towards beer in the bar. In the bar you can also learned
to draft your own beer, so I did! I am officially a certified pourer
and was assured I would be hired in any bar now, perfect! Haha. Then
we continued to wander aimlessly through the streets and found
ourselves at the flower market. The market was beautiful, full of
tulips and Delft painted things. We also went into a cheese store
where you could sample every different kind of cheese they had…I tried
every single one I think! And I loved all of them. They also sold
strope waffles (caramel waffle treats) so of course I bought some of
those. Then we wandered some more and found ourselves in the red light
district of Amsterdam! After wandering through there we sat down and
had a coffee and relaxed, which was perfect timing because it was just
starting to drizzle a little bit. The rain stopped pretty quickly
though and a rainbow appeared right across the square from us!! Then
we wandered (a long wander) back to near the hotel and found a place
to eat dinner. Then we headed back to the hotel and I wrote a couple
postcards and went to bed, exhausted from all the walking we did!
Day 4: Day 4 we woke up and headed down to breakfast that our hotel
was serving and had a leisurely breakfast and then checked out. (Our
hotel owner had his dog just hang out in the lobby so I played with
him for a little bit while we checked out, he was so sweet!) and
headed on our way to Utrecht. I read for the whole drive to Utrecht (I
couldn't take my eyes off of my book this whole trip! It was too
good). We arrived at Ton and Paola's house and Ton was there to greet
us. (Ton is the cousin to my dad and aunt (Bernadette)…I think…) We
chatted for a bit and then took out some bikes to ride around Utrecht.
We rode by some canals and down through these beautiful neighborhoods.
We stopped and had a coffee (stopping for a coffee is a daily
occurrence) at this restaurant right next to the canal in the main
shopping area of Utrecht and then wandered around the shops and went
into the main cathedral of the city. There was a stand that was
selling Herring (which I guess is normal in Utrecht) so Berno and Guy
each got a Herring to eat, and of course I had to try it. I took a
little bit of it and immediately regretted it haha I don't think I
ever will be eating Herring again, though I am proud of myself for
trying it! Then we got back on the bikes and rode over to where my Opa
(grandpa) grew up in Holland. Him and his 12 siblings lived in this
one apartment; I don't know how they all fit! But we found the place
and took some pictures; it was amazing to be able to see it! It was an
awesome bike ride through most of the city, but it was time to head
back to Ton's house. We had some time to relax so I read my book while
Berno and Guy walked down to the store. Then just a little while later
Ton and Berno and Guy got home and then Inga and Martina (Ton's
daughters) came over. It was time for dinner so we all hopped on bikes
to get to dinner, but my seat was on the back on Inga's electric
scooter! We zoomed away to dinner and I don't think I stopped laughing
the whole time. We ate dinner at a delicious Greek restaurant where we
all caught up. I had only met Inga once before about 6-7 years ago
when she came up to my family's cabin in Canada and I had never met
Martina before. After dinner we then we headed over to a salsa dancing
club! Ton loves to dance so he showed all of us the basics of the
salsa and we all had a couple drinks. I couldn't believe how many
people of all ages were dancing away in this club! It was awesome!
Then Inga and I headed off to another club (called Havana) that was
full of people our age. We danced and had a great time there until
about 3am and then it was time to head back. We hopped on her electric
scooter and zoomed through the street of Utrecht, it was hilarious
sitting on the back seat of that thing. By the time we got home I was
exhausted and I fell right to sleep!
Day 5: On day 5 we woke up, packed up our things and left Utrecht. We
detoured on our way back to Brecht to stop at kinderdijk, where there
are 19 windmills all along a canal. On our way there we had to take a
tiny ferry ride…this might be the smallest ferry in existence. It fit
about 6 cars on it and was about 2minutes long, very random! Then we
finally got to kinderdijk. The windmills were really cool and all
still functioning! People actually lived in some of the windmills and
had little boathouses on the canal and their garden surrounded the
windmill, what a cool place to live! There was also a big farm by the
windmills that had a bunch of animals. I became friends with a kitten
that was basking in the sun! Then on our way out of kinderdijk we
stopped at a pannakook house and ate lunch. All 3 of us ordered apple
pannakook (kind of like apple crepes…just Dutch style) and they were
delicious. We also ordered bitterballin…which is basically deep fried
balls of cheese, you can imagine how delicious (and obviously healthy)
those were. Then we drove all the way back to Brecht. Berno had a
bunch of taco making supplies so we cooked tacos for dinner (which I
was thrilled to have some food that I eat at home). After dinner we
watched some tv while I surfed the internet (free wifi is great!) and
eventually went to bed.
Day 6: We woke up and ate breakfast at Guy's. Then we drove into
Antwerp and parked right by the ship. Then we headed over to where the
Antwerp Friday market is and walked all through that. It was a fairly
big market with everything you could possibly imagine to buy. There
were a bunch of tents set up to eat oysters/mussels and drink cava
(champagne) so we stopped. I have never had oysters before so I tried
one…and again immediately regretted it. I had a lovely audience
watching me as I attempted to shallow the oyster, as I was making some
awful faces everyone around me was amused. So after that I just stuck
to drinking champagne while they enjoyed the oysters. Then we carried
on through the market and we got a bag of little flavored waffles that
were so incredibly delicious. We each also got a fig to eat, which I
have never eaten a fig before, but I really liked the fig! Then after
walking through the whole market we meandered over to the main square
again and found a lovely table in the sun to enjoy one last Belgian
beer for me. Then at about 4:30pm it was time for me to get back onto
the ship and say thank you and goodbye to Berno and Guy! They were
amazing tour guides for the whole week and I got to see more than I
ever imagined I would in 6 days, couldn't have done it without them.
Once I boarded the ship I relaxed for a bit and caught up with my
friends and learned about their trips to Brussels and Paris. Then at
8pm our ship left the port and there was a 9-piece band playing on the
dock sending us away! Also since our ship was docked in such a prime
location a bunch of people in Antwerp came out and were waving goodbye
to the ship, it was awesome! Definitely the best send off we've had so
far.
The trip to Belgium and Holland was such a whirlwind trip but I loved
it nonetheless. I would love to come back and explore it some more
sometime in life, and hopefully learn a little more Dutch before then.
But I am an expert at saying please and thank you in Dutch now! This
was an incredibly long post, so if you read it all you deserve a high-
five…in December. I just couldn't bear to leave anything out!
Up next is Portugal, so maybe ill be ambitious tonight and update my
blog about Portugal as well!
Xoxo
Dayna
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