Antwerp

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Our last minute decision to make a quick stop in Belgium was a success! Although we had booked open train tickets to return to Amsterdam from Hamburg as our last trip, we decided that once we hit Amsterdam we would quickly book tickets to Belgium and hop on the first train out. This was all going very smoothly as the next train departed 15 minutes after our arrival; we grabbed a quick bite, bought our tickets, and jumped back onto the train. About 20 minutes into the ride, we started to notice that our train was taking an extra long stop at one of the stations along the way. An announcement came over the speaker rambling something in Dutch and then a lady came through the cabin to alert everyone that a kidnapping had taken place in one of the cities ahead and there was going to be an indefinite delay as no trains were allowed to pass through due to police instruction.... Luckily it only lasted 15-20-some minutes and we were on our way again! As visions of chocolates and waffles began to dance in my head, I excitedly awaited our arrival.

The first night in Antwerp I was determined to get my hands on some waffles.... or chocolate... but as we walked around, everything seemed to be closed for the day- and it was only 7pm! Finally over by the major landmark of Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekathedral there were some restaurants open, we settled for a killer Italian joint with great pizzas and cheap wine. So day 1 of no waffles and chocolates, meant we were definitely going to go overboard the next day. We grabbed some groceries for breakfast and headed back to our lovely hotel.

The next day we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of people out and about. All of the stores were open and business was in full swing. I researched the best waffle joint the night before and we were on a mission to find it first thing. Alas, we found Van Hecke’s Wafelhais and we were getting our first set of Brussels style waffles. Delish! On the way to find the wafelhais we stopped in at a store called the Chocolate Line, it was a cute chocolate place where you can go into their kitchen and watch the chocolatiers at work (behind glass). They had some crazy chocolate creations, giant fish, busks, dogs, and even a dress designed for Miss Belgium. I had chosen my chocolate place! But we decided to come back to it later as it was really hot outside and the massive amounts of chocolate that I was going to need to consume would surely melt. Back to the waffles – SO GOOD!

After stuffing our faces, we walked around and checked out the sights including the Het Steen, the downtown area, St. Andrews Church, and all the random statues of hands lying around – the story of which Binnson told me like 10 times but I was too distracted by waffles and chocolate to pay attention. Belgium also claims to have invented frites and we grabbed a big bag of them for dinner. Finally it was time for the main event – chocolate!!!!!!!!!!! We headed back to the Chocolate Line and bought a big bag of mixed barks so that we could taste a bunch – barely out of the store, we had our faces stuffed again. Around 6:30pm, all of the stores started closing down again and the people started doing a mass exit of the streets. Deciding that we were not missing out on much, we grabbed a waffle from a waffle stand and headed to Centraal.

Being the second last day of our vacation, I decided it was necessary to have the breakfast of champions... or Belgian’s... or tourists... and eat a bunch of the left over chocolate from the day before with my coffee before heading to the train station for our train back to Amsterdam. We hit up the waffle stand in the train station, gobbled down a few last waffles, and said our goodbye’s to the deliciousness that is Belgium. A quick train ride back and we were ready for our final night in Amsterdam.

And that concludes our trip, thanks for following!

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Comments

[MOM]

Home again
Glad you are home. I will miss your readings. So entertaining. Great pictures. It is like coming to the end of a really good book that you can't wait to pick up where you left off to see what will happen next. Good job guys!!!!