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Published: April 5th 2008
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Excuse me while I dismount from my bike, put my bunch of tulips down and remove my clogs. Ooh, they're a bit sticky after falling into the canal though!
Almost sounds like we couldn't leave Ghent. It was hard, but our love of putting ourselves in difficult situations won us over again and we set off down the cobbled streets with our matching bags in tow, our matching side satchels hanging jauntily across our rumps, and our matching tourist unease about what tram or train to get on clearly visible to all. I should mention that I did find an incredibly ugly building whilst out walking in one of the newer areas, as we all know you cant stop progress!
It's Thursday, and we have to get to Antwerpen because an old acquaintance of Lindo has suddenly had a car become available to her, meaning that she can drive us to another old friends birthday party in Nijmegan, a smallish student town in the Netherlands. Apparently she was getting 28 (I like how they put it. This means that on my last birthday, I got 34). So, we have an hour and a half drive in a car on the
wrong side of the road coming up. hmm.
The train ride from Ghent to Antwerpen is mightily uneventful, but it does run through what you could describe as farmland, however if you're a Kiwi you'd probably be tempted to call it lifestyle blocks. It's all a bit soggy and grey looking too, sort of like overcooked cabbage, but it
is early spring, and there was snow only 2 weeks ago. It's a bit confusing though, because daylight saving has just begun and so it's not getting dark until about 8:30pm, but it's still really cold. Confusing for those of us who live closer to 40 degrees paralell than 50.
Well so here we go again, yet more magnicifent architecture, starting right from the moment we step off the train. The station is huge and ornate and one gets the feeling that the Europeans have the kind of relationship with steel wheels that goes far beyond making rail just a functional part of society. They bestow it with the status that is normal for governent buildings, art galleries, theatres, museums and the like. Not quite a towering and oppressive Catholic DOM, but certainly the next level, if the city
can afford it. Sort of puts the Christchurch bus interchange and Britomart to shame. Sorry New Zealand, you're an easy target. Kind of like picking on a 5 year old.
There was a lot more in Antwerpen, but after a while you have to come to terms with the fact that taking photos of every beautiful building you pass by is just folly and quickly fills the camera up. It's best to just remember the general vibe of the place and later, while you're writing in your travel journal, you put in a big gushy sentence about how you were overawed by all the majestic buildings, because there are plenty more cities to come and in the grand scheme of things, Antwerpen is a fairly minor player. I need to hold back some adjectives, or find some new ones, because I dont think I'm going to have much ammunition (pun slyly intended-I
like puns) left when it comes to Venice, Rome and Paris.
And there's Nijmegan, where I'm writing this from. We're staying with students. Granted, the've gotten 28, but they're still students. Also, being in the Netherlands, we should be in Amsterdam to go and get wasted
legally and check out the red light district. This appears to be it's main attraction, so on that account, that's exactly why we're not there. Instead, once we put down our matching luggage and start hanging around with some locals, people stop giving us funny looks. Our hosts, Hannika and Marit, wanting to show us around their hood, took us out to what they call "the nature", which I suppose it is, but having grown up on farms in Canterbury with willow trees, irrigation lakes and soggy fields lying fallow I couldn't help thinking that they were pulling some kind of joke on us or taking us through this type of environment in order to get to the really good stuff. But no, it stayed just like the farm in winter, and what with the grey skies above (been like this since Berlin) it made me wonder how the people here dont all get severly depressed or go insane.
But it's all OK, Lindo managed to get himself a little show on Friday night. This will be the 4th performance of the trip and it's about an hour away in a much larger city called Utrecht, beside a canal
at what appears to be an art/performance space. He is playing in the middle of 4 art/noise/ambient acts. Someone pulled out at the last minute and someone else suggested this Kiwi fellow could fill in. He had turned up the night before to play at a friends birthday party in the oldest bar in Nijmegan. And as we have been finding out, the language barrier here in Holland doesn't really exist, so they'll understand him as long as he doesn't speak too fast or put in too many ums and ahhs!
And it was fine, a few nerves, a dodgy lead and a broken string were the only obstacles to overcome and after the show we caught the last train back to Nijmegan.
Over and out for now
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nice one guys. sydney was great... off to melbourne in a few days. peace out!