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Rachel and I slept in on Saturday, though Rachel slept a lot longer than I did. I went to walk the dogs with Carole and we had a good time. Normally only four of the dogs go on the walk because Caramel and Luna are old and walk slower than the rest but Luna wanted to come with us that day so we had five dogs in all. We went to an area that’s kind of like a reservation for birds so there are a lot of birdwatchers there normally but we didn’t see too many. We did see some bikers that were riding around however. Carole says that in Belgium bike-racing is very popular so people come over to that area to train. Other than the occasional interruption of the bikers the area was peaceful.
John fixed a nice breakfast with fruit, toast, yogurt and cheese so we took our time eating when we got back and then waited until Rachel got up. After we had gotten ready we went into Antwerp. The area that we parked was close to a restaurant called “The Hemming Way” which I thought was kind of funny. We walked through the city kind of close to the river where there were some huge boats parked. John told us that sometimes the river overflows and there’s a parking area that floods and they have to close some gates so that the rest of the city doesn’t flood. We walked around the town square and the cathedral as well, and saw some performance artists in the streets. The architecture in Belgium is very different than the way things are built in Spain even though both styles are very obviously European. It’s hard to describe, but for the most part Belgian roofs are triangular like the ones in Michigan, but in Spain most of them are flat, and they use more stone than bricks in Spain. Both countries, at least in the big cities, build buildings all squished together and very tall and thin.
After a while we went to a café to get something warm to drink. Rachel has been to Antwerp before and she really like the café that she visited so we went to the same one. It was an underground café lit by candles and dim lamps. It was a different sort of atmosphere, the waiters were dressed in medieval clothes and there were benches instead of chairs around the tables. I ordered a warme wijn that was spiced with cloves and cinnamon, which was absolutely delicious and very much needed after walking around in the cold. After that we bought some Belgian waffles with whipped cream and cherries from a street vendor and ate them on the way back to the car.
We drove to the train station and Rachel and I went in and bought tickets to Gent where we were meeting with the rest of our American friends and Steve for dinner. On the train we had to sit separately because it was so crowded but Rachel wrote some postcards so it was productive all the same. When we got to Gent we waited in the train station for a while for Steve to come and pick us up. I had to use the bathroom, which I should have done on the train, but unfortunately I had waited until we got off, thinking I would use the one in the station. What I didn’t realize is that it costs money to use the bathrooms in Belgium, 40 euro cents in the station! They have you pay because they keep a person there to clean the bathrooms, but still I didn’t really want to pay to use the bathroom. I know, I should have just paid but I waited until we got to the restaurant and used the bathroom there for free.
Steve picked us up and we squeezed into his car with four of us in the backseat. We drove over to the center town square of Gent and selected a restaurant after much debate. Rachel and I had a Kriek for the second night in a row, and I had a green soup that’s made from roots of some sort. It was really good, it had leeks and carrots in it as well. Laura had waffles for dinner which Steve though was really strange and told her that only little kids do things like that. After dinner we went to a bar and had a quick drink before heading back to the train station. Most of the party ordered a Kriek Max which is just a special edition of the Kriek with more flavor, Laura had a berry Jenever, and I had an apple Jenever. We had to rush back to the station after so that Rachel and I wouldn’t miss our train. We said a quick goodbye to the group, Rachel would be seeing them the next day but I wasn’t going to see them again for two months. We managed to catch the train and we headed back to Antwerp where John was going to pick us up. Rachel and I got to sit near each other on the return trip, and we had a good conversation. It was strange realizing how long I had gone without talking to her, and I realized how much I had missed her. It’s good to know that there’s something to be excited about to return to the USA, I get to see my family and friends again.
We got back and met John who was driving a big white truck that he takes to work. It was noisy, but we had fun joking about the fact that you could probably live in it if you wanted, though you would occasionally have to pay to use a toilet nearby. We went to bed right when we got back because we had to get up early the next day to catch our flights, mine to Valencia, and Rachel’s back to the US.
John fixed a nice breakfast with fruit, toast, yogurt and cheese so we took our time eating when we got back and then waited until Rachel got up. After we had gotten ready we went into Antwerp. The area that we parked was close to a restaurant called “The Hemming Way” which I thought was kind of funny. We walked through the city kind of close to the river where there were some huge boats parked. John told us that sometimes the river overflows and there’s a parking area that floods and they have to close some gates so that the rest of the city doesn’t flood. We walked around the town square and the cathedral as well, and saw some performance artists in the streets. The architecture in Belgium is very different than the way things are built in Spain even though both styles are very obviously European. It’s hard to describe, but for the most part Belgian roofs are triangular like the ones in Michigan, but in Spain most of them are flat, and they use more stone than bricks in Spain. Both countries, at least in the big cities, build buildings all squished together and very tall and thin.
After a while we went to a café to get something warm to drink. Rachel has been to Antwerp before and she really like the café that she visited so we went to the same one. It was an underground café lit by candles and dim lamps. It was a different sort of atmosphere, the waiters were dressed in medieval clothes and there were benches instead of chairs around the tables. I ordered a warme wijn that was spiced with cloves and cinnamon, which was absolutely delicious and very much needed after walking around in the cold. After that we bought some Belgian waffles with whipped cream and cherries from a street vendor and ate them on the way back to the car.
We drove to the train station and Rachel and I went in and bought tickets to Gent where we were meeting with the rest of our American friends and Steve for dinner. On the train we had to sit separately because it was so crowded but Rachel wrote some postcards so it was productive all the same. When we got to Gent we waited in the train station for a while for Steve to come and pick us up. I had to use the bathroom, which I should have done on the train, but unfortunately I had waited until we got off, thinking I would use the one in the station. What I didn’t realize is that it costs money to use the bathrooms in Belgium, 40 euro cents in the station! They have you pay because they keep a person there to clean the bathrooms, but still I didn’t really want to pay to use the bathroom. I know, I should have just paid but I waited until we got to the restaurant and used the bathroom there for free.
Steve picked us up and we squeezed into his car with four of us in the backseat. We drove over to the center town square of Gent and selected a restaurant after much debate. Rachel and I had a Kriek for the second night in a row, and I had a green soup that’s made from roots of some sort. It was really good, it had leeks and carrots in it as well. Laura had waffles for dinner which Steve though was really strange and told her that only little kids do things like that. After dinner we went to a bar and had a quick drink before heading back to the train station. Most of the party ordered a Kriek Max which is just a special edition of the Kriek with more flavor, Laura had a berry Jenever, and I had an apple Jenever. We had to rush back to the station after so that Rachel and I wouldn’t miss our train. We said a quick goodbye to the group, Rachel would be seeing them the next day but I wasn’t going to see them again for two months. We managed to catch the train and we headed back to Antwerp where John was going to pick us up. Rachel and I got to sit near each other on the return trip, and we had a good conversation. It was strange realizing how long I had gone without talking to her, and I realized how much I had missed her. It’s good to know that there’s something to be excited about to return to the USA, I get to see my family and friends again.
We got back and met John who was driving a big white truck that he takes to work. It was noisy, but we had fun joking about the fact that you could probably live in it if you wanted, though you would occasionally have to pay to use a toilet nearby. We went to bed right when we got back because we had to get up early the next day to catch our flights, mine to Valencia, and Rachel’s back to the US.
