Day 87-89: Belgian Waffling
Place: Etap Hotel, in the middle of nowhere, Antwerp in Belgium
27th June: Journey from Luxembourg City to Antwerp
Not the easiest of days traveling, but we are bound to run into some ‘dips’ on this trip and I am sure that it wont be the last.
And because of this particular journey and from the lessons learned from previous trips, here are some handy tips, which are vital in travelling for long distances and periods of time:
1. ALWAYS have an extra sandwich in the food/snack bag
2. Make sure that there are sufficient snacks too (peanuts, suckers, jellies)
3. WATER WATER WATER WATER!!!!! Even if it’s a hack to carry around, make sure that you have loads of it.
4. Get enough sleep (either before or on the bus/train)
5. ALWAYS ask the tourist information for directions if you aren’t sure.
Otherwise you will also end up walking for 20minutes looking for the right train in the wrong place as well.
I think it was because we didn’t do or have any of the above-mentioned hints and this made the trip worse, and were in foul moods once we found our hotel.
Anyways, we eventually found our hotel situated in a very industrial area, with nothing but trucks, unused train tracks and factories within a 4km radius. And being starving, dehydrated, tired of carrying our backpacks and ready to shower and relax…out of desperation, we found the closest place to eat and ended up forking out a heavy R250 for a hamburger + chips + coke + tea= NOT HAPPY L.
28th June: Bring on the Brugge
What did make me very happy was the thought of being in Belgium and all of its array of Chocolate. This of course meant that while here in Belgium, I am on an all and only chocolate diet. Craig jokes and says that instead of doing LENT (as I give up chocolate every year) I am doing LINDT (and eating only chocolate).
Anyways….
We decided to base ourselves in a central place in order to make various day trips to nearby cities, towns and countries. This means of course that we can unpack and leave our big backpacks (particularly mine as it is gigantic and poor Craig was kind enough to carry it for me everywhere) in one place for a longer period of time.
We slept well and hard to slowly get up and dressed to catch the bus and train to Brugge to the west of Belgium for a leisurely day of sightseeing.
It’s so amazing to see how not only does the landscape change between the different countries, but the architecture of homes, the size of cows and horses and the people too.
Belgian homes are antique looking with houses stacked on top of each other (basically extensions of a house, extended onto another, and this goes on and on and on). However none of these houses look like extensions as they have a different brick colour, shape, window frames and roof tiles.
Craig and I made our way to the tourist info office to grab a map (which is the first one that we had to pay for), and we made our way through this gorgeous little city. We enjoyed walks along the little waterway smelling the beautiful scents of chocolate drifting everywhere, and spotting everyone with a paper cone filled with French Fries (which were created in Belgium I have only now found out).
We dodged the crowds and bikes everywhere and eventually found a serene park where we sat on our jerseys and ate chocolate while watching ducks and swans bob up and down scouting for algae on the bottom of the pond.
The evening drew near and we headed back to our industrial park to catch some Wimbledon and the semi final of the Euro cup where Italy annihilated the Germans (we are loving having English channels for the first time in 3 months…even the Flemish channels are fun as we understand them perfectly).
29th June: Dirty Amsterdancing
Peanut butter sarmies made, we stumbled out the door for a day of huge picturesque windmills, colourful wooden clogs, racing bicycles with clanging bells, chips soaked in mayo, and smoky coffee shops with a distinct smell… yes we are going to Amsterdam.
We decided not to follow a map and just browse the streets of Amsterdam, convinced that we will stumble upon things we want and need to see, but not before long, we unintentionally found ourselves walking in the famous red light district. Craig and I were caught off guard, as we were not expecting to be there so soon, and after about 5 minutes of walking we grabbed for the map in a desperate attempt to get away from this awful part of Amsterdam.
It has a very ‘heavy’ feel to it, walking around this part of the city. We found it difficult to enjoy the scenery and atmosphere in this area particularly for obvious reasons.
We redirected our route and made our way to the other side of the train station where we absolutely loved walking next to the water alongside the boathouses, which were very prettily decorated with flowers in search of the Anne Frank museum. Once arriving, we were met with an uninviting queue to get into this famous attic, and quickly decided to visit one of the neighbor cafes and eat a scrumptious pancake with cheese, bacon and onion, light yet delicious beer for Craig and you guessed it…a rooibos for me (I am making up for time lost).
Time running out, we decided to catch our 2 hour train home and passed the unbelievable 3 story parking garage crammed with bicycles wherever a space could be found.
Amsterdam is a very interesting city and very contrasted from one side to the other. I’m not sure if I would return to it with excitement, but I am super glad that I got to share the experience with Craig.
Tomorrow, another ‘once in a lifetime’ experience, as we head to Leige to catch the time trials of the Tour de France.
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