Before I left on this trip I invested in a little netbook with visions of sitting on cafe patios, drinking tea, and writing away. ahhhh...so nice. Yeah...well, my old school converter only has input for 2 prongs, which means I can charge my camera just fine, but my computer's charger has 3 prongs. I now have a stone dead netbook with me. *facepalm* hahaha - I'm in a public internet "cafe" right now and at least this one has the standard keyboard I'm used to. I stopped at a different place yesterday, and the keyboard was all sorts of weird, hence the post today instead of yesterday. :)
I'm in Antwerp, Belgium now, leaving tomorrow to take a train to Amsterdam and catch a flight to Ireland. Last time I wrote I was getting ready to leave Bruges and head to Ghent with new friends. We got into Ghent around 11am, had lunch, wandered around, and got ourselves completely lost. Once we saw gas stations we figured we were on the wrong tram. A quick bus ride later, and we were all straightened out, though. Dave, Rob, Daniel, and Sarah - I'd get lost with you again any time. :) Sarah, I hope the 13 hour bus ride to Munich wasn't too terrible...
After getting into Antwerp pretty late on Friday I hunkered down in the hotel bar/restaurant for dinner and then went to bed early. Yesterday I spent a lot of time going to the supermarket, doing laundry in my sink, and wandering around by my hotel. I found some cute little neighborhoods and had some tea while watching children play soccer in the park across the street. I was just about to see if I could join them when they left for dinner. bummer...
Honestly, I'm lucky to have even found that park at all, though, because I got myself "off the map" lost earlier in the day. Yes, that's right, I wasn't even on my map of the city anymore. I'm thinking back just now and realizing how extremely lost I've been this whole trip, and I haven't even been here a week yet! I'm generally pretty good with maps and directions, but for some reason I'm really struggling over here. Oh well...at least I'm a patient person with lots of time to kill. I just keep shaking my head and laughing at the end of each day. :)
Last night I went into the "touristy" part of the city to meet up with some friends I met in Bruges. Unfortunately, we ended up missing each other. Sorry, Jake and Justine! So I had dinner, wandered around for a bit, checked out all the sights and figured out what I wanted to see the next day. The city was really alive since it was Saturday night, so I did some great people watching while I could. I love just watching people in their natural habitat. You can really pick up on the nuisances over time, how they treat those around them, how they walk and dress, how they smile or don't...
Today I woke up with the intention of checking out a Catholic church's service downtown. Three things about this:
1. I'm not Catholic
2. I've never been to a Catholic service before, only weddings
3. I'm in a foreign country...
Can you imagine? I was really looking forward to the experience, but by the time I got around to the different churches, they didn't have any services. Oh well...there's always the next 7 Sundays to check out different churches over here. I'm missing my Lakeshore family today, but at least they post the services online. Hi everyone! http://www.lakeshorechurch.tv/
Today was my full day to explore Antwerp, and boy did I ever! There's a new museum here just on the north side of town that you can go up to the tenth floor promenade and see the city's skyline. It's pretty neat. http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/flanders%2Btoday/110325_MAS
It was Sunday, so a lot of other places were closed, but it was really neat to just walk the cobblestone streets and be in my own world. According to legend, "the giant Druoon Antigoon is asking taxes. We don't like taxes. Local hero Brabo cuts off Antigoon's hand and throws it away. Throwing away a hand = "hand werpen" in Dutch. Hurray, we have a name for our city." Brought to you by my Antwerp map for young travellers (a.k.a. those of us on a strict budget).
Also, there is a heavy population of orthodox jews here, and I've seen a lot of them out around town in their official dress. According to my map..."There's about 20,000 orthodox jews here. They came over from Eastern Europe in the late 19th century and their traditional dress code makes you feel like moving back in time...The Jews are still a big part of the diamond business, but you'll see many Georgians and Indians in fancy suits as well. This diamond district is really totally different from anything I saw in Paris or Berlin." I think I forgot to mention above that Antwerp is really known for 2 things these days; diamonds and fashion. Too bad I have no income right now. :)
I think it's time for me to go before I break the bank with my pay per minute computer.
Love you all!
I'm in Antwerp, Belgium now, leaving tomorrow to take a train to Amsterdam and catch a flight to Ireland. Last time I wrote I was getting ready to leave Bruges and head to Ghent with new friends. We got into Ghent around 11am, had lunch, wandered around, and got ourselves completely lost. Once we saw gas stations we figured we were on the wrong tram. A quick bus ride later, and we were all straightened out, though. Dave, Rob, Daniel, and Sarah - I'd get lost with you again any time. :) Sarah, I hope the 13 hour bus ride to Munich wasn't too terrible...
After getting into Antwerp pretty late on Friday I hunkered down in the hotel bar/restaurant for dinner and then went to bed early. Yesterday I spent a lot of time going to the supermarket, doing laundry in my sink, and wandering around by my hotel. I found some cute little neighborhoods and had some tea while watching children play soccer in the park across the street. I was just about to see if I could join them when they left for dinner. bummer...
Honestly, I'm lucky to have even found that park at all, though, because I got myself "off the map" lost earlier in the day. Yes, that's right, I wasn't even on my map of the city anymore. I'm thinking back just now and realizing how extremely lost I've been this whole trip, and I haven't even been here a week yet! I'm generally pretty good with maps and directions, but for some reason I'm really struggling over here. Oh well...at least I'm a patient person with lots of time to kill. I just keep shaking my head and laughing at the end of each day. :)
Last night I went into the "touristy" part of the city to meet up with some friends I met in Bruges. Unfortunately, we ended up missing each other. Sorry, Jake and Justine! So I had dinner, wandered around for a bit, checked out all the sights and figured out what I wanted to see the next day. The city was really alive since it was Saturday night, so I did some great people watching while I could. I love just watching people in their natural habitat. You can really pick up on the nuisances over time, how they treat those around them, how they walk and dress, how they smile or don't...
Today I woke up with the intention of checking out a Catholic church's service downtown. Three things about this:
1. I'm not Catholic
2. I've never been to a Catholic service before, only weddings
3. I'm in a foreign country...
Can you imagine? I was really looking forward to the experience, but by the time I got around to the different churches, they didn't have any services. Oh well...there's always the next 7 Sundays to check out different churches over here. I'm missing my Lakeshore family today, but at least they post the services online. Hi everyone! http://www.lakeshorechurch.tv/
Today was my full day to explore Antwerp, and boy did I ever! There's a new museum here just on the north side of town that you can go up to the tenth floor promenade and see the city's skyline. It's pretty neat. http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/flanders%2Btoday/110325_MAS
It was Sunday, so a lot of other places were closed, but it was really neat to just walk the cobblestone streets and be in my own world. According to legend, "the giant Druoon Antigoon is asking taxes. We don't like taxes. Local hero Brabo cuts off Antigoon's hand and throws it away. Throwing away a hand = "hand werpen" in Dutch. Hurray, we have a name for our city." Brought to you by my Antwerp map for young travellers (a.k.a. those of us on a strict budget).
Also, there is a heavy population of orthodox jews here, and I've seen a lot of them out around town in their official dress. According to my map..."There's about 20,000 orthodox jews here. They came over from Eastern Europe in the late 19th century and their traditional dress code makes you feel like moving back in time...The Jews are still a big part of the diamond business, but you'll see many Georgians and Indians in fancy suits as well. This diamond district is really totally different from anything I saw in Paris or Berlin." I think I forgot to mention above that Antwerp is really known for 2 things these days; diamonds and fashion. Too bad I have no income right now. :)
I think it's time for me to go before I break the bank with my pay per minute computer.
Love you all!
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