Summer in the City

We have been seeing a lot of the interesting activities in Antwerp during the past week or so. Antwerpen means hand throwing and it was named after a folklore that tells of a man who cuts off the hand of a giant, who was tormenting the city, and throws it into the river. This past weekend there was a hand throwing contest in Grote Markt. Fortunately when we went down there we did not see any hands being thrown, but who knows what happened after we left.

Last Wednesday, all of the streets were blocked off around us for a motor paced race. I had to google it to find out what it was called. It was a team sport with a cyclist following a motorized bicycle. I would guess that they must have been traveling over 30 miles per hour. It was really bizarre and seemed dangerous, but it drew a large crowd and they were obviously very passionate about it.

We live in the best spot to catch all of the events. There are also mobile bars that often drive down our street. They are rented by a group of people who help move the bar by pedaling while sitting at their bar stools. It is hysterical.

We also bought Colin a big bike this past weekend. I actually cried when he got on it and started riding around - he is so big!! He is doing so well riding it, I feel bad we waited this long to get him one.

We will be heading to London on Saturday for a long weekend. It is going to be a challange to pack light since we are taking the train!