Bruge and Amsterdam - George and Monica Visit

A week and a half ago, our friends George and Monica came to visit. It was so great to see them and show them where we live. Fortunatley, we were able to get a sitter for a couple of nights so were were able to go out for dinner and some jenever without the kids and spend some time with them.

Over the weekend, we all took the 2 hour train ride up to Amsterdam. Colin was convinced that we were going to Hamsterdam and that it was going to be crawling with hamsters. Our hotel was right next to the train and directly in front of the infamous 3 story bike parking garage. We spent a couple hours trying to navigate around the city and getting a bite to eat. We don't normally take pictures of our meals, but I wish I had gotten one of our lunch. We all had different varieties of a tradional Dutch meal - Stampot or a Dutch stew. It was so good.

We rented bikes to get around the city. The streets all follow canals that wrap around the city and it is easy to get lost. We spent most of the day dodging the rain before we packed it in for the night. George and Monica were able to see some of the nightlife. The next day, we cruised around, saw a few sites, took a canal cruise and stopped at a bar for some apple pie. The apple pie was recommended to us by Paul, one half of our Dutch Bike Repair Team. The apple pie did not disappoint and George made a friend on the way out.

While Colin was in school on Monday, we went to Bruge. We made plans to take a guided bike tour and ended up having the tour guide all to ourselves. The weather was crazy, it poured then the sun came out a bit before more ominous clouds rolled in. We saw a lot but did not have much time after the tour to see much before we picked up Colin. We did make sure we stopped at our favorite chocolate shop to pick up some chocolate covered rice krispies.

By the end of George and Monica's trip, both of the kids loved them. Colin called both of their names, non stop. Chloe was letting both of them hold her! I don't know how they put up with traveling with us and the kids.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber and the Rhine Valley

Last week, we decided to make the most out of Colin's 3 day weekend, so we got in the car Friday after school and drove 6+ hours to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. Craig had been there 20 years ago and had been wanting to go back.

Rothenburg was everything Craig said it would be. The town is surrounded by a wall that was built in the 13th century. Today, only residents and overnight guests are allowed to drive in. It is picture perfect and every building is immaculate. The entire town is walkable and was well worth the drive to see. Rothenburg is the headquarters for Kathe Wolfahrt (nutcrackers and smokers) so every shop is brimming with Christmas decorations.
Saturday night, we went on the Night Watchman's tour. Our guidebook describes him as a medieval Jerry Seinfeld, it was really funny. We decided that he must be the second wealtiest person in town(behind Kathe Wolfahrt)because the tour was mobbed. Sunday we drove to Bacharach in the Rhine Valley. The Rhine Valley was very much like the Mosel Valley. Craig found a youth hostel that was in a castle in Bacharch. We don't typically stay in hostels, but were intriqued by the castle. We had our own room and it was like a dorm. There were about 10 beds in the room and I think Colin was in all of them at least 3 times. The castle was awesome and kids loved it.
Colin was on his best behavior because he didn't want the king to put him in the castle jail.


Monday we drove up to St. Goar to see the ruins of the Rheinfels Castle. It never gets old seeing castles. There are so many castles along the Rhine.
We got back to Antwerp by late afternoon. We moved apartments on Tuesday. We only moved a few blocks down the street. The new apartment is bigger - 3 bedrooms and 2 baths!! We are all happy in the new place. Chloe has her own bedroom and doesn't have to sleep next to the front door anymore and Craig doesn't have to move tables out of the street to get to the parking spot.
Our new address:
Riemstraat 16 Bus 10/21
2000 Antwerp Belgium

Antwerpen AutoVrij Weekend

We have spent the past week or so getting our bikes set up with kid seats and having minor repairs worked on. I now have 2 child seats on my bike - 1 on the front and 1 on the back - and have been riding Colin to and from school everyday.

Friday, Craig was waiting for me in the garage when I walked my bike in after school with a flat tire. We were looking at it trying to figure out what to do when 2 middle aged men asked us if we needed help. They are both from the Netherlands but the one gentleman had his weekend home in the building next to ours. They were on their way out, but promised to call when they got back to help.

My phone rang around 6pm and when I answered it, I was told it was the Bike Repair Team calling. Craig met up with them and they patched my tire. My friend put it perfectly when he said that if you have a bike emergency, you couldn't ask for any better than to have someone Dutch come to your rescue.

Saturday, many of the main shopping streets were closed to cars. We were riding near the art museum when who did we run into, but our Bike Repair Team. Paul noticed that one of Craig's tires looked low and pulled out a full sized bike pump from his bag. We thought it was so funny.

Sunday Antwerp was auto free. It was great. We are continually amazed at the events and activites Antwerp has. There were different activities all over the city and the majority of the people were riding their bikes to get around. In 2 locations, they laid sod down on the cement and created a small oasis with chairs, hammocks and toy lawn mowers for the kids. One area had a small petting zoo. We met up with our friend Robert who is here finishing his PhD in Art History. His wife and son went back to the US in August, so he spent the day with us.

Sunday was also a day when the city allows the residents to sell things in front of their homes. We picked up so many things including a bike trailer for the kids to ride in.

I am still surprised by some of the things I see on bikes or how they are rigged up. Yesterday we saw a bike that was parked with a bird in a birdcage strapped to the back. The bike next to it had a box with live chickens on the back. Saturday I saw a woman riding her bike with an infant in a sling around her chest. To top it off, the infant was nursing at the time.

It was an awesome weekend and hopefully our Dutch Bike Repair Team will find us again in a time of need.

First Day of School

Wednesday was Colin's first day at his new school. We put him in Da Vinci International School. All classe are taught in English. Many of the staff and teachers are from the UK because it follows a British curriculum. Colin is enrolled in the pre-school and does not have to wear a uniform, but the rest of the school, K-12, does. We did have to buy and outfit for him to wear to PE on Thursday - I will post a picture when I have one.

Yesterday, Colin's teacher spoke to me about an problem she had with Colin not listening. She told be that he burped during snack time and would not say excuse me. Something tells me that is not the last conversation we will be having like that.

London

We took the train to London on Saturday. The Eurostar leaves Brussels and arrives in London in 1 hour and 51 minutes. But Colin still says he can run faster than the train because he has been drinking a lot of milk.

Right away, it was obvious how many tourists were in London. Just navigating down the street was difficult.While walking across the Westminster Bridge, Colin sneezed right into a vendors bowl of roasted peanuts. We pretended we didn't see and kept walking - fast! The London Eye, the ferris wheel, was our first stop. It gave us a great view of the city and Big Ben. When we were in line, a little kid called Chloe "Whitey", I knew it wasn't a racist thing, but that he was just referring to her hair. It was still funny.We wandered around a bit and ended up in Piccadilly Circle for dinner.

We saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. Colin and Chloe were digging holes in the grass outside and we told Colin that the Queen was going to be mad and send her guards after him.Monday Afternoon, we went over to the Natural History Museum. Colin loved the dinosaurs and ran through the rest of the museum pointing and yelling out the names of the animals - not much different than being at the zoo. Chloe liked it too. She is now shreking everytime she sees something. It is really pleasant.

We ended up back in the Piccadilly Circle area everynight for a good dinner - thank you Rick Steves.

We took in most of the big sites, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, but we always came back to Parliament and Big Ben. It was so beautiful and something we are glad we saw in person. We arrived back in Antwerp on Tuesday allowing us just over 24hrs to pack to come home - we will be back in Haddonfield on Thursday for 2 weeks.

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!

Ladybug Beach

Saturday we drove over to the Belgian seaside. There are several coastal towns where people vacation along the North Sea. The towns we drove through were crowded but not like the Jersey shore. We found a stretch of beach between towns and made it our spot for the day.

Walking through the dunes, we noticed that there were ladybugs flying all around us. The ladybugs ended up being all over the beach. We had so much fun and we practically had the beach to ourselves. I am surprised we didn't bring any home with us.