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ANTWERP, Belgium
12-6-2007:
Trace and I have been in Antwerp since Sunday afternoon. She likes the soft Belgian Dutch dialect. Belgium seems very similar to the Netherlands to me, but to her it is pretty different (which makes sense).
Hostel is ok. We had to get our shower fixed. Nice staff. Yesterday we walked down to the old historic section of Antwerp. The neighborhood our hostel is located in is very Ethnic. Seems mostly to be a mixture of Hasidic Jews and North Africans? Been really warm and that in itself has been making me feel sort of dizzy and anxious. We managed to walk around for hours, though, anyway. We've been eating dinner in various restaurants that line a square (where tons of kids are always playing in dirt and sand from construction)..The food has been decent but a little forgettable and the service has been atrociously slow (the slowest out of any country I have been to yet)...now if only these damn mosquitos would keep away from me. They keep buzzing around my head when I am trying to sleep.
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14-6-2007: BRUGES (BRUGGE), Belgium
I am sitting in my double bed. YES! A double bed that isn't an inflatable mattress (though Trace and Hans mattress was remarkably comfy). This is perhaps the prettiest hostel room I have ever stayed in. It is Room #18. Wood floors, wood bathroom with what looks like a really nice shower. The walls are painted yellow and orange, wooden bed, two wooden chairs, nice desk and actual sheets and a pretty dark red and white posey motif duvet cover. THis room also only costs me less than 40 Euro per night.
It is raining and raining. I bought a red umbrella and strolled around anyway. So many people huddled under awnings and in doorways. I'm a tough Oregonian with an umbrella. I can handle this rain...these wet socks, this skirt hem being soaked all the way through. I found a sandwich shop and ate a yummy curry chicken salad sandwich on a crusty baguette.
Bruges is very quaint and pretty. It is also extremely touristy but I understand why: Beautiful, winding cobblestone streets, canals, bridges, gorgeous churches and parks. It smells like lilacs in this town, especially when it rains. My back is really sore and my left foot had a HUUUGGEEEE blister on it. There is a big sink in my room and I filled it with hot water and sat on a chair and soaked my feet for awhile. Finally I was able to pop that stupid blister with the post of one of my earrings.
There are tons of "Belgian" lace shops (though I have read and heard that almost all of it is made in Taiwan these days)...tons of expensive chocolatiers, too. I will just buy some chocolate at the first grocery store I come across.
Trace and I went to Gent the other day, just as a day trip and we both fell in love with the place. The architecture was amazing..another small place with canals and cobblestone streets. I will go back to Gent again, I think. So far it has been one of my favorite places on my trip and I was only there for a day! Trace and I went to a museum of Design. Cool exhibits. I also remember sitting on a bench and looking up at a street sign. The sign noted that the street I was sitting on was from 1309 or something like that. The history still blows my mind. I remember trying to imagine what that street looked like and what people were doing on it back in the 1300 and 1400's!!
OH! A few hours ago I was walking back to my room and I was stopped by two young Mormons. They started speaking Dutch to me, but I said "Engels?" (sp?) and they switched. I think they were American, actually. I took their pamphlet and threw it away in a trash can when they couldn't see me. I can't wait to see Larry..two weeks from tommorrow! I go to Paris on Saturday.
