Day 5 - Antwerp to... Bruges? Brugge?

Day 5 was mostly dedicated to conquering Antwerp. It was a 2 mile walk into the city. Public transportation is for wimps. We walked the whole way.

Our room in Antwerp

 The center of Antwerp is very beautiful... like something from a storybook. Cafes, old store fronts, and cathedrals everywhere.

Anyone know who this guy is? We don't. He's holding a hand that gushes blood (water) like something out of a Japanese gore movie.

Cathedral of our Lady in Antwerp. Well, not *our* lady. *Our* lady is in a  kennel back in Worcester.

Two magnificent men.

It was Labor Day in Belgium. The Labor Party marched through the center of town, yelling things in Dutch, which is scary by default.

A street snail race. How exciting! The girl in the middle had an extraordinary expression.

Mussels! Trevor's frite count: 6

Trumpolin? Violumpet?

 After lunch we walked down to the Fashion Museum, which was a tad underwhelming. Lots of cloth, lots of designs, but nothing that was all that interesting. Clearly this was geared towards fashionistas, for whom Antwerp is becoming a hub.

Except for this stormtrooper dress. That was interesting.

 After walking back to our car, we hightailed it to Bruges. Brugges? Brugs? Bughchecchc? We still don't really know.

Planning out our first night in Bruggeshah

The view from our room

 We ventured into Brugseka and promptly got lost. It's got confusing streets like Venice but with cars and bicycles. We meandered towards Markt and explored around there.

The Brownshugga Markt

More Markt

We grabbed dinner at a small but trendy pub called Cambrinus. Trevor enjoyed another Weslvleteren 12 and Bettie had a Rochefort 10.

Trevor's frite count: 7

Day 4 - Amsterdam to Antwerp

We began day 4 with a quick exploration of Queensday Amsterdam. It's like a giant block party yard sale. Every bit of sidewalk was taken up by someone selling their junk, food, playing music, or   games.

A street vendor during Queensday.

We packed up our suitcases and took a "quick" drive through Rotterdam, where they were also celebrating Queensday.

An infamous oddity of Rotterdam. People either love or hate this statue.

The Cube Houses are a famous architectural feat in downtown Rotterdam

After Rotterdam was Kinderdijk, famous for its beautiful windmills.

"Come Rocinantes! We must slay the giants!"

And then on to Baarle-Nassau, a region with screwed up borders between Belgium and the Netherlands... each block is in a different country!

 Finally we Antwerped. We met up with our lovely hosts and speedily set out for food and beer. After dinner, we went to Kulminator, one of the best bars in the world.

Westvleteren 12, the best beer in the world, and one of the most difficult beers to acquire. Worth it.

We made some new friends. Tom, left, translated for us. Derrick, owner of Kulminator, supplied us with multiple free drinks, including a beer he had aged since 1985.


Trevor's frite count: 5

Day 3 - Queensnight!

Sorry about the lack of updates. Spotty internet access is to blame.

Day 3 in Amsterdam began with a trip up to Noordmarkt, where a massive vintage fair fills the streets every monday.

Preparations for Queensnight were already being made-portable urinals!

"A hat, a hat is a hat, but not just that. A woman ain't a woman not wearing one. Under the smiling autumn sun."

Balloons were going up everywhere for Queensday

 After Noordmarkt we went to Oude Kirk, a beautiful cathedral in the middle of the Red Light District. A photo gallery in the church displayed award-winning photos from around the world, which was interesting but a weird contrast to the gothic architecture.

Trevor liked the anachronism

Trevor's frite count: 2

Much street food was to be had on this day. Pofferjies are mini-pancakes you eat with a toothpick (Bettie first had this with Michelle in Iowa, oddly enough :) which were equally delicious)

Pofferjies!

 Dinner on a bridge over the river- we tried this pink drink all the "ladies" are drinking.

"Beer mixed with wine? Not bad actually. It's like a beautiful woman wearing a paper bag. It shouldn't work, but it does."
-Trevor

Trevor's frite count: 3.

We didn't bring our camera to Queensnight, but it was a blast. Everyone was out in the streets dancing and partying. Trevor's frite count: 4.

Day 2 Amsterdam: Wins and Losses

Day 2 begins a bit late, considering the extreme jetlag and, well, wine and meat consumption the night previous.  Bettie and Trevor headed out for a late breakfast, and wound up with cold cheese slices on a hamburger bun.  Our waitress laments- "but you asked for a cold cheese sandwich!" damn the language barrier, or might it be an accent barrier? Trev also received coffee rather than his usual OJ, and we resolved to have a second breakfast at a much more delicious venue, Goodies.

I like my sugar with coffee and cream, hold the coffee.

Homomonument

 Goodies was delicious and had fantastic peoplewatching. With our bill came two Dutch traditional lollipops that tasted like they were made in Satan's Asshole.

Second Breakfast. Non-psychedelic brownie, mint tea, and goat cheese goodness.

 After Goodies, we took a stroll through Vondelpark. They have beautiful gardens and ponds and tulips were blooming everywhere. There were also a number of playground structures on which children and Trevor liked to climb.

Tulips in Vondelpark

Tulips. Toooooooliipppppps. Tulips.

 After Vondelpark, we walked to the Van Gogh museum, but it was closed. Then we went to the Rijkmuseum, and it was about to close. At this point, we said screw it, let's eat and drink some more.

Rijkmuseum. Pronounced Rake-museum.

 We found Rembrandt Square and stopped there for an early dinner. We sat out on the sidewalk with a couple hundred other people and watched people pass by.

Rembrandt statue, dressed up for Queensday two days early. You'd think such a renowned artist would have better fashion sense

Beer and Dinner at Van Rijk

Left to right: Tuna sashimi. Oyster and shrimp. Crab bisque.  Beef carpaccio. Behind the bisque: Pate. Not a vegetable in sight.

 Our bad luck streak with museums ended when we encountered the torture museum. Bettie could commiserate with the victims as her shoes were sadistic devices of their own sort.

Wish you were here.

 After the torture museum,we swung by the only slightly more upbeat Anne Frank House, where we toured the hiding place of eight Jewish Amsterdamsters.

We tried to get her to sign Bettie's book but she just stood there.

Blogshaustion!

We left Boston at 9pm and arrived in Dublin at 8am dubtime. Despite our best efforts, we failed at obtaining a true Irish Guinness before our flight to Amsterdam. We arrived and had some interesting adventures for day 1:

First lesson: Amsterdamsters drive like jerks.

Second lesson: Parking in Amsterdam is nearly impossible

Third lesson: Once you park, Amsterdam is awesome.


Here are some highlights:

The moon was huge outside our window the whole flight

Edward Gelatohands is now Edward CoffeeAndIceCreamHands

A ramp would drop down at the end of the ferry, and we were hoping this old dude would ramp off it on his moped

Our first view of Amsterdam

Canals!

Racial Stereotypes!

We were accosted by a group of drunk Nederlanders who offered to take our picture on the condition that they pose in the photo with us.

Purdy

This panetone mosaic is in the place where we're staying

We even have a rooftop deck with a nice view

Beer and Cheese at Cafe de Wetering

Public Urinals! Yay!

Tapas at Bocas, a cute little place with raw meat and cheese and bread.