Antwerpen Belgium

27-5-07

It is another long weekend here in Holland. Amy tells me that this will be the last one until Christmas, but for some reason I don't believe her. The Dutch (and Europe for that matter) like to take their vacation seriously. The average person in Holland has 25 days of vacation and has 9 holidays...not bad.

On Saturday we biked around Amsterdam and explored more of the city. On Sunday we woke up and looked at the house and decided that there was to much to do so we decided to go on a road trip. Two hours later we ended up in Antwerpen (Antwerp), Belgium. It felt like we were driving from Crown Point (where we grew up) to Indianapolis, IN. Flat, straight highways, and instead of corn fields there were grass fields. The cows and sheep were the same. The only other thing that was different was the fact you see a random boat in the middle of the field. What you don't see is the canal it sits in. The canals are laid out like their own highway here. Cool.

Antwerp is a great town. Old meets new. Great waffles, beer, and chocolate!!!! I think Abigail and I could have eaten chocolate for a week (we know where Abigail got her love of sweets). Amy doesn't like chocolate but I think she is on the fence now. The chocolate melts in your mouth and is to die for. There are lots of sidewalk cafes and street music.

Abigail loves the music. We listened to one guy play Mozart on the violin and then latter we danced in the street to some type of native Indian music. She's just like Amy and made up her own words to the music and was happy to sing them to us.















Abigail decided that she loved the horses that shuttled the tourist around. We chased them all over the town. They even stopped for a picture.

Amy has decided she would like to return on a week day or a Saturday when it is sunny and warm. The sunny and warm thing is understandable but I had to ask why on a week day or Saturday. I should have known, that's when the diamond houses are open. She reminded me that next year is our 20th anniversary of us starting to date. I guess I know what she wants for a gift next August!