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Okay, okay...
Oct. 4th, 2007 | 09:08 pm
Last blog of Europe.
We took a train back to Antwerp where we met up with Stijn. We spent the weekend with him, riding bikes around the city and relaxing at his place. We have a favorite Indian restaurant in that town and I think we ate there 5 times. It is really delicious and really cheap. One night we were riding to the beach and stopped at this little pub that had a type of organ that plays by itself but it also included a drum set, a saxophone, bells, a tambourine, wooden blocks, and an accordion. It was a really tiny pub and the thing was so loud but it was great to sit in there for a few tunes.
After Antwerp we headed to Brugge, the city of lace and bridges. We spent a couple days there with two different people. The first night, Justin and I took a moonlit walk through the city, over canal bridges and through an enclosed garden. It was beautiful and romantic. The second day we took a bicycle ride with Bernard to the medieval village of Damme. As we got there we realized there was a festival going on and the townspeople were dressed up in medieval clothing and were following a band around the market. The mayor was there too. It was a celebration of the village. There were about 30 tables set up with all different kinds of products from the village and the surrounding areas. They had beer and wine. They had sweets and baked goods and honey. But oh, did they have cheese. We tasted so many pieces of cheese. They had some with sun-dried tomatoes and basil. They had some with paprika. My favorite was clover and honey. It was so delicious. We toured around the village and headed back. The ride was along canals and through the country side. At one point, we rode down this tiniest trail through fields. It was a really nice ride.
The next stop was Gent. We spent the day walking around, seeing a castle, and checking out exotic shops. Our last shop before meeting our host was a bakery. Justin wanted a piece of apple tart. I saw a loaf of chocolate chip bread. It was homemade and cost 1.70. She sliced it for me right there and we went to wait for our hosts. We stayed with Jasper and his girlfriend that night. Jasper taught us a couple of new strategy games that we fell in love with. We had an amazing time with them.
On to Leuven with Stijn and Marijke. They cooked us an incredible dinner of stuffed peppers. Wow. It was so delicious. We didn't do much in that town because it rained a whole lot but at this point it was mostly about hanging out with people and relaxing. That we did.
Lastly, we headed back to Brussels before the big, fast trip back. We arrived in Brussels and met Asia. When we got back to her and Tadeusz's place she was already cooking us food. We ate some great pasta and salad. After we ate she offered us tea and coffee, chocolate covered biscuits, malted milk balls, fresh fruit, and bombay mix. We snacked the night away. After Tadeusz came home from work he showed us all kinds of good music. He almost had more music on his computer than Travis Harvey. But not quite. He had loads of world music so Justin and I picked out some stuff we were interested in and he burnt us a cd. We've listened to it since and it's really good. The next morning, Asia made us crepes with fruit and spreads for breakfast. Justin and I went out thrift shopping and headed back to the house. When we got there we smelled some amazing food. Asia was cooking us MORE food. We ate more and more and more and had to leave to catch a train. They fed us really well.
We took a train to the airport. Our flight was delayed half an hour. We had scheduled the last train of the night across Ireland and we were on a very tight schedule to get there. The flight delay was definitely going to hurt our plans. We left Brussels at 7:35. We arrived in Dublin at 8:05. We ran out to try to catch a bus to the city center but they all said they wouldn't make it in time. Our only option was to take a taxi. We asked the driver if he could get us to the city center by 9pm. He said he'd try but also said, "If you get there, you get there. If you don't, you don't." Yikes. Once we got in the car he said he could take us through the tunnel, which would cut a lot of time off the drive, but would cost an extra six euros. We only had 45 and we wanted to save 10 for the bus the next day. When we pulled up to the train station, it was 8:57 and our total was 33 euro. I gave him 35 and apologized for the lack of tip and we got out, grabbed our bags and ran for the ticket station. It said there weren't any tickets reserved by my credit card so Justin reached for the wallet with my debit card in it. He didn't have the wallet. I didn't have the wallet. Quite possibly, the cab driver now has our wallet. He had left. We had to get on the train. We ran to the ticket office and they arranged our tickets. We got on the train and it pulled off. I was upset because we lost our wallet but really, it wasn't anything we couldn't fix. Plus, we still had two credit cards and our passports. Not so bad. We got to Limerick, Ireland around 11:30 and walked to our hosts' house. We arrived just after midnight, emailed the bank to let them know we lost our debit card and laid down for the night. We woke up at 5:30am, got ready and walked back to the bus station. Off we went at 6:30 for Shannon, Ireland. We got to the airport, checked in, and went to grab some breakfast. We got a couple croissants (one chocolate), tea, and some juice. Justin had a good plan to swipe other peoples' leftovers as he was putting our plates up on the cart. Doing this, he acquired a couple more pastries and we enjoyed them. We finished going through security and found out our flight was delayed an hour and a half. Luckily, this time it didn't matter. We flew over the great Atlantic and landed in New York City at 11am. We had 12 hours to kill until our wonderful greyhound took us to Indiana. We walked around for a while, ate at Punjabi, shopped some expensive thrift stores, and headed to the station.
Seventeen and a half hours later we arrived in Indiana. We slept a lot and read some. The ride had a couple of interesting points but nothing worth telling. Now we're at my mom's house, living comfortably. Soon we'll visit other family members and then on to friends. We'll be staying with Castle and Lisa soon, then hopefully Drew's. We'll be around. We want to see you.
We have many more adventures ahead. Love.
We took a train back to Antwerp where we met up with Stijn. We spent the weekend with him, riding bikes around the city and relaxing at his place. We have a favorite Indian restaurant in that town and I think we ate there 5 times. It is really delicious and really cheap. One night we were riding to the beach and stopped at this little pub that had a type of organ that plays by itself but it also included a drum set, a saxophone, bells, a tambourine, wooden blocks, and an accordion. It was a really tiny pub and the thing was so loud but it was great to sit in there for a few tunes.
After Antwerp we headed to Brugge, the city of lace and bridges. We spent a couple days there with two different people. The first night, Justin and I took a moonlit walk through the city, over canal bridges and through an enclosed garden. It was beautiful and romantic. The second day we took a bicycle ride with Bernard to the medieval village of Damme. As we got there we realized there was a festival going on and the townspeople were dressed up in medieval clothing and were following a band around the market. The mayor was there too. It was a celebration of the village. There were about 30 tables set up with all different kinds of products from the village and the surrounding areas. They had beer and wine. They had sweets and baked goods and honey. But oh, did they have cheese. We tasted so many pieces of cheese. They had some with sun-dried tomatoes and basil. They had some with paprika. My favorite was clover and honey. It was so delicious. We toured around the village and headed back. The ride was along canals and through the country side. At one point, we rode down this tiniest trail through fields. It was a really nice ride.
The next stop was Gent. We spent the day walking around, seeing a castle, and checking out exotic shops. Our last shop before meeting our host was a bakery. Justin wanted a piece of apple tart. I saw a loaf of chocolate chip bread. It was homemade and cost 1.70. She sliced it for me right there and we went to wait for our hosts. We stayed with Jasper and his girlfriend that night. Jasper taught us a couple of new strategy games that we fell in love with. We had an amazing time with them.
On to Leuven with Stijn and Marijke. They cooked us an incredible dinner of stuffed peppers. Wow. It was so delicious. We didn't do much in that town because it rained a whole lot but at this point it was mostly about hanging out with people and relaxing. That we did.
Lastly, we headed back to Brussels before the big, fast trip back. We arrived in Brussels and met Asia. When we got back to her and Tadeusz's place she was already cooking us food. We ate some great pasta and salad. After we ate she offered us tea and coffee, chocolate covered biscuits, malted milk balls, fresh fruit, and bombay mix. We snacked the night away. After Tadeusz came home from work he showed us all kinds of good music. He almost had more music on his computer than Travis Harvey. But not quite. He had loads of world music so Justin and I picked out some stuff we were interested in and he burnt us a cd. We've listened to it since and it's really good. The next morning, Asia made us crepes with fruit and spreads for breakfast. Justin and I went out thrift shopping and headed back to the house. When we got there we smelled some amazing food. Asia was cooking us MORE food. We ate more and more and more and had to leave to catch a train. They fed us really well.
We took a train to the airport. Our flight was delayed half an hour. We had scheduled the last train of the night across Ireland and we were on a very tight schedule to get there. The flight delay was definitely going to hurt our plans. We left Brussels at 7:35. We arrived in Dublin at 8:05. We ran out to try to catch a bus to the city center but they all said they wouldn't make it in time. Our only option was to take a taxi. We asked the driver if he could get us to the city center by 9pm. He said he'd try but also said, "If you get there, you get there. If you don't, you don't." Yikes. Once we got in the car he said he could take us through the tunnel, which would cut a lot of time off the drive, but would cost an extra six euros. We only had 45 and we wanted to save 10 for the bus the next day. When we pulled up to the train station, it was 8:57 and our total was 33 euro. I gave him 35 and apologized for the lack of tip and we got out, grabbed our bags and ran for the ticket station. It said there weren't any tickets reserved by my credit card so Justin reached for the wallet with my debit card in it. He didn't have the wallet. I didn't have the wallet. Quite possibly, the cab driver now has our wallet. He had left. We had to get on the train. We ran to the ticket office and they arranged our tickets. We got on the train and it pulled off. I was upset because we lost our wallet but really, it wasn't anything we couldn't fix. Plus, we still had two credit cards and our passports. Not so bad. We got to Limerick, Ireland around 11:30 and walked to our hosts' house. We arrived just after midnight, emailed the bank to let them know we lost our debit card and laid down for the night. We woke up at 5:30am, got ready and walked back to the bus station. Off we went at 6:30 for Shannon, Ireland. We got to the airport, checked in, and went to grab some breakfast. We got a couple croissants (one chocolate), tea, and some juice. Justin had a good plan to swipe other peoples' leftovers as he was putting our plates up on the cart. Doing this, he acquired a couple more pastries and we enjoyed them. We finished going through security and found out our flight was delayed an hour and a half. Luckily, this time it didn't matter. We flew over the great Atlantic and landed in New York City at 11am. We had 12 hours to kill until our wonderful greyhound took us to Indiana. We walked around for a while, ate at Punjabi, shopped some expensive thrift stores, and headed to the station.
Seventeen and a half hours later we arrived in Indiana. We slept a lot and read some. The ride had a couple of interesting points but nothing worth telling. Now we're at my mom's house, living comfortably. Soon we'll visit other family members and then on to friends. We'll be staying with Castle and Lisa soon, then hopefully Drew's. We'll be around. We want to see you.
We have many more adventures ahead. Love.