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Brugge to Antwerp

Antwerp, Belgium


since we r taking an evening train to Antwerp, we made good use of our last day in Brugge. my butt hurts so much from the cycling! all the roads in Brugge are brick roads. so u can imagine the bumpy ride the whole time in Brugge. i think all the people in Brugge who cycle regularly have butts of steel!!!

we still have our bikes til 5pm so we went around on it as much as we didnt. but it's much faster and saves us a lot of time. anyway, there's a market every wednesday at d Grote Markt so it was nice to be able to catch that b4 we leave. it's a fresh food n flowers market so it smells really good there! i bought a nice roast chicken leg for dinner... was sooo happy! i love roast chicken n havent had a chance to eat that since i got to Europe. so i was extremely happy n so looking forward to dinner!

we then head to Groeninge Museum, where it's full of Flemish paintings. d paintings are nice to look at but i think i would appreciate it a lot more if i do fine arts.

then it's off to Church of Our Lady which is just nearby to see d infamous 'Madonna & Child' sculpture/statue done by d great Michelangelo. d precious statue is surrounded by glass panels to protect it. we couldnt really get a close look at it cos there was like 2 metres of space from where we can stand and d statue. but i guess that is enough?

we ran off quickly to Heilig-Bloedbasiliek, where d blood of Jesus Christ (Holy Blood) was left in a scroll/capsule like thing. d Holy Blood is only on display each day from 2-3pm. a priest will hold the blood in his hand n every1 who wants to can go touch d scroll/capsule n be blessed.

we return the bikes (finally!!!! no more bumpy ride n painful butts!!) and head to the Grote Markt area once again for a mussels lunch. hmmm.... i like d mussels in Brussels better. maybe we picked a bad restaurant.

after lunch, we walked around a bit more before heading home. we passed by this big ice cream shop with long queues so we decided to join d queue! d ice cream is really yummy n d wafer cone taste so fresh n nice! happy n satisfied, we head home to pack n get ready for Antwerp.

[fast forward]
after about 1.5 hrs on d train, we got to Antwerp. our host Yuri met us at d train station. he lives 5 min walk away from the Centraal station n on d top floor of d 5-storey building. he is really into Asian stuff so we had lots to chat about. he has been practising Taichi for 6 yrs so i can ask him almost everything about it! he also likes Asian films n had watched quite a number. we feel like we're in Asia! we spent d night talking about films n drinking tea n talking about what we do (did) for work. feels like a great start for Antwerp!

permalink written by  wangyng on April 9, 2008 from Antwerp, Belgium
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
tagged Belgium, Brugge and Antwerp

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Antwerp

Antwerp, Belgium


Antwerp is probably more known for as a fashion city than for its sights. True enough, the fashion sense here is more interesting than the sights it can offer. only d Steen Castle and St Paul Church leaves an impression on me.

d apartments along d river bank are really nice thou! i was walking along the river n thinking "i wanna stay in that apartment" many times!

nevertheless, i had a gd time in Antwerp becos of my host Yuri. he is probably more Asian than a lot of the Asian i know! he like Asian food, is into Asian films, and has been practicing Taichi for 6 years! we spent so much time talking about Taichi cos i have been interested but didnt really get into joining a school. we also discussed about films we like and would like to watch.

Yuri also loves to cook so he cooked us a nice vegetarian lasagna (he's really into organic food and is 90% vegetarian). yummy!!

but the highlight of our trip has to be d Taichi class. Yuri's master was unable to make it and since he is d eldest disciple in Antwerp, he is taking over d class! he actually lets us join d class for free! we did some breathing and warm up exercise and d class did the form, which we only did a very small part. then he was teaching us Pushing Hands, which is pretty fun but difficult! d session ended with him practicing his broad sword. very cool!

after d Taichi session, we head back to his place to have dinner. Yuri was invited to spin at his friend's pub/club later that night. oh, i 4got to mention he also DJs for fun (he has a full set of gear!).

his friend, Izzy, owns d club/pub. it does private parties more cos of its small n cosy size. Izzy mixed a drink for each of us and boy were they stroong! eve was always trying to add more ice n soda to her drinks so it's like her glass is always full!!

we met another CS host at d club who took us to another pub/restaurant for drinks. we had planned to leave pretty early d next day but we didnt think that was gonna happen cos we only left d place around 3am!

we need a good sleep and i know we will have it thanks to d alcohol n d long day! guess we wont be leaving in the morning now....



permalink written by  wangyng on April 11, 2008 from Antwerp, Belgium
from the travel blog: Hello Europe!!
tagged Belgium and Antwerp

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